[cyberdork]

My parking brake from the factory was never impressively tight. The last 10,000 miles the brake seemed to tighten up to a respectable amount of clicks while setting it. One night a few weeks ago I heard my pads dragging while driving. I got out and noticed one wheel was heavily coated in brake dust and smelled hot. I figured my parking brake cable was bound up or caught. Gave it a series of pulls, some pretty hard to see if it would loosen up. I guess it eventually worked and the pads loosened up. A few days later I noticed it was extremely loose. I removed the center console today and noticed the adjustment cables were very different. Is it normal to have the cables different lengths or did I stretch/break a cable?

 

[crmplex]

that is not normal. i would check the calipers.

 

[greg1c]

Not normal, you need to look at the Brakes and the parking brake cable on both sides and make sure they are not bound up by rust or broken. I suspect corrosion on the cable causing it to bind up.

 

[cyberdork]

I took a look under the car and had my fiance set and reset the parking brake. The suspect side is still dragging and not releasing fully (jacked the car up and spun the tire). Any fool proof way to determine if the cable or the caliper is to blame?

 

[LAF]

I would say if you can disconnect the cable.

However since you been dragging pads on your rotor you need to pull the wheel and get the caliper off and check for issues, pads may be screwed up along with rotor.

Heat can be a issue with your wheel bearing. Can cause a issue with your brake fluid.


Not sure how hot you got everything.

You do need to at least pull the wheel and look at everything.

Let us know what you find.

 

[crmplex]

Yes. Release the parking brake. Then Remove the 2 bolts that hold the cable bracket to the caliper, then slip the cable off of the caliper arm. see if u can move the caliper arm by hand. If u can't with a little muscle, it's frozen. If it's not, have someone operate the parking brake while u watch the cable underneath the car. Does it slide in and out easil?

 

[maxpower02]

OP,
If the car is still under warranty, take it in!! There might be more to this repair than you think. If you start pulling wheels and such, your service dept might say you were responsible....and, this is a SAFETY issue, don't take any chances that you might make it worse

 

[cyberdork]

OP,
If the car is still under warranty, take it in!! There might be more to this repair than you think. If you start pulling wheels and such, your service dept might say you were responsible....and, this is a SAFETY issue, don't take any chances that you might make it worse

I called and I'm out of my warranty so no luck there. Right now I reset the parking brake lever on the back of caliper and put a sock around the brake level in the cabin and bungee corded it to the bottom of the seat (I needed something silly and obvious so I didn't pull it). I jacked up the wheel last night and had my fiancée pull the brake while I watched and it seemed to pull smoothly but did not release the last few millimeters. I will disconnect it today and give it some more inspection.

 

[Username]

I called and I'm out of my warranty so no luck there. Right now I reset the parking brake lever on the back of caliper and put a sock around the brake level in the cabin and bungee corded it to the bottom of the seat (I needed something silly and obvious so I didn't pull it). I jacked up the wheel last night and had my fiancée pull the brake while I watched and it seemed to pull smoothly but did not release the last few millimeters. I will disconnect it today and give it some more inspection.

No way are you out of your warranty, it's 3 years, right?

 

[Fis753106]

No way are you out of your warranty, it's 3 years, right?

3 years or 36k miles

Anyways, OP, I have the same issue!!! I posted a thread here and some other places and didnt get very far..

Also its pretty "funny", I figured out the same thing you did (I think) which is getting under the car and pulling the little arm with the parking brake cable will relieve the problem.

I have opened up the console to look at my adjustments a couple of months ago, and one side was a little longer than the other, not as much as yours.

I have noticed that wiggling the parking brake cable (the one under the car covered by the black cable protector) fixes the problem SOMETIMES, and I am able to use the parking brake a couple of times before it gets stuck again.. So my suspicion is a binding cable..

 

[cyberdork]

3 years or 36k miles

Yup. I'm at 43,000 :frown

Anyways, OP, I have the same issue!!! I posted a thread here and some other places and didnt get very far..

Also its pretty "funny", I figured out the same thing you did (I think) which is getting under the car and pulling the little arm with the parking brake cable will relieve the problem.

