Need a little help with my 98! My parking brake seems to be slightly stuck and rubbing on my rotors, I need more pressure than usual to get the car moving. I tried to pull the lever all the way up and down a few times but this didn't really help. I also popped open the console and tried to adjust the cable, it was a bit loose since there was some play before the first click. Now the lever seem to have more tension but it's still not releasing the brake fully.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

seems to me that the parking brake isn't stuck n the calipers are siezed. which techinically i guess can make u think that ur parking brake is stuck?

 

Pop off your rear wheels and take a look at the brakes. Check the spring mechanisms as well and make sure nothing funky is going on there. Get a friend and have them pull the e-brake as you watch to see what it happening back there. It's a simple system so it shouldn't be too hard to figure out what's going on once you get back there. Goodluck

 

ImmaSquashYou may be right, when I check my driver side caliper, the brake pad looks like it's right against the rotor. In reverse without touching the pedal, I feel the car ride up a bit towards the left (so I guess the left caliper is stuck). Since it's too dark to do anything now, if I jack the car up tomorrow morning, how would I fix a stuck caliper? Is it simpily to pry it back open and lube?

 

It is probably the parking brake cable to the caliper that is binding.

1. Jack up the car, take off the wheel
2. Make sure the parking brake lever is released
3. Look at the top rear of the caliper, you'll see where the parking brake cable is attached to the caliper on a hook/bracket.
4. Use a flathead screwdriver and mallet/hammer to tap the lever towards the back of the car. When you engage the parking brake, that lever is pulled towards the front of the car, and when you release the brake, that lever should return to its resting position (pulled back by the spring).

Have a friend apply/release the parking brake a few times while you look at the lever so you can understand how it is supposed to move.

Once you have the lever back to its disengaged position (all the way back), don't use the parking brake until you fix the cable.

If the lever is all the way back and you still feel the hub bind (you should be able to rotate the hub by hand once the parking brake is released), then you have a frozed caliper.

 

Thanks for the feedback and diagnostic steps.

So if it's the cable, does this mean I need to replace the line from center console to the caliper?

If it's just a frozen caliper, would lubing it do the job?

Thanks again.

 

Yes. You might find your cable sheathing has torn, allowing the cable to corrode. This is common because the cable brackets can get bent while putting the car on a lift. See www.motorvate.ca - Parking Brake Fix for details.

If the piston is seized, lubing won't help. If it is just the caliper slide pins that are binding, then you should be able to pull those out, relube and reinstall them.

 

I recently had the same problem with my 95. The parking brake would not release. I was lucky I just got some pb blaster and sprayed it where the cable met the caliper. I worked it back and forth and then used my channel locks to work the area where the lines met and that was it. I tried the cheapest way first then I was going to move on. Just make sure you chock the wheels.

 

Jacked up the car today and looks like njmodi was right. After taking off the tires, looks like the driver-side parking brake hook/lever was slightly stuck. I also inspected the brake cables on both sides and both were sliced open resting on the mounting bracket. I pried both brackets back but at this point I think the cables are shot.

I took njmodi's suggestion and tapped the hook/lever all the way back, now it seem to have fix the issue temporarily. I may look into fixing the cables myself as it doesn't look like a big job, for now I'll leave it alone since the car is once again drivable.

Thanks for the help.

 

Great! Just make sure you don't use the parking brake (inadvertently) - because every time you do, the cables will bind the calipers (since they won't retract completely). I just used some painting tape (so it won't leave residue or damage) taped down the parking brake - since I couldn't help but engage the parking brake each time I would park... (it has become an automatic response for me)...

Check out www.rockauto.com for parking brake cables. The replacement is easy in theory, but the heat shield bolts tend to shear so be prepared to drill/tap them as needed.

 

Funny you said that because when I was driving to work, right after I pulled into the parking space, I pulled on the brake again (old habits are hard to break)!! I managed to stop myself at two clicks but I'm feeling some resistance already. One thing I noticed was I can actually see the lever when I go under the car, so later I'll just tap it back without removing the tires again.

 

That's what I used to do then I got smart and did the ultimate blue painting tape parking brake level mod.