Parking Brake Cables

[milleniacm]

I took my 99 Millenia 2.5L (130K miles) for inspection and the mechanic tells me I need to fix the parking brake. I got an estimate of $650. Three cables (70 for front, 180 for each one of the rears) and 2.5 hours of labor.

Does anyone know how complicated this is? Any instructions?

[T2T]

It's not as easy as a simple adjustment?

[bigb]

You dont need all 3

you only need the rear 2.

the front one is about 2 feel long and goes from the brake lever in the car through the floor and ends up under the car. there is then a spring and a plate that connects the lower 2 cables. these run to either side of the car for each wheel. typically these are the ones that seize up and need replacing. I did mine about 2 years ago.

[bigb]

ps the price for the cables is about right and so is the time to replace them. You could save some time to do this job by yourself, but ask yourself if saving $200 in labor is worth crawling under the car. typically now I only work on the engine. if it involves me getting on my back I just take it to the dealer. not worth my time fighting with rusty chassis bolts without a lift

[keninn]

you should first try adjusting the brakes. if you pull the wheel, you will see a large black rubber plug. remove the plug, and shine a lite in there, you will see the adjuster. i forget the position of the hole, either the 1 o'clock, or the 11 o'clock. what you do is adjust it out, there are these little tabs that you turn with a screwdriver. turning the tabs down will move the shoes out, and when they contact the drum, the adjuster will stop. then, back it off about 5 clicks, and manually turn the hub, to see if you got resistance. if there is, loosen another click. do this on both sides. i replaced the rotors and shoes on the white car, thinking the shoes were gone. they looked about the same as the new ones. i did not measure the drum, but after putting it all back, and adjusting it, i think a simple adjustment would have done the trick. if you ever change the shoes, pull the inner hub off, or you will NEVER get the springs back on. pulling the hub takes like a minute with air tools, then it takes like 10 minutes to put the shoes/springs back on. otherwise, it can take hours

[Xedosman]

I didn't pull the inner hubs, rather hook up the springs prior to reinstalling the liners. No major hazzle in my book.
Adjustment is crucial, the e-brake is barely sufficient even in top notch. I also use it ALWAYS to avoid it from seizing up. I've done mine only once, during rear disc replacement @ 110 k km. Then they got a major cleanup and moving parts lubrication, due to not holding the car during steep parking. Probably due to a major amount of brake dust inside the drum; I sometimes use it during winter driving to hang out the tail. I didn't need new liners nor wires.

[milleniacm]

The cables finally arrived a couple of days ago. The front one (which was broken) was replaced. But the two rear ones couldn't be replaced. They attach to a bracket on the vacuum plates (does anyone know what part this is?). The mechanic told me the bracket is completely rusted, needs to be replaced.
btw it's a dealer only item for $1000. Anyone had the same issue? The car (1999,2.5l) spent all its life here in the Northeast used all year around in the snow, salt etc. What part do I need? May be I can get it from a junk yard.

[yel-low]

I guess the salt could explain some of it but how in the world does one go about breaking brake cables? You would think the rest of the shell would rust away before something like that goes. That is a first for me.

[milleniacm]

Only the front cable broke. The two rear cables were seized.

[yel-low]

I know this post has nothing with helping you out but I'm curious... is this your daily driver? Was the car submerged underwater or parked up for a long time? It just seems odd that you would all of a sudden realize broken/seized cables.