Emergency Brake problems

[ilikepoultry]

well this dash replacement has gone completely insane. It went fro having problems wiring it all up to missing heater parts to broken this and broken that
finally i've come across something CRAZY

I got the car back together and I go to back it out.... dead battery
charge it for a few hours, starts right up :woohoo:
THEN... to my horror... I go to back out... stalls
The e-brake assemblies are stuck, not frozen.. but stuck
the wheels rotate with massive effort - and all that can be heard is grinding brakes
I removed the pedal, as it broke, as did the cable
the cable's little head broke off, but the cable's NEVER been pulled, so the e-brake's not been used in the last year
I tried using it a few times, and it couldn't hold the car on my driveway (about a 3 degree slope where i tried it) so i set it in my mind as useless
but every time i used it, it disengaged perfectly

well, needless to say, i'm in a bit of a situation

Anyone here know an easy solution, short of removing the entire assembly from each wheel?
I'd like to do it, but for the sake of the next owner, I think a new cable and the pedal out of my 93 would be much less a pain in the rump than an entire e-brake system

any good ideas appreciated

 

[Mr Anonymous]

First you need to look at the levers on the calipers to see if the parking brakes are actually even engaged. I'd be more suspect that the slider pins are frozen.

If it is the parking brakes, then just remove the cables from the pawls until the cables can be replaced.

 

[Storm-Chaser]

The fact that the front cable is broken and the emergency brake for one or both calipers are not releasing, suggests the cables have rusted inside the metal sheath that protects the rear cables from the lower control arms and road debris while driving.

You can either replace the forward emergency brake cable, engage the emergency brake and watch to see if both cables release as someone else releases the emergency brake; or you can see if the cables can be manually pulled through the caliper emergency brake lever with a pair of pliers (like you do when you remove the emergency brake cable to remove the calipers).


When the emergency brake is released, you should see cable lengthen as the emergency brake lever spring on each caliper pulls the cable back to it's normal position.

If you check cable movement with the front cable still broken/disconnected, then you should be able to pull both cables with the pliers without significant effort.

 

[ilikepoultry]

it's not the cables or e-brake it would appear
the passenger rear's brake pad is jammed a centimeter or two into the rotor from my dad pulling it out of the garage the other day (yeah... driving on a frozen brake is an ungood idea)

 

[dantheman68]

First you need to look at the levers on the calipers to see if the parking brakes are actually even engaged. I'd be more suspect that the slider pins are frozen.

If it is the parking brakes, then just remove the cables from the pawls until the cables can be replaced.

ahhh... i didnt even think of this logan... I would look into it... it makes the project much cheaper and much easier

Mr. A is sooooo smart