and logic tells me it's NOT the cable and it's NOT the shoes or parking brake drum that's built into the rotor...

Ok. Here's what happens... pull up handle, hear the racheting action going on... let go of handle, hear the racheting action going on as the hand brake lever flies back to it's original position... this happened the first time yesterday, and I've not been able to keep the parking brake engaged since... I got the car rolling, put it into neutral, pulled the brake and stopped... so it's something with the rachety thing

I have a feeling it has to do with the button coming unscrewed, as I remember someone saying that if you pull the brake too much, undo the button to get it to release... I've tried to twist the button back in, but either my hand is too oily, or the spring is keeping it from threading, or something because I can't get any improvement....

Sooooooo... what is the recommendation? Until it's fixed, I'll be parking in R if the nose is downhill, and 2 if it's uphill...

 

I cant' say I've had that particular failure, however I once had the cam lock (ratchet mechanism) jam after a gorilla tow truck driver pulled the handle too hard. I had to remove the parking brake handle and unjam the cam lock with a screwdriver. But that failure didn't cause the ratchet to engage at all.

The other failure I had was when the button/spring mechanism inside the handle broke and had to replace it with a used handle.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong.. but I don't think it matters what gear you put it in. I would put it in first also rather than second.

All that holds the car back when you leave it in gear is the engine compression (along with tolerances in driveshaft and etc. The engine can rotate in either direction.. so I don't think putting it in reverse does anything for you. I never had a working parking brake and ALWAYS put it in first when i park. never had it roll away.

 

Mine does the same thing, so I just leave it in first. I can usually get the brake to stay up if I pull it to the side a bit, usually towards my leg. The problem with that is it'll sometimes let go.

It hasn't bothered me enough to really get at the root of the problem, but it's either an adjustment to pre-tension the spring a bit more or just a worn out ratchet pawl. I tried turning tightening the thumb button a bit more with some pliers, but it really hasn't made a difference.

 

The locking pawl has swung around. Happens when the handle can be pulled all the way up because the shoes are worn and out of adjustment.

The fix is to put the linkage back in with the hook on the end of the wire pointing down, pull the handle all the way up, push the button and linkage all the way in, reach under the handle at the piviot with a small screw driver and swing the pawl back around so it's rounded end fits inside the hook on the end of the wire. You have to move the button in and out to get the pawl to align with the hook. Hold in the button and put the handle down all the way.

Now jack up the rear and take the rims off. Adjust the parking brakes through the holes in the outside of the rear hubs. Tighten them till you can't turn the hub by hand then loosen till they don't touch. Spin the hub you can hear them hit.

Item #7 in this image is the pawl.

 

I had this problem, teeth were ground on the parking brake... Replaced and it was good as new

Until my parking brake expanders decided to seize... now those are replaced, alone with a new cable, new shoes, and basically a brand new parking brake assembly.

At least thats one less 20 year old part.