Parking/ebrake, only works when Woody's warm

[WoodyHank]

It's been cold here & for the past two days now Woody's parking/emergency brake won't engage when he's cold...I put it in, it pops right back up. Once he's all warmed up, not a problem, goes in & stays. Anybody ever had this before? does he just need an adjustment? or is he trying to drive me crazy?

[tgreese]

Lisa, when you say it won't engage, do you press the pedal and it doesn't latch down, or something else? Do you use the heater, that is, does the brake work when the cabin's warmed up?

[ November 08, 2003, 07:43 PM: Message edited by: tgreese ]

[WoodyHank]

Hey Cowboy Tim! Happened first time yesterday. When I put the pedal down it didn't latch down, popped right back up like the cable was broken--in fact, since I'd seen the cable when I was under Woody the first time, I crawled back under yesterday a.m. in a parking lot (and that got some looks, let me tell you) but nothing dangling--I tried several times, but nada. then, after his engine was warm (midpoint on the guage, where he always runs), I stopped again, no problem with the brake. Seattle, hills, just a habit, I always use it. I thought it was an anomoly. Happened again this a.m. He also has a little whistling noise that started up right after the off-road adventure...think the two c/b related?

[gsmikie]

try some wd-40 on the e-brake assy when it is cold the grease will get stiff and as it warms up it will thin and the brake will work also try pushing the e-brake pedal down and push in on the e-brake handle and see if that works if it does follow the handle rod/cable and spray wd-40 on the end of the rod/cable that will be the gear that holds the brake when you push the pedal

[ November 08, 2003, 09:06 PM: Message edited by: gsmikie ]

[River Beast]

Popping back up sound like a linkage problem with the pedal... the ratcheting latch is not engaging....

If you have some side to side play in the pedal.. it may be loose linkage...

[J10/J20 Project]

because it being cold you could have a little moisture in the lines and it is freezing overnight.

[tgreese]

In the '70s, I sent back lots of the e-brake assys with the warranty returns. Used to be they would bend and the rachet would no longer catch. I'd tink they would have improved by 1985...

If it were the cable freezing, I'd think that you would not be able to set or release it at all, not just the pedal popping up.

Try gsmikie's suggestion and squirt all the moving parts under the dash with WD-40. The assy is a black 8" square thing with the pedal and release cable sticking out of it.

[tgreese]

Don't have a clue about the whistling. Could be anything.

JMO, but I don't use the e-brake (aka parking brake) unless I'm parking on a hill. To hold the car from rolling backwards on a hill, I'd use left foot on the brake and right on the gas, and give it a little gas before I release the brake.

[WoodyHank]

Okay, I'll give the WD-40 a whirl and report back.

I haven't really ever driven an automatic before Woody--always 5-speed--I don't have to use the parking brake except on hills??

[tgreese]

Well, yeah, JMO but mechanical brakes in general s**k. There's good reason why cars changed from mechanical brakes to hydraulic brakes before 1920. We shouldn't call the parking brake an "emergency brake" like it were going to take the place of the hydraulic brakes if they failed.

Two different issues - using the e-brake as a hill-holder and using as a parking brake.

In a car with a manual transmission, people sometimes use the e-brake to keep from rolling backwards when starting out on a hill. I sometimes do this too if the hill is really steep and there's another car stopped behind me. Usually I can slip the clutch at idle enough to hold the car from rolling back while I move my foot from the brake to the gas.

WIth an automatic transmission, there's no need for this trick at all. It's ok to give the car the gas and hold it back with the brake when you start out on a hill. Mash the brake, give it some gas, release the brake, off you go.

This is a standard tactic when four-wheeling over broken ground - left foot on the brake, right foot on the gas. Allows you to roll slowly up, over and down a big rock - just like you had a manual transmission smile.gif

Regarding the e-brake as a parking brake, that's kind of up to you - what you feel comfortable with. On level ground, sometimes I set the parking brake, sometimes not. I probably use it more often when parking on the street than not. Parking on a hill I do the drivers ed thing - turn the wheels in to the curb, set the parking brake, put the trans in park or in gear.

I'm a little reluctant to use teh e-brake a lot since I've heard stories about warped brake drums resulting from hot brakes and really stomping on the e-brake. Also, since mechanical brakes s**k (did I mention that?) they tend not to stand up to repeated use like the hydraulic brakes. That said, you need to use the e-brake every once in a while or the cables will corrode in place and it won't work at all.

So - more than you wanted to know about e-brakes.

best regards :cool: Tim

[WoodyHank]

No Tim, thanks! good to know...I've been driving around thinking I COULD use Woody's ebrake like an emergency brake...now I realize that if his brakes go like a b-movie, I'm Jayne Mansfield waiting to happen. Eeek.

I live right near downtown, most of the parking is parallel, & since 45% of the people in the 'hood can't parallel park (and another 50% REALLY can't), I figured better safe than sorry. But maybe not.

anyway, I tried the wd-40 thing, and then tried the brake (he'd been sitting about 4 hours at this point) and it still didn't want to engage the first few times...could something have loosened up while we were off-roading? (gosh, I sure hope so, so I can pay a mechanic and run up a bigger visa bill <<--that's sarcasm)

[tgreese]

Well, they'll stop you, but not very effectively. The e-brake only works on the rear brakes and can't apply as much pressure as the hydraulics can, so it's not nearly the equal of the hydraulic system.

The hydraulics have a backup system built-in. The master cylinder is divided into two chambers; one for front wheels and one for rears. If either half fails, the indicator light on the dash lights and the brakes continue to function, less well than a fully-functional hydraulic system but better than the e-brake.

That under-the-dash e-brake assy is replaced as a unit. Might still be available from a dealer, or someone on the list could sell you a good used one. Easy to replace - just a few bolts. There's a little pawl on the assy that ratchets against something like part of a gear that's connected to the pedal. When you pull the release cable, the pawl is pulled away from the gear and the pedal pops up. Be sure to shoot that little pawl with your WD-40 a couple of times. Use that little red tube that comes with the WD-40 to get the inside of the assy if you can.