Parking brake adjustment

[JohnS_98]

How you adjust the parking brake on a 98 SC2? I pulled the ashtray out of the rear of the console, but I don't see any way to adjust the cables.

Thanks in advance!!!
John S.
1998 SC2

[wolfman]

Adjust the REAR BRAKE SHOES first! The cable(s) don't just go out of adjustment or "stretch" but rather the rear brake shoes wear down to the point that they cannot take up the slack. Provided the rear shoes are not worn eccessively, you can adjust them WITHOUT taking anything apart. Take the car to a large empty parking lot, drive in REVERSE at about 10-15mph and STAND on the brakes. Repeat several times. Provided your shoes are still serviceable and self adjusters are free, this should be all that's needed to adjust the shoes outward and restore "normal" parking brake action with the cables set as is.

[ssicarman]

I agree with Wolfman on adjusting the rear brakes. The self adjusters should take up the slack if they are not to far out. The danger with doing a lot of this kind of adjusting is that if the drums get hot and expand you can over adjust and when the drums cool your brakes may be locked. My preferred method if the adjustment is real far out is to do the adjusment manually. Remove the wheels and drums and turn the adjuster wheel out so that when the drum is put back on and sitting flat on the hub the shoes just almost rub the drum. Make sure that you active the park brake with the drum on to recenter the shoes and then check for the right adjustment, the shoes can move out of position when adjusting the adjuster. This should put the park brake back to where it should be.
If the cables need to be adjusted after all of this then you should be able to access the cable adjuster by removing the park brake handle cover/boot.

[JohnS_98]

Thanks for the help guys!
The car has 4 wheel disk brakes, and I just put new pads and rotors on. I had the calipers off the car so I could paint them. When I put every thing together and tried the parking brake, there was almost no restance in the lever. When the lever is pulled all the way up, I can still push the car.
I'll try the parking lot trick .

THANKS!

[Saturn-Eh!]

It sounds like you need to alternate pumping the brake pedal a few times, and pulling the e-brake a few times, and then drive the car. This should adjust the caliper pistons out properly. The Emergency brake on rear disc calipers has no adjustment that can be done manually.
Sometimes if the calipers are sticky, it will take a while before the pistons self adjust. You can shorten this adjustment process by making sure that you wind the pistons back into the calipers only just far enough to re-install the calipers onto the rotors. If you wind them in too far, then they have to adjust outward again, and this can take some time if the calipers are sticky.

Only adjust the e-brake cables if (after driving a while after the above procedure) the ebrake is still slack - my guess is that it will start to work properly again.

[JohnS_98]

I think I have done a very bad thing. The car has no brakes at all. When I took the rear calipers off, I did not keep the master cylinder full. I did not try to bleed the front brakes yet.
I don't want to have to call a tow truck to get the car to the dealership, but I can't drive it with no brakes.
Oh, what have I done!

[amazinghl]

Did you pump the brakes a few time first before you take off?

Bleed the whole system not just the front brakes.

Bleed the right rear, then left rear, then right front, then left front.

Should take you about an hour. Make sure you have a clear tube connected to the bleeding nozzle so you can see all the air bubbles and stuff...

If you still don't feel any brake then, take it to a shop.

And, if you desire to bleed the ABS unit as well, ask...

[Saturn-Eh!]

Are you sure that the fluid has gone low enough for air to enter? when pushing / screwing caliper pistons inward, the opposite usually happens, as fluid in the calipers is forced back to the master cylinder. My guess is that the rear calipers are not adjusted properly. pump the pedal and cycle the e-brake handle fully several times, this should extend the rear caliper pistons outward...

This all assumes that you had some fluid in the master cylinder to start with...

[wolfman]

Your car is a 98'? Which means if you have 4 wheel disk as OEM, you also have ABS. That being the case, and if indeed you let the master cylinder run dry, you may be basically screwed at this point as there is no RELIABLE way to bleed an ABS master cylinder with out a scan tool capable of atuating the ABS pump motors.

[Saturn-Eh!]

Assuming he can bleed the system effectively, he could get a good pedal, go for a drive, do an ABS stop (WITH NOTHING IN FRONT OF YOU! AS THE AIR IN THE ABS UNIT WILL MAKE THE PEDAL DROP CLOSE TO THE FLOOR), Drive home very carefully with a very low pedal, and bleed the air out of the conventional brake lines again. Doing this a couple of times will effectively bleed the air out of the ABS unit.

I have done this for a friend on a cavalier - same Delco ABS unit...

PS - I still think it's just the rear calipers being misadjusted - will cause the exact same symptoms.

[ssicarman]

Saturn-Eh!

Unfortunately for him he said that he pulled the calipers off of the car. My guess would be that he did not block the lines off to stop the fluid from coming out. If he let the master drain of all the fluid then he is in for a time of bleeding the system.

JohnS_98 check another post that I just did on bleeding the master and go from there.

[Saturn-Eh!]

Ahh... Most ahem... Hobbyists will only swing the caliper off the knuckle and mask the brake line. Thus negating the need to bleed the brakes afterward....

whole lot of work ahead of you JohnS 98...

[JohnS_98]

Originally posted by Saturn-Eh!
Ahh... Most ahem... Hobbyists will only swing the caliper off the knuckle and mask the brake line. Thus negating the need to bleed the brakes afterward....

whole lot of work ahead of you JohnS 98...

I had to do it the hard way, didn't I?