A couple of weeks ago my parking brake started hanging up on the pass side. The cable is fine, the spring on the caliper apparently does not have enough oomph to overcome the resistance in the caliper. I just have to reach behind the wheel and push the lever back by hand and it releases fine.

My question is this: Is there a way to fix this without replacing the whole caliper? I pulled the little grommet out of the hole were the lever goes into the caliper and soaked the insides with PB blaster, but it did no good? Should I try oil or another lube? Or can the caliper be disassembled to clean the parts up (there is visible rust on the little pieces inside, but I can't get them out!) ?

Any thoughts or suggestions??

 

It the parking brake cable. They will release fine from inside the cabin but stick on the rear. You got a hole in the cable more then likely and dirt and water gotten inside and doesnt allow it to move freely. Replace the cable and it will be good to go.

 

The cable is fine. You can disconnect the cable and turn the lever with a pair of pliers and it still hangs there, so I'm pretty sure the problem is internal to the caliper.

BTW: The car has about 250k miles, the caliper doesn't leak or anything but I would not be surprised if it is shot.

 

Go look under the car kinda in front of the wheel under the passenger door. See if the cable is rubbing on a metal bracket that hanging down. If it is then you most likely need a new cable.

 

I'll check that out, but someone needs to convince me that it's not the caliper.

 

Just going through my old posts and realized I never updated everyone on the situation.

I got a pair of calipers from a junkyard for around $20, installed them and the parking brake is perfect! The lever where the cable hooks to the caliper was seized up to the point that the spring could not return to the release position.

 

A common problem with rear calipers.

 

A few notes here:

This thread is OLD!!!! lol Also, yes, our rear calipers are crap anyway and with any age, the screw and spring inside can hang really easy. Glad it's fixed for you none the less. On another note, I know you can buy a rebuild kit for the calipers, but by all means - DON'T rebuild the back ones. Not worth the trouble or the time. They are ~$75 or so at Autozone (reman) and spending the money in this case is worth it. I know from personal experience - not my car, but a customer wanted us to rebuild them and the "how to" from Aldata is like 10 pages long. We gladly replaced them and saved him money (and me a LOT of time and headaches) in the end.

 

Yeah, I'm sorry to bring back one this old, but it's a problem that someone else will have and this thread can be a good resource for users in the future.

No kidding about rebuilding these suckers--I don't mess with anything full of brake fluid if I can help it! I considered rebuilding them as I recall autozone wanting $100 or more for each caliper, but they did not mention that they had a rebuild kit. I'm just glad there was a fresh pair in the junkyard when I went too look for them. They came off a fresh wreck with 100K miles and mine didn't start acting up until arournd 250, so hopefully these will outlast the car.

 

I've gone through 2 sets of sticking rear brake calipers in 5 years, but the parking brake cable is still fine. It's always had enought slack to unhook it from the calipers with just my hand when disengaged. I've been careful not to pinch it with a lift. I used Cardone calipers from PartsAmerica, and they have a lifetime warranty. I expect they'll give me problems again, but at least I won't have to pay again.

 

I have 152k on my 5 speed maxima, had the rear brake calipers freeze(rust)up several times. Possibly due to overuse of salt in the PA mountains during winter! I replaced them once or twice from junk yards for about $35 each. I think the design is bad, since I never had a problem with the front ones! The cylinder(piston) usually rusts tight, not allowing movement in & out, but occassionally the bottom pin rusts too! I found them on AutoPartsDeal.com for about $66 each, but they charge $90 for core charges, so you need to ship back the old ones for credit! I now check them about twice/year, and almost always have to free up something! I've replaced the boots on the pins (about $5 for 4 boots from Autozone) & the larger boots on the piston from a rebuild kit (for about $8 from Autozone). There's a special tool ($10 from autozone) thats designed to fit onto a 3/8 ratchet with a 3" extension, but doesn't always work if its been frozen too long, if that doesn't work, then, a good pair of vise-grips will free it up in a Vise! I wish I could find replacement pistons only! Does anyone know where I can buy just the pistons?