parking brake problem, fixed for 50 cents

[CALL AAA]

I have had a little problem with my parking brake light. It would flicker when I hit bumps and I could sometimes get it to go out if I tapped it with my foot.
I thought the little pad (that contacts the switch) had somehow worn out. But when I finally got around to taking a look under there, I found the problem to be a little worse than a loose pad. It was a melted pad.



The little rubber pad had actully left part of itself on the bracket where the switch mounts. Some of the pad was still "solid," (but very soft) while some of it was more like the consistency of honey. It was SUPER sticky, and if not for a bottle of GooGone spray gel, my hand might still be stuck to the car.

I ended up fixing it for about $ .50 plus the cost of the 5-minute epoxy.
I can't remember if there are any interior lights under there, but mine are all blue, so that may have done it. I also have a grounding wire from my guages attached to a piece of metal that is pretty indirectly attached to the parking brake mounting bracket. Could voltage have done it?

Here's my fix.

 

[shofan33]

i got a crush soda bottle cap, it makes a great click when released quickly.

 

[CALL AAA]

Wow! That bottle of Crush must have cost you like $1.00! All you had to do was drive to San Diego and I could have fixed it for almost half that!

 

[Gez89SHO]

Yup same thing occured to me, the goop even got so melted as to drip on the carpet. That doesn't come off easily. (which is to say, there's still a mark) :banghd:
I scraped that off and just left the bare pedal as is. Works fine.

 

[SHO Continental]

Yup same thing occured to me, the goop even got so melted as to drip on the carpet. That doesn't come off easily. (which is to say, there's still a mark) :banghd:
I scraped that off and just left the bare pedal as is. Works fine.

Same exact thing on my '95..

 

[CALL AAA]

Wow! I thought I REALLY screwed something up, to melt that pad. That's weird! And I can't believe how sticky that stuff is. Goo Gone (panters spray gel) got some of it off, but it's on the carpet, my camera, my tools and my shoe. What a PITA!

 

[mrecoolgar]

Ebrake Fix

Another great idea from Ford. They all seem to 'melt'. I took my Ebrake assembly out to clean, paint and ****. Here it is completed with a new rubber bumper and stainless 8-32 bolt.

 

[DVJ38]

Wellllll the pennies fell off of mine. How are those quarters holding up? Maybe I should sink some money into this project...

But seriously even with the 3 pennies they wouldn't push the lever up to extinguish the light, should I try replacing the spring?

 

[CALL AAA]

You may need to switch to Susan B. Anthony dollars. Or maybe Georgia quarters. I'm not sure you can buy the switch by itself, but I'm sure you could find one from a parts car. Even if you have to splice the wires.

mrecoolgar, that thing looks brand new! Nice work!

 

[89shofun]

just unhook the black wire for the lighton the dash youll know if it still engaged when u try to move lol

 

[operdot]

just unhook the black wire for the lighton the dash youll know if it still engaged when u try to move lol

thats just not right..... you def want something in there to push that light out. warning lights are there to WARN you. You definetly dont want to drag the brake, unless you like replacing pads....


on the 50 cent fix hope it holds, if not you could always spot weld the quarters on there.

 

[CALL AAA]

HA! Sorry I forgot to mention it earlier, but the epoxy didn't hold. After the 3rd time I released the brake, the quarters shot out and landed on the left of the drivers seat. So I'm thinking that I need Sacagawea dollars and a lot more epoxy.
Well, maybe not. Now that I have cleaned the area, including the spring on the switch, it works fine, even without the little rubber pad. The spring was loaded with melted rubber, so that's why it was sticking so badly.

 

[pjtoledo]

The rubber didn't melt, it decomposed. I have seen other rubber items turn to gooey mush too. Certain types of foam rubber seem to exhibit that trait. Could it possibly be chemical contamination??? Like maybe the vapors from your left foot? :laugh_ti:


Perry

 

[CALL AAA]

Awww, c'mon. My feet aren't THAT bad! :vomit:
To anyone who has this problem, (the brake thing, not stinky feet) and is about to clean it, just make sure you wear rubber gloves, have some Goo Gone ready and DON'T GET THAT STUFF ON ANYTHING!

 

[T.O_SHO]

Im having the same problem, not the smelly feet or melting rubber, the loose parking brake...

Mines got an inch of play in it when its fully released...If I were to follow your method of gluing coins to it, Id need about 6 pennies and a dime to turn my light off...

Any ideas on what this could be?

That parking brake engages and disengages fine, its just that the foot pedal is very loose...

 

[CALL AAA]

Ok, for that you are going to need wheat pennies. Or maybe mercury dimes.

Actually, I don't think this has anything to do with the brake being loose, i.e, coins, bottlecaps and frozen slices of banana will not help you. If I remember correctly, mine doesn't move at all. It felt fine, but the pedal wasn't making contact with the switch. Is your whole pedal loose, or is it just the part that makes contact with the switch? Once I really got under there and looked at that part of the pedal, I noticed that what was left of the pad, where it bolted to the pedal arm, was loose. It was like a metal piece that came off the side, and bent over the top. The rubber pad sat on this piece. I think it's shown in one of my pictures, but I can't see them now.

But your whole pedal is loose? Hmmm...

 

[T.O_SHO]

Yeah, the entire "arm" is loose... Ive got another whole parking brake assembley from a junkyard car, and am waiting to put that in and see if it solves it...