I have opened up the console to look at my adjustments a couple of months ago, and one side was a little longer than the other, not as much as yours.

I have noticed that wiggling the parking brake cable (the one under the car covered by the black cable protector) fixes the problem SOMETIMES, and I am able to use the parking brake a couple of times before it gets stuck again.. So my suspicion is a binding cable..

Something about these Maryland Honda's I was thinking about leaving the parking brake disconnected on one side and hoping the other side would hold until I can remedy the problem.

 

[Fis753106]

Hard to explain sort of, but I'll give it a shot:

When the parking brake isnt working properly I can feel it through the lever. How so? When I try to engage the parking brake there is no resistance. Its basically effortless and a 1 week old baby could lift it.

Once I get under the car and "fix" the brake, the parking brake feels firm for a couple of times until it screws up again.

Is yours similar?

Yup. I'm at 43,000 :frown

I am at 62k :crying

Wait holy crap.. I see you are in Westminster, MD, I am right by Reisterstown, MD :0

And we have the same problem, what are the chances.

By any chance have you hit any small animals or debris? I feel like this started happening once I hit a beaver or possum of some sort on the back roads.. I thought maybe it snagged on the cable and stretched it. Just a guess though!

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/86-9th-generation/231625-hand-brake-problem.html

^^There is my thread from a year ago..

 

[cyberdork]

Hard to explain sort of, but I'll give it a shot:

When the parking brake isnt working properly I can feel it through the lever. How so? When I try to engage the parking brake there is no resistance. Its basically effortless and a 1 week old baby could lift it.

Once I get under the car and "fix" the brake, the parking brake feels firm for a couple of times until it screws up again.

Is yours similar?

My pull remains consistent without much resistance. It however does not reset all the way after the first pull.

 

[Fis753106]

Something about these Maryland Honda's I was thinking about leaving the parking brake disconnected on one side and hoping the other side would hold until I can remedy the problem.

What I did was just leave it connected and never use the parking brake.. Ha. As long as I pull the parking brake bracket under the car, the brake stays not engaged. (in my situation)

After all, if there is a real emergency the e brake is still usable..

 

[cyberdork]

What I did was just leave it connected and never use the parking brake.. Ha. As long as I pull the parking brake bracket under the car, the brake stays not engaged. (in my situation)

After all, if there is a real emergency the e brake is still usable..

We have a pretty steep hill at the house so I'm not comfortable relying on leaving it in gear (I have terrible luck and am not trying to push it). My fiancées dad has a lift. I might try to take it over there within the next couple of days.

 

[Username]

3 years or 36k miles

Ooo true. Sorry to hear about it

 

[RacerRik]

Your cable is not stretched. They don't stretch. The cable might be rusty near the brake caliper and causing it to stick but it is not likely. The most likely problem is the arm on the caliper is corroded / binding. The reason your cables appear to be such different lengths is that the stuck side is all the way out due to the arm or cable binding.

The mechanism has a ratchet like device that pushes out the caliper piston. If the arm cannot rotate back to its normal resting state, it does not ratchet for a new bite. So as the pad wears (from being stuck partially on) the cable gets pulled further each time you use the parking brake.

Take the cable off the arm and check the arm for binding. It should easily return on its own to the full off position. You can try lubricating it with some spray lube if it is binding, but the ultimate solution is probably a new brake caliper.

 

[maxpower02]

OP,
Even if you are over mileage, all this back and forth, bring it in to the dealer, maybe you can get some credit being that it is part of the safety system of the car, also, it might be a easy fix, it might be part of a TSB, which would be a freebie for you. Why spend all that time trying to "figure" out what is wrong...and you have a manual tranny, so the parking brake is crucial for you...my $.02

 

[Fis753106]

We have a pretty steep hill at the house so I'm not comfortable relying on leaving it in gear (I have terrible luck and am not trying to push it). My fiancées dad has a lift. I might try to take it over there within the next couple of days.

Didnt realize you have a 6 speed. If you find the problem let us know please!

 

[greyhonda]

I was thinking about leaving the parking brake disconnected on one side and hoping the other side would hold until I can remedy the problem.

Nope. (At least not on a 7th gen.)