Hi all , could do with a little advice regarding the handbrake on my 91 4.0 please. I can't get the passenger side Caliper to adjust up . They were both reconditioned when I had the cage out and it appears to function correctly when worked by hand but does not hold the wheel as the other side does. By that I mean you can work it by hand back and forth but it does not make a ratchet sound.can it be removed in situ or do I need to remove the cage again? Any help gratefully appreciated as it's driving me nuts!!

 

Some have had success getting them out with the cradle insitu, I have not.

I tried once, nope, dropped the cradle.

The ratcheting, or lack of, is what I also reckon is the issue.

If you are nimble enough, reaching up the outside arm of the park brake caliper, you can feel the end of the ratchet, and if you are blessed, you may be able to rotate it enough to get it started.

 

Thanks grant

 

Is that the issue then it's not starting?

 

On my S2 V12, yes, and it took me a while to get something on that ratchet end, arthritis is not fun in the fingers, but once I got it to turn about 1/2 turn, it started clicking when the arm was worked.

It came within seconds of dropping that cradle again.

I learnt with that one, had no issues since.

 

You are a star! What did you use to turn it?

 

Very loooooong pointy nose pliers, which I heated the nose of and bent them to get a grip on the ratchet snout protruding, 1 bottle of JD (prior to) and lots of language.

I even went thru the holes in the boot floor front vertical panel, hoping it would lead me to the parkbrake calipers. It sort of did, but not where I needed to be.

I had all sorts of pliers etc under the car. These long handled, long nose old as hell, duly modified, actually gave me a fraction of a rotation at each attempt. Eventually I heard a "click" and knew I was on the right track, it drove me nuts, but I persisted, and eventually won the battle.

 

The easiest way to get the ratchet started is to disconnect the cable and work the levers individually with a long prybar. FORCE the levers to the extreme in each direction until the click is heard, then force the lever the other way.

Failing that you can remove the cotter pin from the head of the screw and turn the screw with a slotted driver, insert a cotter pin and move the levers to final adjust.

The 2 long bolts/pins can be removed and the caliper slid to the rear opening at the back of the cage. Then you can 'twirl' the caliper halves until the gap is correct.

bob

 

When you say the outside grant do you mean the side nearest the wheel?.

 

Yes, under that tin cover is the ratchet.

Removing the cotter (split) pin as Bob has said would be simpler, IF you can get up between the inner caliper and the diff.