emergency brake repair?

Question

i have an old 1991 s-10 i don't use much. it is in great shape except for the emergency brake. is it a stretched out cable or bad pads? i guess i want to know how do i fix it?

Answer 1

Most rear-drive hand brakes have a threaded rod with
which to adjust the cable that sets the brake shoe against
the rear drum. Look carefully and you should find it. Oil it up
good as it will be rusty. If you examine the adjuster you will
see what has to be done. Don't over-do it or the shoe may not
fully release. It will probably be a trial and error thing. Hope
that helps. Good luck.

Answer 2

The emergency brake only operates the rear brakes so you don't have to worry about any problems with the front of the car when it comes to the emergency brake. You don't give much of a description of the actual problem but I will give this my best shot...

My Honda's rear disk brakes feature an small inner drum and shoes (like old drum brakes before disks) that's used just for the emergency brake. That drum and brake shoes are only used for the emergency brake so the regular brakes are unaffected by the emergency brake.

If you don't use the parking brake much, you might find the cable has frozen up and could be remedied by merely applying penetrating oil and working it. Or it could be stuck tight and need to have the associated cables replaced. The symptom in the vehicle would be a normal feeling emergency brake but no application of the brakes themselves. The brake handle could get stiff without much travel as well. It should have about 9 clicks after much effort to get there.

Another problem could be that the brake handle pulls all the way up with little force until it can go no further and the brakes are still not applied. In this case, two things could be wrong... the brake cable(s) are broken or the slack needs to be adjusted out.

Generally, the adjustment for the emergency brake is in the emergency brake handle assembly since that one thing operates both sides of car. One cable come from each rear brake and they join in the center or wherever the emergency brake handle is. Then another cable or rod as the case may be, pulls on both of those cables. That one rod, or cable, is adjustable so that it pulls the two brake cables earlier or later depending on if you are taking up slack or giving some.

My best recommendation is to get your vehicle's service manual so you can approach the job with all the know how you need and maybe even a few obvious replacement parts.

That's about it... good luck!

Answer 3

Shorten or replace the cable, if that's what is bad. You can pull the brake drum and check the shoes for wear.