Parking brake cable repair

[Dave G]

Just thought I'd share this - the brake cable on my blue car snapped a few months ago and I fixed it like so:



... with a couple bucks worth of standard hardware store stuff.

Bend back the end of the old one to form a loop around a new section of cable and clamp it. Then clamp then new section too. Then (with the brake lever down) loop the new section through the clevis, pull hard to get the slack out, bend it back, and clamp it.

Also, cut the ^&%$#@ little rubber accordion boots off both sides. As near as I can tell, their main function is to hold water and make the cable rust :roll:

[stefan]

man! mine is broken in the same place! I think im gonna do this, considering the yards are all muddy now.

Now that ya got me thinkin, did you consider using those crimp on ones? Ive used those before and they can hold hundreds of pounds if you crimp them good (like hammer them on an anvil)

[Pu241]

Stefan,

You can!
I pulled this from a post on the yahoo groups festiva site, from April 11th, 2001.
Sorry no pics, but hopefully still useful.

Both my '93's had the usual E-Brake failure!

Both broke in the exact same place. Probably same as yours, in the
guide/boot just before the connection to the mechanical actuator
behind the drum on the passenger side! Fixed both for about $3.00 US.
I'll outline procedure and fill in detail later if you need or want
them.

1) Jack up rear passenger end of car and remove wheel. Safety first,
chock all other wheels, remember you don't have an E-brake. Support
the car using jack stands, jacks are not for support they are only
used to lift the car. Look over how the cable is assembled and put
together. Draw a diagram, I did.

2) Disconnect the part of the cable attached behind the drum. Its
just a carter pin holding the Assembly together. Save the cable,
note how the cable is routed and is retained in the "u" shaped piece.

3) Next cut the cable somewhere to the right of the bracket that
connects the left and right cables together, but left of the spring
and stop Assembly. Again, very important, note how it is put
together. Diagram this.

4) After step 3) you can now remove all pieces of the cable and put
them end to end. Measure how long this cable is and measure where the
stops are located. Put these measurements on the diagram.

5) Find a good Hardware store, I went to Lowe's, and buy steel cable
in a diameter as close to the original as you can. Buy stainless if
they have it. They only sell it buy the foot so you'll buy 2'. I
bought four 2' pieces, just in case I screwed it up, and I did the
first time.Also in the same section they will have wire connectors.
these are used to join separate cables together or make loops in a
single cable. Buy set of appropriate diameter for the selected cable,
I bought extra, at $0.75 US a set was not going to break me if I
didn't use them. If you wish, a special tool can be bought to crimp
these connectors to the cable. I used a hammer, even though the
directions on the connector package specifically says not to.

6)Out of the wire connector set (they have 4 pieces in them) chose
the largest 2 pieces. these will be attached to the cable ends. The
smaller pieces,you only need one, will be used for the spring stop.

7) Attach one of the large connectors to the end of the cable, using
your choice of tool (hammer or crimp tool)

8) now mark on this cable, as accurately as possible the distance
between the spring stop and drum side connection from the original
cable. Also mark the distance from the spring stop to the point were
the cable is attach to bracket connecting left and right cables.

9) thread the "U" shaped Assembly from the drum mechanism on to the
cable, then the guide/boot, then the spring, if possible a small
washer could be threaded onto the cable, to stabilize the spring base.

10) place one of the small connectors onto the cable and side it to
the marked location. Now crimp or hammer the connector to the cable.
If using a hammer don't crush it flat but make sure it is not going
to move from site of attachment.

11) thread the above assembled cable, with all the attachment through
the hole where the guide/boot will later be attached. run the cable
through the bracket and out the other side. pull as much of this
Assembly as possible through the bracket as the slack is necessary
for you to attach the last large connector to the marked location,
via hammer or crimper.

12) if you did all of this correctly the Spring, guide/boot can now
be attache to the subfram by its original clip and the "U" shaped
piece can now be pinned back to the actuator behind the drum, don't
forget the cater pin.

13) If all is well your done! If you can't attach the "U" shaped
piece to the mechanism behind the drum your bracket stop was too
short. If you have too much slack you might be able to adjust the
brake cable inside to car and take up the slack without engaging the
driver side brake. If not the bracket side stop was placed too far
from where it should have been. That's why you bough extras!!!!!!!!!!
Cut the cable to remove the necessary hardware and try again!

The manual says the cable should be fully engaged with between 11 and
16 clicks of the brake handle, adjust accordingly.

Hope this helps!

Its been working for me now 3 months , prior to this, we didn't have
an E-brake for over a year. As a plus this generally fixes the
incomplete release or at least makes it much better than what it was.

[Dave G]

man! mine is broken in the same place!

That confirms my suspicion about the rubber boots then - honestly, I don't see any use for them at all. Both of mine were full of rusty mud.

Now that ya got me thinkin, did you consider using those crimp on ones?

Either is probably fine. The big advantage of the bolt on kind is you don't have to remove the whole shebang and put it over an anvil :lol:

[WmWatt]

SS cable and crimp on fasteners are used to hold the masts up on sailboats (standing rigging, shrouds). The tool is called a "swager" for anyone who might be looking for one. You have to tighten them down hard to keep the cable from slipping out under stress later on. I've tried an anvil and cold chisel for steel cable on a garage door opener. It didn't hold first time. Be careful when doing that.

[standard]

bump to say thanks for the thread!

same dang thing happened to me last week - fixed it this weekend. Leaving off the rubber boots sounded like a good idea to me too.

[nattyphysicist]

Great post!

Would this pass a safety inspection? Just a thought since replacements are hard to get.

I have the exact same failure, broke at the rubber grommet thing. I'm going to cut off those bellows and splice in a cable. Thanks all!

[FestYboy]

darn, now i'm forced to post pix of my fix as well... tomorrow.

[MONSOON]

Congratulations guys! This is an awesome thread with good information to be sure. Even with the red Xs!
And it has earned you.

[genghis1]

Good info guys....thanks again

[FestYboy]

man, i wasn't even paying attention to that, lol.

[MONSOON]

You know me, I read all the new posts and pounce when the opportunity presents itself.

[FestYboy]

yeah, you're just evil like that.

[Darlo]

Could you post pics please...... I just broke mine and I have no idea what to do, and that is after reading the instructions, lol......

Thanks

[Pu241]

Who do you want to post pics?