Staehling

Hey,

A fellow member requested I post the procedure for parking brake adjustment from my FSM, so here it is:

1. Raise the vehicle and remove the rear wheels, replace two wheel lug nuts opposite of each other on rotor to insure correct disc/drum position.

2. Loosen the park brake cable so that there is no tension on the park brake shoes.

3. Rotate the disc so that the hole in the disc/drum face will align with the star adjuster.

4. To make the adjustment, insert a flat blade screwdriver through the hole in the disc face. For the driver's side, move the handle of the tool towards the ceiling to adust the shoes out and towards the floor to adjust the shoes in. For the passenger side, move the handle of the tool towards the floor to adjust the shoes out and towards the ceiling to adjust them in.

5. Adjust one side at a time until there is no rotation of the disc/drum. Then back the star adjuster off 5 to 7 notches. Then go to the opposite side and do the same procedure.

6. Replace rear wheels.

7. Apply the park brake lever two notches.

8. Adjust the cable at the equalizer so that the wheel has a drag.

9. Release the park brake lever and check the wheel for free rotation.

10. Correct adjustment will result in no drag on the wheel.

Repzard

This should be in the How TO

Good write up

Staehling

Word for word copy from FSM, can't take any credit.

corvette49rdave

This procedure is for what year(s) C4? Thanks!

Staehling

Jeez, good question - you think I would have remembered to put that in.

1987

RED BARON

i was all excited there for a minute. i have a thread trying to get the parking brake on my 89 adjusted so i can get it through Virginia's state inspection.

Staehling

I'm guessing it's valid for 84-87, but can only guarantee 87.

Sprint7677

Nicely done

Staehling

Found 88-96!!

1988-96 Vehicles

The parking brake lever/cable adjustment is automatic. The adjuster must be disabled to create the necessary cable slack for certain service procedures. Following these procedures, make sure the adjuster is properly enabled to assure correct parking brake operation.

To disable the automatic parking brake adjuster, proceed as follows:

Remove the drivers seat cushion.

Remove the parking brake lever cover and screws.

Using a suitable offset tool, disengage and hold the drive pawl from the drive sector.

Insert a nail or drift through the hole in the anchor plate to retain the drive pawl in the disengaged position.

Move the parking brake lever until it aligns with the lock pawl.

Depress the button on the lever and move the lever to the down position.

Verify the anchor plate is against the stud on the parking brake lever, if not as specified, repeat the procedure.


Fig. 4: Disabling the parking brake automatic adjuster-1988-96 vehicles



To enable the automatic parking brake adjuster, proceed as follows:

Remove the nail or drift pin from the anchor plate.

Apply and release the parking brake 3 times.

Pull up on the parking brake lever. Proper adjustment will result in the lever moving 3-5 ratchet clicks with a force of 61 lbs. (270 N).

Release the parking brake, there should be no rear brake drag and no gap between the caliper housings and caliper parking brake levers. It may be necessary to remove the tire and wheel assemblies to see the caliper housings and levers.

If removed, install the wheel and tire assembly.

Install the parking brake lever cover and screws.

Install the driver's seat cushion.

RED BARON

Thanks for the instruction. I think I can even follow these instructions. You can always depend on CF members to come through, again, thanks............

Staehling

Love to take credit, but believe it or not, Autozone.com has tons of repair guide stuff for C4s on their site...

Gonzo

Thanks for posting it even if we could have found it it elsewhere, its well worth reading

Pelleplutt

I had problem with the rear brake wires ,there were rust inside the plastic shielding which made the outer part of the wire to short for automatic adjustment.
If you can feel bumps on the plastic outer on the rear wires then its time for new ones.

Pelle
-90 vert ZF6

pr1mu5

just in time, this weekend my car rolled for the first time on a hill with the parking brake on... time to adjust my 94 I guess...

mike bys

Thanks toall who helped.

SQUIRMIN VERMIN 84

thought I'd check my FSMfor 1984,

It's the same as Staehling's specs for 1987, BUT with one extra step between #1 and #2. it reads:

"2. Back the caliper piston into it's bore."

I'm not sure if they tried to remove any residual piston/pad drag on the rotor so the rotor would be turning freely by hand as possible or maybe account for any warp in the rotor??? but it seems that that step was omitted at least by 1987. apparently it ceased to be an issue.

adjustments are basically same for 1984 t0 1987.

jimgiggles

Thanks for the write up on disabling the parking brake auto adjust.. once again the FSM fails again.. what a worthless book.. I swear.. I don't think it's ever helped me out of a jam.. I just replaced both rear cables (rotted out completely) and after removing my hand brake, couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get it back in place. Will have to do this tommorow... Great!!

jandrius

Thanks a lot, very interesting.

Before going to MOT, (ITV in Spain) I'm going to try it.. Then I'll comment here my experience..

Jandrius

grassyflats

can anyone help me with this please I put new pads on the rear and my parking brake is too tight
these instructions are vague -first off you have to remove the entire seat not just the cushion for one
and I dont see how or even where there is a hole to put a nail to hold back the paw so i just put the nail
in between or next to the disengaged paw and it is now held back disengaged so I made it this far
after this I am lost on these instructions -my parking brake is so tight it will only reach the first notch
with only a lot of force -also the handle does not even come off if I remove the screw in order to see more of the assembly so I am pretty much lost at this point which does not make me feel good -Will

grassyflats

I still dont understand how the adjustment works but I did figure out the problem today - I put brakemotive rotors on which are thicker than stock and with the new pads it took up a lot of the cable slack so now it takes a lot of force to even catch the first notch - is there a away to gain anymore slack in the cable? this_is the question ???