how to fix parking brake

[Dakota1820]

So my Saturn's parking brake is a little broken. My girlfriend was giving our son some snacks and we had just parked and I put the ebrake up and she leaned on it and now it wont lock over a quarter of the way up it wont grab and the one spot up high it'll grab it will pop out of real easy. How do I fix it? I've never replaced ebrakes. But im sure its not that hard

 

[mechtech2]

It is the lever/ratchet mechanism that is puked, not the cables or actual brakes in the rear.
Yank the cover and take a look. Maybe you can simply bend it back to where it was.

 

[Dakota1820]

^^ right I just don't know exactly what the insides of the mechanism look like . I will be pulling it apart here in a little bit. Apparently a lot of people dont park and use the parking brake all the time I do I thought in a stick its the best way to do it. It but a lot of people don't use them I guess

 

[The_Jeff]

It's one phillips screw to take the beauty cover off, then you have an awesome all metal skeletal view of how the thing works. Probably the return spring is half off its perch and you can finagle it back on.

 

[Dakota1820]

Well I didn't see anything wrong.... cleaned it up and adjusted it works fine with the cover off out the cover on and it does not hold real well unless you get it just right. I made it tighter though I gate having to pull it so far to get it to grab. I like when you barely move them and they grab. When I was young and dumb them being lose was more fun for sliding and other stupid kid things

 

[Jarlaxle]

Redneck idea: can you just wedge something under the handle?

 

[Dakota1820]

LOL it grabs but not very well unless you get it right . Which isn't to hard to do but if you pull it to far up it with t work. Nothing is wrong that I can see so idk. I probably could make a little something to wedge in there that way on big hills I know it isn't going to take off .

 

[morris]

you DO know that an emergency brake and a parking brake are NOT the same.

 

[Dakota1820]

^ care to elaborate?

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Pull your parking brake going 60mph ... see how fast it stops you.

I used to call it the emergency brake until I actually had to use it for an emergency. They don't work that well for emergencies.

 

[johnsmellsalot]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Pull your parking brake going 60mph ... see how fast it stops you.

I used to call it the emergency brake until I actually had to use it for an emergency. They don't work that well for emergencies.

 

[morris]

a parking brake is to hold a car in place, and it may not hold on a hill. an emergency brake will stop a car that is moving, and WILL hold on a hill. i found this out working in a experimental trencher shop. we had a machine ran a way, after the drive chain broke. and the brake would NOT stop it going down hill. we had to make changes so it would stop going down hill. now i have not checked ALL the cars, but ill guess most if not all are emergency brakes. i hope i explained it well.