just replaced rear pads and rotors on the max and though i thought the e-brakes was loose before, it now has zero effect.
at the lever there is no more adjustment. is there any other location of adjustment?
i've done some searches and also read that after driving around a bit, it should adjust itself to some extent. well it's been a few days and you can yank all you want on the e-brake and you'd swear that there's no cable there at all.

not sure if it's relevant but i changed the rear pads and rotors becasue it was worn so low that i was grinding the rotors - i know - please forgive me. after the brake job, the crazy noises and steering wheel/car shimmy i used to get is now gone.

is it possible that the "normal" brake portion of the caliper could be functional and the "e-brake" portion of the caliper but frozen or hung up (and i did spray and clean the crap outta those calipers)?

 

how did you retract the piston on the caliper?
did you go through the whole pull the e-brake 20 times to adjust it procedure

 

retracted using a combo of c-clamp and caliper tool thingy - mainly caliper tool. c-clamp came into play when i needed just a lil more torque

i constantly pull the e-brake to and from work - i know it sounds like an unsafe thing to do but i drive fairly desolate roads and very early in the morning...there's absolutely ZERO resistance on this thing

 

stupid question ,did you check your cables under the car to be sure the cables aren't snapped?

 

sounds to me like you either ruined the calipers or you disconnected the cables at the caliper.

the piston for the rear calipers SCREW in, they're not pressed in. they should go in fairly easily, with only small force required to turn the piston against the rubber seal.

If you used a c-clamp to press the piston in, then you ruined the caliper.

 

honestly no...i'm going off the fact that they kinda sorta worked before the brake job to "presume" that they aren't snapped

 

that actually brings me to another interesting observation...i did notice that the piston did turn as i turned the screw/pencil gear of the c-clamp but then the boot/seal would get all twisted up...i'm strongly agreeing that the calipers are toast - i mean c'mon i got over 200K miles outta them.

 

my last question is can the e-brake cable stretch?
i mean i would hope not because then how does it retain it's tension?

internetautomar, can u pm me prices on calipers and cables?

 

I recently had same thing..at some point the e-cable and spring cameout of its little track that holds it in behind the shoe..or they came off the right shoe lever..jack it up pull the wheel and see if pulling the brake moves the cable..

 

just a final note...i did observe today that the e-brake lever actually floats...it has no tension pulling it down...if i hit a significant enough bump it'll bounce high enough to set off the brake light

i suppose it would be best to swap calipers and cables at this time
but i'll go through everything once again before the "investment"

 

how would using a Clamp ruin the calipers, is there not a special tool that pushes the piston back to its down position so you can install the pads?

I use a C clamp all the time to push the Caliper piston down, and my brakes still work? Sound like either his ebrake cables broke/tore or they might have gotten loose from some were, proly before they split in two(before the Y). thats why neither side works, maybe when he was adjusting E-brake he losened it?

Pic of ebrake system
http://autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker...3d801f5a1c.jsp

 

Ebrakes on rear discs are usually designed one of two ways. One, the caliper piston screws out. Two, the ebrake is a set of shoes set inside the rotor, independent of the caliper. Ours has the twisting piston. If you force it back with a c-clamp, you will effectively strip the caliper of its ability to "screw". The caliper tool has notches on it that set inside the face of the piston. You twist it to put it back in when needing to change pads. The first time I ran into this when I was younger and really, really broke, I used a set of needle nose to grab the notches. But if you're not careful you can slip, tearing your knuckles and risking the ruin of said notches.

If the ebrake lever is that loose... I would say check your cables again. Even if it's cold. This is a safety issue.

 

yea I have a GXE so I have drum brakes in the back for now. SO the Front Calipers are not the same as the rear when it comes to the pistons movement? the front calipers do just glide up and down? I dont think Ive had to screw the front caliper piston down? , but ive only had my car a few months and have not changed the back or front brakes. I was talking about the other cars I've had. (89 supra,90 mx6)

 

Front pistons are smooth. They only serve one function. Rear calipers that incorporate ebrakes have two functions. Since it would be difficult and expensive to control the ebrake hydraulically(ie electro-hydraulic brakes), car manufacturers utilize mechanical control(the tightening caused by the ebrake lever) in the form of the threaded piston. Hydraulic braking pushes the piston out in a twisting motion. Mechanical braking(ebrake) pulls a lever which twists the piston enough to create friction between the pads and rotor. That's the rough idea.