Parking brake not grabby enough?

jory543 · Post by **jory543** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:57 am

Okay so the parking brake on my neon has never grabbed very well. It works fine for holding the car when it's parked, but on a steep hill or if I use it to slow the car down it isn't as effective. I took off the rear drums to inspect the situation and the brake shoes fell apart on me. So I installed brand new rear brake shoes, adjusted them accordingly and the normal brakes work excellent. But the parking brake is still loose. I have to pull it all the way up before it has any effectiveness.

So my question is, can it be adjusted by the lever or is it self-adjusting?

uta_flyinghigh · Post by **uta_flyinghigh** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:50 am

It's supposed to be self adjusting but I think some kind of adjusting needs to be done with the lever/cable.

Mine used to have this problem and I brought it down to the shop. Now I can pull off 180° handbrake turns with ease

UTA

ubengineering · Post by **ubengineering** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:17 am

one way we do it at my inspection station we put the persons car in reverse and keep using the e brake to stop it, it eventually adjusts itself most of the time, or its just broke =p

chipdogg · Post by **chipdogg** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:56 am

Not sure how to do it on cars without rear discs, but that way doesn't work on cars with rear disc brakes. You have to adjust the star wheel with the brakes installed completely, it's a total bitch. I did it on my black car last year, took forever but it works fricken great now.

Ghost Neon · Post by **Ghost Neon** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:38 pm

Rear drums are supposed to be self adjusting, at least my daytona was. Believe you drive in reverse, and apply the brake several times to adjust.

uta_flyinghigh · Post by **uta_flyinghigh** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 4:23 am

Ah yes, I forgot to mention mine has a rear disc setup.

UTA

Post by **Vinny** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 7:57 am

What if your parking brake handle just goes up without resistance whenever the car is moving? That's what mine does, I hate not being able to use it to help steer in the snow.

Ghost Neon · Post by **Ghost Neon** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:20 am

Vinny wrote:What if your parking brake handle just goes up without resistance whenever the car is moving? That's what mine does, I hate not being able to use it to help steer in the snow.

Do yo have rear drums are rear disc? Either way, something is wrong back there is "nothing" is happening when engaging the lever. Going to have to get in there. I am going to bled mine now. Did not do a good enough job yesterday

chipdogg · Post by **chipdogg** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 11:04 am

uta_flyinghigh wrote:Ah yes, I forgot to mention mine has a rear disc setup.

UTA

No self-adjuster. You have to go behind the tire on the back of the backing plate. Towards the bottom in the middle is a rubber plug. Pull that out and there is a star wheel adjuster in there. That turns to force the shoes outward more, or inward more. One side you have to turn one way, the other side you have to turn the other way. It's quite gay cuz shit is in the way down there so it's hard to get something in there to turn it. Have fun.

When I did mine, I pulled the rotor off. Of course on the inside of the inner drum, there was a ridge of rust that wouldn't let the rotor come off cuz the shoes got stuck. So I adjusted the shoes in like above, pulled the rotor off, put new pads in, and took a grinding stone on an air grinder and smoothed the rust down so it was even with the inside of the drum. Not the "right" way but that drum doesn't have to be nice and smooth completely anyways since it's just to hold the car in place (or play with in the snow). Adjusted the shoes out so they were just small enough to fit in there, put rotor and tire back on, and had to adjust the bitches anyways so the wheel would turn with handle down, but it would grab halfway up the handles travel. It was real gay.

chipdogg · Post by **chipdogg** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 11:05 am

Vinny wrote:What if your parking brake handle just goes up without resistance whenever the car is moving? That's what mine does, I hate not being able to use it to help steer in the snow.

Something is seized up. Rear drum or disc? If rear drum, you can see if each wheel still turns with the regular brakes on, that will let you know if it's in the wheel or not. Otherwise you may have a rusted cable somewhere as well, or it's nowhere near tight enough for the travel you have.

afireinside4848 · Post by **afireinside4848** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 11:06 am

My brothers cavaliers e brake is so tight the car barely idles, but hot damn is it nice when going around a turn

chipdogg · Post by **chipdogg** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 11:07 am

afireinside4848 wrote:My brothers cavaliers e brake is so tight the car barely idles, but hot damn is it nice when going around a turn

Cuz the brakes are connected to the flywheel.

Ghost Neon · Post by **Ghost Neon** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 1:30 pm

No. They run off the throttle plate. DUH