Left Rear Wheel Won't Turn, Suggestions?

[TYSHO]

It just pulls off, nothing hard or special about it. You can see how the bracket holds the end piece on the cable, it just slides in and out.

Now, when you install the new caliper, do not put the e-brake cable on until you have everything installed. If not, you have the chance of manually pushing the piston out and will need to rent a kit from the autostore to properly compress the piston back in because it will not slide over the rotor.

 

[shoon]

Well, the ebrake cables do have some tension on them when trying to pull the cable off the caliper. The ebrake cable has a spring that keeps tension on the line.. I just used a pair of channel locks to squeeze the ebrake cam inward enough for me to pop the crimped end of the cable out.

 

[Spcymonkey]

Okay so I definitely am having trouble with this parking brake cable. For some reason, even though my parking brake is not set, it appears that the parking brake cable line on the calipers is almost fully depressed, and even if i pull onthe parking release, they do not release. At this point everythign else on the caliper is disconnected, including the brake line. I am seriously unsure as to how to get the parking brake cable off though.

This is my first car repair ever so I am definitely a newbie at this. Can anyone walk me through step by step where to pull what park of the ebrake cable to unhook it? I don't want to tug on the wrong part and break something else!

 

[TYSHO]

There is a little fat, round piece at the end of the cable. It is what slides and catches into the caliper. You put your vise grips on that little fat (fatter than the cable by like 3 times the size), round end and pull it back. If you car is a rust monster, it probably wont work with the caliper installed. You just remove the caliper and position it toward the front of the car, giving slack to the cable, then proceed to pull it out. You shouldn't have a problem then, unless that fat round piece is stuck by rust, in which you will need to buy some PB Blaster from your local auto store to spray on it and allow to sit and break up the rust.

Just go in their with confidence and do not over think the situation, thinking the worse is going to happen. NOTHING can go wrong removing this cable, I promise you that. Just pull it back with the vise grips (unless you want to try channel locks/joe blow pliers and have it slip off and bust your knuckles somewhere) and wiggle out the wire. End of story!

 

[Spcymonkey]

Okay, another update, and some pictures this time. I do really appreciate all the help btw, even if I'm a bit wired right now!

I got the spring off (it must have been rusted to ****, cause it pretty much just fell off as I was messing with the thing, and now the little black end is off the e-brake catch all together, but it's still connected to the caliper.

Are you saying I have to remove this little fat piece from the e-brake cable completely to get it off, or does one of these parts now unscrew? Check out the photos below and see what I mean. I do know that if I need to, I can pull some of the ebrake line out, although in the pictures its all the way in.

 

[frosho]

As long as the c clip has been removed, the whole cable assembly should be ready to come off. If you're looking at the pictures, it should slide out to the left. They can be a real pain when they're rusty, though. Try beating on the caliper with a hammer (not too hard, don't deform anything) where the cable slides through. Go at it from the side (perpendicular to the cable). You can beat on the cable itself too, if you're replacing it.

 

[Spcymonkey]

Yes, I removed the c clip. So you think it's just rust and everything will fit through the hole if I beat on the caliper enough to jar the rust off? I don't want to replace the brake line because frankly, I don't know how so I think I'll try to not beat on that too much though. Lets go try this and see!

 

[frosho]

Yeah, it'll pull through. The only reason the c clip is there is to prevent that from happening. Try wiggling/yanking it back and forth if hammering the caliper doesn't work. You might end up having to beat on the cable at least a little bit. Rust sucks.

 

[Spcymonkey]

Yeah, I don't think it fits through. The hole on this one looks noticeably smaller than on my replacement caliper I bought. Not really sure what to do now though. I've hammer the **** out of it, it's been sprayed down. Ugh, I'm like 1 step away from being done, this is extremely frustrating!

Where would one disconnect the rear parking brake line if one to replace that? That might be the only way this sob is coming off.

 

[Spcymonkey]

I lied, it's a SUCCESS!!!! Okay phase 1 is complete, now on to phase, two, reinstallation.

FYI I broke one of the c-clips, where can I get a replacement, and what size/type would it be?

 

[frosho]

I think when I broke one I just took the other to a parts store and they found the correct size replacement for me. Cost a buck or two.

 

[Spcymonkey]

Okay, so I got the calipers completely off, which is good. I can go ahead and finish the brake job no problem, except for one thing. There is no play in the e-brake lines at this point, the little fat end is completely push against the tub, I won't have enough of the thin steel line to slide into the spring. I've triend yanking on the end but to no avail.

Does this mean that my e-brake line is fault, and should be replaced, or is this normal and how do I end up getting some of the little steel line to expose itself so I can slide it back in?

 

[frosho]

If there's that much resistance in the cable, you might be better off replacing it. If not, there's a good chance it'll stick.

 

[Spcymonkey]

Yeah, thats what I was thinking as well.

Now, to replace the parking cable, it's independant of the regular braking system correct? So I can in theory, first finish the rear brake job completely and just not connect the parking cable, and then I can get to work on the parking cable seperately?

 

[tompumped]

Yes you can finish the one job first than tackle the cables.
I have ordered cables from amazon and rock auto or you can get them from anywhere.

 

[Spcymonkey]

Excellent! I looked on Autozone but they have a ton of cables for my SHO, so I'm not sure which one is the right one. Can anyone point me to the correct specified cables?

 

[tompumped]

You have rear disc so you need the cables for rear disc brakes. I'd replace all three. I thought my front cable was fine, but it was rusted after the grommet that is underneath the car. There was no visible rust on the outside, but with 70k it might be fine. Disconnect the front cable from the two rear and check to see if it binds if you want to save 20 bucks.

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[Spcymonkey]

Well, the parts aren't too expensive so I might as well go ahead and order them, and I guess if I can't figure it out the car will at that point be drivable if I need to take it to my mechanic if I can't figure it out.

How would you rate the difficulty of this repair? Is it much harder than changing the rear brake calipers? I didn't find that repair difficult except for the confusion about the e-brake coming off the caliper, and thats only because it was rusted so tight I seriously didn't think it would fit through! I have the repair manual for it, and it looks like a bunch of steps but to me it seems as simple as unhook the old brake lines, reattach the new ones where you took the old ones off, and presto!

 

[Spcymonkey]

Okay and one more silly question. Do I have to bleed just the rear brakes, or all 4? And should I put the tires back on the car and lower it back on the ground, or can I bleed it while it is still on blocks? The rear end is slightly elevated while on the blocks obviously. I didn't touch the front brakes at all either, if that matters. Thanks!

 

[frosho]

The left rear suspension must be loaded in order to bleed the rear brakes. If the blocks are under the control arms, you should be fine.

You probably don't need to bleed the fronts but it wouldn't be a bad idea.