Frozen Parking Brake Cable

[stanrob]

Has anyone had experience freeing up a frozen parking brake cable?
I went shopping for (another) new one, and 3rd party shops don't have.
Toyota dealer says just three in the country now, $120.

[Petros]

did you check the rockauto.com web site? they sometimes have the most obscure parts for the T4wd.

Are you sure it is the cable that is frozen? I have not seen that, but I have seen brakes shoes that get rusted to the drum if it was parked when they were wet and left for more than a week or two. Of course, salt use on the roads may cause rusting in places (like inside the brake cable) that I would not see here. I am not sure where to look in my boxes of Tercel parts, but I likely have a set of used parking brake cables.

[marlinh]

Seized e brake cables are common where I live. They are readily available aftermarket.

[dlb]

hi stanrob. yes, i recently replaced a frozen park brake cable on a terc. my friend found the park brake was getting gradually weaker over time. i initially thought that one or both of the brake shoe adjusters was frozen since that will cause the same symptom, but both checked out. so with the drums off, i looked at the arm that sits behind the rearmost brake shoe that the park brake cables connect to. i looked at them both at rest and then when the park brake handle was pulled up. i could see that one side was flexing and relaxing properly while the other side was sort of halfway flexed and didn't change when the park brake handle was pulled up, so i knew that side was the culprit. i recommend removing the trim from around the park brake handle and undoing the two 10 mm nuts on the threaded end of the front cable. then you can drop that down onto the ground under the car to separate the bad cable from the bracket where it attaches to the front cable. it's taxing trying to do it while working around the rear driveshaft.

another tip: clean all the dirt off of the 10 mm bolts that secure the cable to the body of the car, then spray them with pb blaster long before you attempt this job. when you put the ratchet on those same bolts, gently bounce the ratchet until they start to come out. those bolts are so small and so corroded, it's really easy to strip them or snap them off if you use too much force.

the park brake cable up here in canada was $40 and i got it less than 2 months ago so don't listen to toyota. there are lots around.

[ARCHINSTL]

What dlb said on removing the little bolts!
Also - when replacing them, put globs of chassis lube where the wires enter their sheaths midsection - and then check it before each Winter.
Tom M.

[stanrob]

Wow, I'm impressed with all the responses. As I understand it, you're saying those cables are readily available (as they were to me 8 years ago when I got this car and replaced both cables). Where are you guys going to get these? I went to AutoZone and Advance Auto Parts and they both told me that part is no longer available. BTW this is for an 85 SR5 4wd wagon with 293k miles, otherwise full power and great.

[Petros]

they area available on the rock auto website for $10. to $12, depending on brand. also, use the rock auto discount code for another 5% off.

www.rockauto.com

[ARCHINSTL]

From Advance's: http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp ... rom=header
From Rock Auto: (scroll down the list): http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carco ... BBRAKEWARE
Manufacturer's site: http://brakeware.com/
Tom M.

[splatterdog]

What dlb said on removing the little bolts!
Also - when replacing them, put globs of chassis lube where the wires enter their sheaths midsection - and then check it before each Winter.
Tom M.

These little devices are designed for cable lubing with aerosol sprays- http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keyword ... le%20luber It clamps around the cable and sheath and has a hole for the straw on your lube.

[ARCHINSTL]

What dlb said on removing the little bolts! Also - when replacing them, put globs of chassis lube where the wires enter their sheaths midsection - and then check it before each Winter.Tom M.

These little devices are designed for cable lubing with aerosol sprays- http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keyword ... le%20luber It clamps around the cable and sheath and has a hole for the straw on your lube.

kk kk
Boy, am I embarrassed - we used to sell those little jobbies in the bike shop - I even still have one downstairs, long-forgotten. They DO work well.
I reiterate: kk kk
Tom M.

[xirdneh]

i have freed up a few of them
it was a hassle and i think i will just buy a new one next time
basically i worked the cable back and forth while periodically squirting lube in the ends
sometimes even after getting the cable free i could not get it to slide loosely
so i put the thing in a vise and worked it back and forth for a long time while squirting different lubes in the ends
finally getting it to a usable point

[marlinh]

Yes, you may end up with a working e brake for a while, then if it starts to hang up again without you noticing, you fry your shoes. Not worth it. For all the effort to try to free the cable up it is well worth replacing it with new.

[dlb]

Yes, you may end up with a working e brake for a while, then if it starts to hang up again without you noticing, you fry your shoes. Not worth it. For all the effort to try to free the cable up it is well worth replacing it with new.

the parking brake i had to replace was actually one that i pulled off of my parts car and put on my first project terc. i'm all for being thrifty but i was definitely annoyed to have to do the job again within a year.

funny story regarding frying brake shoes: i sold our vw westfalia to a couple a few months ago. the girl test drove it and i had to remind her to release the park brake when we started the test drive. all went fine from there and the girl paid for it and then insured it. i followed her up to a local vw mechanic so she could have some routine maintenance done. when we arrived at the mechanic's though, i could smell burning. so could she because when she opened the door she stared daggers at me and asked if that was burning oil she smelled, as if i had just ripped her off. i said it smelled more like burning metal but i wasn't sure what it would be because everything had been working fine up until that point. i looked at the back and saw both back brakes were smoking like crazy and too hot to get anywhere near. i asked her if she had driven the 16 km with the park brake on, turned out she had. she was pretty sheepish about it, and angry at herself for potentially costing herself a bunch more work right after buying the damn thing. i felt bad for her but i was thankful as all hell that it was no longer mine by that time.

[stanrob]

THANKS for all the tips. Yes I see now that rockauto has some of them. Since I last wrote I called another shop (Autoparts International) and they furnished me with one locally. Or so I thought. Turned out to be the right cable length but wrong length to end bracket. What a nuisance.

[Petros]

they need to verify that it's for the 4wd wagon, even so, some parts suppliers might lump them in with the 2wd ones out of ignorance.