E-Brake ratchet no workie (Page 1/1)
Kitskaboodle APR 07, 10:57 PM
Man, I hate it when stuff breaks on my Fiero.
Anybody have this happen: my e-brake no longer “ratchets”. The cable is fine (you can pull up on it and you can feel the tension on the rear calipers) but there is no ratcheting and it does not stay locked in position with tension. It simply goes back to off. Can the current E-Brake lever be fixed or is it time for a new lever? Anyone go through this same issue?
Thanks, Kit
Biggest_of_A APR 08, 03:52 PM
Mine does not ratchet and I need a serviceable lever to pass inspection.

The parking brake looks flimsy and nor well designed.
theogre APR 08, 07:39 PM
Pull seat and trim for access to lever bottom.
Is only way to know what is wrong.

If lever parts are broken then get another lever.

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Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave

IMSA GT APR 08, 07:56 PM
In this picture, notice the ratchet by the red arrow is not touching the teeth. Also notice the position of the "slipped" cam by the yellow arrow.


Now notice the correct position of the cam and notice the "nub" that is locked into the cam (green arrow). This is what puts spring tension on the ratchet to keep the teeth engaged. See if yours has slipped. If so, you can half-ass it for the time being or buy a new handle assembly.

[This message has been edited by IMSA GT (edited 04-08-2020).]

theogre APR 08, 08:29 PM
Even if you fix that get another lever assembly very soon.
Metal will often have more problems once bent then bent back etc.

[This message has been edited by theogre (edited 04-08-2020).]

Mike in Sydney APR 08, 11:57 PM
Sounds like the spring has slipped off the pawl. Check by removing the plastic door trim to examine the handle & ratchet. The trim comes off by popping out the screw covers and removing the phillips screws. Be careful because with the parking brake cutout in the panel, it's a bit flimsy. Removing the seat is will help by giving you more room plus you can find all those things people lose under the seat.

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Mike in Sydney

Kitskaboodle APR 09, 11:31 PM
Thank you everyone for the replies!
And thank you Imsa for those pics.
I will check it out this weekend.
Good thing my car is an auto.
Thanks, Kit
Kitskaboodle APR 11, 02:22 PM
Ok, I got it all apart and found the problem.
In Imsa’s pics above, there is a flat metal round “post” and there is a spring that wraps around this post. My spring totally broke from fatigue. As a side note, I use my e-brake regularly. Anyways, I can see that without the spring holding the pawl arm upward (so it provides the ratchet noise) it was simply flopping to the bottom position. (no longer contacts the teeth)
The e-brake arm itself is fine, it’s just that broken spring. I thought about making a modified spring from some misc. small springs I have but I’m not sure how I would get the spring over the post head. It would be nice to be able to make a modified spring fit without having to remove the whole lever. Here is a pic of the e-brake assembly from the top down and also a pic of what’s left of the e-brake spring. Got any ideas on how to make a modified spring fit?
Thanks, Kit
Kitskaboodle APR 11, 02:24 PM
With pics
theogre APR 11, 08:40 PM
pull the seat to have more room to work should help.

⚠️ Rebending other springs may help short term and fail again sooner or later.
Cold bending makes stress cracks that makes them fail.
Hot bending you never get right quench then often fails too.

Best is find new "piano wire" and bend that to make a new one very sim to OE one.

You might find a small spring w/o moding it and attack to the pawl parts and anchor it to the base in some other way.

Hold the pawl to the teeth while pushing the button. That should show you how the spring will need to handle the movement.
Spring should be under tension at rest to keep teeth pulling into each other but not stretch too much when button is pushed.

Warnings:
Cutting hard/spring wire will ruin most wire cutters including most "pro grade" cutters. I'm not sure even "Vise-Grip" w/ wire cutter function and related are hard enough to cutting spring wire w/o damage.
When cutting Hard wire, the cut off pieces can literally shoot your eye out. If you can't control both parts like one will be too small after, cover the part and cutter w/ a rag.

[This message has been edited by theogre (edited 04-11-2020).]