99 malibu ebrake problem?

Question

i can push down the ebrake and there is resistance like there should be but the car will still freely move. i want to fix it myself so could anyone give me any advice on what the problem could be or what to do?

Answer 1

You have drum brakes in the rear. They are actuated by a emergency brake split cable in the rear. There's absolutely nothing to do with brake fluid as everything is mechanical. The drums will need to be removed and the shoes checked for thickness. If the self adjusters on the bottom of the shoes are all the way out that means either the shoes are worn or the secondary y split cable is seized inside the outer sleeves. With the drums off this can be easily checked by stepping on the emergency brake cable petal on the floor board.
If the shoes don't move the cable is frozen, you'll need a new secondary cable.
I would suspect on a 99 car the shoes are whipped and need replacement. Don't attempt this yourself. You'll need a couple of cans of CRC Brake Clean and a few specialized tools to remove the return springs and shoe retainer springs. A trained person will make the decision weather you need a two sets of brake hardware, one for each rear wheel. He will also decide which brake shoes are best. It gets quite confusing considering the removal of the emergency brake lever, shoe adjuster (inspection required) return springs and shoe locator cups and coil springs.
You will need to take the slack out of the shoes with the shoe adjusters so that the shoes just touch the drums when they're installed. The rear cable may need adjusting also.

Let an experienced associate demonstrate the procedure.

Answer 2

My first advice is never ever try to fix break by yourself untill you do not have proper knowledge. 2ndly in your case there could be air between break pipes or your break pad could be so old and hard and do not have any more grip around disk..or break pad could be too wet ..whatever the reason I will advice you to contact professional.....

Answer 3

you may need to replace the rear brakes on the car those and the e-brake are the same thing,id have them checked to see if they needed replacing,you can adjust them up some but if their that low they may need replacing,good luck on it.

Answer 4

CHECK THE REAR BRAKES FIRST AND EITHER ADJUST THEM IF THEY ARE THICK ENOUGH OR REPLACE THEM IF THEY ARE VERY THIN.

ALSO CHECK THE HANDBRAKE CABLE AS WELL.