theiceman

Decided since I had the tail off anyway I may as well service my parking brake... on some level that is related I am sure...

Since my now infamous 911 runaway story I have been hesitant to go back and mess with the parking brake but I did have an annoying problem that was bugging me. After letting off the parking brake the brake would drag when backing out of the drive way , as soon as I went forward it would release and everything was fine.
I decided to pull it all apart and have a look. Glad I did.

it was a very minor problem caused by myself but because I got on it fairly quickly it wasn't too bad. The cable pulls on two pieces of steel which then kind of compress and stretch out ( the bently has a great pic ) then it pushes on two pins on the shoe. in my brake adjutments the metal had jumped off one of the pins so was not expanding the shoe evenly and causing it to twist and bind. Problem fixed.

This was a petty straight forward procedure and I figured out a couple of tricks.

1. When removing the caliper use an offset " English" wrench (19mm) . Mine is lying on the floor in the pic. This makes it easy to get off the lower caliper bolt.

2. Before undoing caliper take off spring clip holding flexible brake hose. Then you can push the hard line through the hole and rest the caliper on the trailing arm comfortably without stressing anything.

3. Use a hand impact driver on the two slotted screws in the Rotor. this may not be necesary in all cases but stripping those screws could be a nightmare.

Other than those few tips the rest is a breeze.

oh don't drop the washer on the cable side of the metal exapanding pieces. it will fall right inside your hollow trailing arm. Then you have to turn your car upside down and shake it to get it out .. well not really.. there is a hole in the bottom of the trailing arm the washer will actually fit through ... my guess is someone at the factory did that so they drilled a big hole :-)

All the parts are in my ultrasonic bath right now .. All were in great shape though , just cleaning them up .

SeattlePorsche

What a coincidence, my rear rotors are off the car now for months and I look at the parking brake with a big question mark in my mind. I don't even know where to start. Could you show us later how you put your e brake back together Ice? It would help alot. I am also envious of your ultrasonic cleaner. What is that? Could you shoot a pic of that?

Later,

theiceman

got it out of a lab, ..they used to be common but are hardly used anymore. There are many stuffed away in labs and hospitals.. I iwll post a pic tomorrow.

theiceman

Taking it apart and putting it back together is VERY easy.

1. the first and most tricky part is pushing back the shoe retaining springs ( the conical shape ones ) and turning the locking pin. I used a set of vice grips at a predetermined spread, pushed back the spring and turned the pin in the middle 90 degrees with a pair of needle nose. there is a tool available for this but hey .. I'm cheap.

2. turn the adjuster all the way in so there is no tension.

3. take out the split pin on the nut holding the cable and undo the nut ( 8 mm)

4. using a pair of needle nose remove the rear spring buy the adjuster, might be tricky, it has a fair amount of tension.

The rest should just come right off.

Here are a few pics.

The rest is just putting it all back together.

PS the container in the ultrasonic is to make it last longer, you put pure water in the ultrasonic and whatever cleaner in the container .

Peter Zimmermann

If you would be so kind as to allow me to add my two cents here... Now that you've come this far, never re-use those old expansion plates! That's the only part that will break, which will allow your car to roll down... Seriously, replace them and the spring between them. Also, use a dentists mirror to confirm that the four ends are secure under the four locating pins on the shoes before you button the thing up. They can be tricky, I know mechanics who hate e-brake jobs because of them.
Pete

theiceman

Hi Pete

That is exactly what started this , one of my plates slipped off the pin and twisted the shoe.

I will see if I can get some new plates..

SeattlePorsche

Iceman,

Great! Thanks for the pic. It is always easier when you understand the anatomy. Pete, thanks for the recommendation. Looks like I have something to inspect this weekend!

Daniel Dudley

James. It is always a good idea to do one side at a time, so you have a reference in case you forget how they go back together. A lot can happen between the time you start and the time you finish.

pjc

I found this was the relatively easy part of the handbrake refurb - it was replacing those darned cables, particularly at the hand brake end, that had me cursing!

PJC

r911

which part is the exp. plate?

theiceman

the red circled pieces are the plates, they sit at an angle but when the spring is compressed between them they straighten out and they push on the pins on the shoe.
Be carefull in comparing with the opposite side on this item as they are different. The adjuster assembly (yellow) is mounted upside down on the opposite side. This is so when you are making ebrake adjustments you pull the screwdriver handle to the rear of the car to tighten it on both sides.

Of course I did not put in the cable that passes through the plates and spring and has the nut on the end.

SeattlePorsche

Great! I think I will definitely do this now. Is it hard to find the four plate and springs? I should do this now while my calipers are off and rotor is off.

I am going to paint my calipers, but silver. I don't want the red look.

Thanks Ice!

theiceman

Now is a great time if it is staring you in the face and you are in wait mode anyway. Definitely do one side at a time. Good time t check the cable too.

Peter Zimmermann

The plates and springs should be available at any local P-dealer...
Pete

JasonAndreas

If you just want to adjust the parking brake instead of completely dismantling them I wrote up the procedure for the 964/993 DIY forum and it looks to be the same? HowTo: Checking and Adjusting Parking Brake