Well I am going to change my ebrake cables because they have seized up and dont work anymore. Does anyone have any tips for the job? My max is a 95, and most of the bolts under the car look rusted, and I"m afraid they are going to snap when I try to remove them. Also, it looks like the b pipe and heat shield will have to be removed, am I correct? I just want to make this job as easy as possible. Thanks

 

Id like to know this as well

 

The cables come in tomorrow, and my inspection is due this month...so I have to make the most of the time I have.

 

Where did u get the cables from?

 

I ordered them online from http://www.rockauto.com/ beat ordering them from the dealer by a ton of money!

 

I plan on doing the same, this winter has done quite a number on my car. I would think it'd be in a haynes manual or something like that? I have one so I will take a look tomorrow

 

How much does it cost to ship to you? I live like 1.5 hrs from Buffalo and these guys are charging me $53 just to ship!

 

I did them the other day. The hard part is working around the main cat.

1) Get a wobbly 10mm socket, a can of PB Blaster, and a 6"+ extension. You'll also want some extra-long needlenose pliers. Real goggles are a good idea since rust will fall on your face and safety glasses really aren't good enough for that. My safety glasses didn't protect from rust falling off my cheeks and into my eyes.

2) Lift the car on all four corners, or at least have the front wheels on a short ramp before you lift the rear. Lift the rear high.

3) There are two heat shields - one is mounted transversely, and is held by two bolts - spray them both with PB Blaster. Find the 2 bolts at each end of the main cat heat sheild and the 2 nuts on the sides and spray them.

4) Remove both wheels, and loosen the e-brake. Then loosen the nut on the ebrake until the nut is near the end of the threaded piece.

5) Unhook the ends of each parking brake cable, and remove the 2 brackets holding it to the trailing arm.

6) Remove the heat shield on the pass. side, it's two bolts. Enjoy the fact the penetrating oil has had some time to work in. Remove the shield. Now remove the 2 nuts and 2 bolts holding down the main cat heat shield. You'll need the wobbly socket for the bolts. Rotate it around as necessary, and remove the last two brackets of each brake cable, again using the wobbly socket and extension. Now reach past the cat and unhook the nubbed end of the cable from the split block. These are just like the metal blobs on the end of a bicycle brake cable - you have to turn them 90° and lift it out the side. Doing it one-handed is a bugger, so I found that one hand + needlenose pliers worked a little better. Be patient here.

Assembly is the reverse of disassembly, just be sure to tighten the brake cable nut under the ebrake handle until you can get 8 clicks with moderate effort.

Dave

 

That doesn't sound bad at all. You don't even need to remove any of the other brake parts!?

My parking brake cable is "frozen" stiff. Maybe this would cure the problem! THANKS!!!

 

Well I was expecting a 45 min job, I ended up spending 3 hours total due to the difficulty of the rusted bolts and I didn't have a wobbly 10mm socket. After wasting a bunch of time, I managed to get it using a short 10mm 3/8 socket on a 3/8 universal, but it _barely_ fit between the bolt and the main cat.

Also, the rusty heat shields will leave your hands nicked all over - so make sure you have your ***anus shot up-to-date.

Dave

 

that sucks, maybe because you're in canada they charge more. My total was only about that much with shipping.

 

ok, well UPS just came and brought the cables. However they dont look right, the ends have no connector on them, or at least not the right kind to attach to the calipers. Here is what they look like:



Am i supposed to re-use something or purchase something to go over this or whats the deal?

 

Those cables are correct. When you remove the old ones (which you do by rotating the cable 90° around that barrel-shaped end within the bracket, until the cable slides out a slot on the side of the bracket), it will be clear.

Dave

 

How much did the cables run?

 

FYI NAPA has the brake cable for the cheap too...

 

Dave's run down is pretty much it. Getting the cables hooked back in where they connect under the cat was my biggest problem.

 

do you have to replace or order them in pairs? my drivers side cable is crushed from some douche putting a jack underneath it. i would like to replace it if its not too difficult to do.

 

Well you can't really screw up this job, as long as the parking area at the mechanics is reasonably flat.

I was told the cables I got are an updated part that wasn't exactly the same length as before. So I needed to buy the pair. I kinda wouldn't want to redo the job anyway - it's not torture, but certainly good to know the cables will not be an issue ever again.

Dave

 

My parking brake sort of works, ie 95% of the time. It only doesn't work when I park on a steep hill but I just put it into gear, turn the wheels towards or away from the curb as necessary and pray.

So do you think I will pass inspection in CA?

Basically, my left e-brake metal slot thingy broke where the cable hooks in near the brake. Anyone know what part I am talking about and what part# it is? I'd like to get it so I can fix it before I get the car inspected!

thanks!

 

I'd like to know if the parking brake cables need to be replaced in pairs? I replaced the rear brakes and noticed that the pass side cable barely moves like the other side. Those cables are $60.

 

Where did you find them? I can find them on Napa website. Did you call them for the part number? How much does Napa charge?

