Looking for ideas to fix a non-functional parking brake?
 

The parking brake on my 84- 300TD does not appear to have worked since I owned it. Now I feel like fixing it (long story).

I adjusted the "star nuts" in the rear hub per the manual. I tightened the wire where the front cable transfers to the rear cables, and the adjustment bolt is all the way in.

It seems like there is too much cable or that the cables are stretched. With the cable at max tension, the pedal has no problem going through all 12 detents, with relatively minimal effort. This is markedly different than my SDL which will only allow the pedal to be depressed about 6 detents before refusal.

What is a good next step?

Opening up the hubs and checking out/replacing the parking brake shoes?

Replacing the rear cables?

Anyone have ideas?

alec

get a cinder block, keep it in the trunk!

sorry, i had to say it. the first thing i would look at would be the shoes. i thing my parking break is starting to go out too, but i use it every time i park the car, its a habit.

surfblau,

First I would remove the rear rotors and see if the brake shoes move when the pedal is depressed. Check if the adjusters are moving the shoes enough to contact the drum.

You can also check the linings at that time. Maybe they are completely gone like the ones in one of my 300SDs were.

Let us know what you find after you do the above.

P E H

shoes were toast
 

I finally got around to checking the shoes- pretty cracked up.

I ordered some new parking brake shoes and put them on with a couple of flat bladed screwdrivers. 2 hours for the first side, 1 for the other.

Now my brakes work fine.

thanks

Thank you very much for finishing this thread. I hate not finding out what happened. I think I'll tackle this job next.