e brake rehab

quicky06 · 01-23-2006, 02:53 PM

what is involved in rehabing the ebrake?

its in a 99 3.8

it just doesn't reallly do anything so are there pads that need to be replaced?

it has 120,000 miles on it. and the guy that had it before me beat on her more than i like(tranny rebuild, bald ass tires, bent tie rod ends, bad bearing).

so anybod y ever done this before or am i just being an idiot

or the more popular choice both

**keliente** · 01-23-2006, 04:46 PM

lol no you aren't an idiot.

The e-brake is a small set of parking shoes that will be visible once you remove the rear rotor. If you have any experience with overhauling drum brakes, it will be very simple for you.

Does it not work at all? It's possible that the axle seal is bad and is leaking fluid onto the shoes, rendering them useless. Otherwise check the shoe wear before you buy, you might not even need to replace it.

**02z28ls1** · 01-23-2006, 04:50 PM

On these cars(I had a 98 V-6 car)there is a simple mechanical device that pushes the rear brake pads into the rotor.If it's not doing any stopping power (which they don't have much anyway,but should hold it on a hill)then it probably just needs tightening the cable.There will be a turnbuckle on the cable-soak it in penetrating oil for a while so you don't break it.try pulling on it and see if the brakes apply or if the cable seems to be stuck-you may have a frozen cable or two if it hasn't been used regularly.That would require replacement and that's a whole nuther story.EDIT-sorry Kali-I'm not sure when they switched over to the little drum brake inside the rotor thing-if so the cable will go inside the backing plate and not to the caliper-it's a one piece shoe on each side that has the two shoes combined in one ring.It's kinda a chinese puzzle to manuever it around the axle to get it off,but once you've done one of these it's relatively easy.Most of the time it's the adjustment or a frozen cable,but these cars are prone to a leaking rear axle seal too.