 

i think they were like 56 each

 

I just found them on Rockauto.com for $40 shipped. However they only have the RH side. It's a Wagner part # F138672. Anyone ever use one? Thinking of ordering this one as my right side is the side that making noise.

 

someone drop some knowledge about this subject please

 

Bump for an answer!!

 

I dont remember the part number, but if those are the cheapest cables they had ~$20 something Wagner cables, dont get them. They wont fit on the car, neither side. I got one from NAPA, and they said they dont carry the left one anymore so I had to pay $90 from the dealer

 

The dealership told me the cables were a new part, and slightly longer than the old ones. So that way I HAD to buy both. Maybe you can get some off a junkyard or parts car (?)

Dave

 

Has anyone replaced just one cable?? $60 vs $120!!

 

Last week I replaced the right rear parking brake cable. Just replacing one fixed my problem. Looks like you can replace one cable. You need to remove the entire rear cat shield. That makes it much easier

 

by "right side" do you mean driver or passenger? i know one of my cables is messed, i just dont want to order the wrong side

 

right side is passenger side.

 

where did u end up buying your cable? rockauto?

 

Nope, I got mine from http://www.buynissanparts.com/
54.64 per cable and 9.29 for shipping. The bummer was that they charge the same for shipping if you buy both cables. $18.58 for shipping!! Good price for the part though!!

 

thanks yo. i just ordered one from there.

 

excellent tips...going to attempt to do this within the next week or 2.

 

did this today. took me about 4 hrs. make sure you jack up your car as high as you can..because you will be living under it for a while. worst part of it for me was the 2 bolts that snapped off that held the heat shields on. i had to use a hacksaw blade and my hands to cut it off and drill the broken piece in. make sure you have goggles/eyewear..because you will get rust in your face. its not extremely difficult..just time consuming. good luck whomever is going to do this, and holler at me if u need more advice/tips.

 

Ill be doing this soon. Can't wait.

 

I snapped 2side bolts and one end bolt of the heat shield. The screw parts are stuck inside. Extracting them with drill bit etc is not at all easy in that cramped place. ANY SOLUTIONS for extracting the embeded screw ends? At the yoke (where the 2 e-cables meet) the cables are held by badly rusted bolts. But the bolt heads are facing the car floor. How to access the bolt heads? I guess I have to remove the arm rest. How to remove arm rest? I removed 2- side screws accessible from back seat. The arm rest is still held by something near the brake handle. i guess I have to soak the bolts at the Yoke with plenty of PB blaster before attempting to remove / loosen them? I am stuch at this stage of e- brake cable replacement. Please help some body!

 

My experience with 97 maxima. Some A...hole in the past had crushed the E-cable. Caliper piston was not moving when hand brake was applied. Learnt the hard way the following steps to replace.
1) Un-hook E-brake cable at the caliper end first. Remove the bolt that holds cable bracket & caliper together. This loosens the cable end enough to un-hook it.
2) Remove all 10mm hex head screws of heat shield section(s) above the exhaust pipe between O2 sensor & rear wheels; 2 or 3 sections depending on right or left cable. These sections cover the cables up to a yoke brkt where 3-cables meet over the O2 sensor. It's wise to pre-soak around each screw head several times w/ W40 or PB blaster before trying to unscrew them. Soaking once is not enough to prevent shearing the hex heads! Worst screw could be at the joint of 2- shields. It could be spinning without coming out! May have to use tin snippers to cut shield end around the screw to free it apart from next shield! Some screws could be a challenge due to years of rusting.
3) Detach the O2 sensor wire anchor (ONLY!) from the shield above it by prying it out with a flat screw driver.
4) Rotate each freed section around the exhaust to take it out.
5) Parking cable ends are inserted into one of the 3 points in the yoke bracket. Extracting it out of the yoke could be a struggle. After aligning the required cable end wire to a slit in the brkt push out the little stud; stud welded to wire end is captive between 2 holes in the brkt. May have to hammer stud out of the hole using a small screw driver against the side of the stud & palm of hand to hammer. Earlier in this thread some one said that the cable ends at yoke are held by bolts. Not so in 97 maxima!
5) After freeing both cable ends remove screw at each cable holding brkt.
Dont know how to extract the embedded broken screw ends. Under the car space limits using a drill with screw extractor. Up to this point alone it took 4 hours. This is a project that requires lot of time. While installing new cable start from the Yoke end and make sure (how?) it is not possible to crush it again! Instal the brkt closest to caliper last to allow slack for hooking the cable end to the caliper.
6) After many unsuccesful trys to join back the shields I finally took the car to a muffler person who charged me $10 to put screws back where he could & at points where the screws were sheared he tack welded! When asked how to remove it next time it is needed to access the cable his philosophical reply was not to worry too much about future! I truly hope I do not have to worry at 166K miles!
7) Replaced with Dorman # C95003 cable from myautopartswholesale - ebay for $40. Good fit.