I have a 1994 F150 SC XL.

The parking brake lever is stuck in the fully disengaged position - all the way up/out. It's as if it's overtraveled and won't travel back in with normal foot pressure; like it's "caught" on something. The actual cable is free; the parking brake engagement at the brake was working fine prior to this incident.

When I read a service manual, since I can't "push the pedal in", it seems I cannot use the service instructions to remove the assembly without cutting the cable, and since I think the cable is OK, I'd hate to do that.

Any suggestions on diagnosing the real issue and fixing it?

Does anyone know the Ford, or a replacement, part number? And an inexpensive supplier?

 

can`t help much other than to say that your mechanism is the auto adjust type. If you hold the pedal release handle out (with a zip tie or similar) you should be able to pull the cable from under the truck and unwind the auto adjuster, you can then insert a pin or drill into a hole in the mechanism to prevent it winding back when you remove the zip tie. This may allow you to disconnect the cable without cutting it.
For a replacement assembly maybe try partsguyed.com or a local scrap yard.
`92 to `96 should be the same.
Hopefully other opinions will follow.

 

Well, I couldn't figure out how to unwind the winding mechanism to be able to release the cable from the winding mechanism. It's probably for the better anyway.

What I did notice though was that the winding mechanism was rotating too far clockwise, causing the switch plunger mate surface to move so far out of the way that the switch plunger traveled into the space so as to act as stoppage for that switch plunger mate surface when the pedal/lever is being pressed towards the floor - basically stopping any more rotation.

I added a 1/4 inch spacer on top of the foot lever (where it would contact this limiting rod) so that the clockwise rotation was limited just enough so the switch plunger was always in contact with its mating surface (and not get in the way).

 

After adding the spacer I previously described, went about a week or so with trouble-free operation.

Then, out of the blue, the foot lever is again stuck so as to not be able to set the parking breaking.

The spacer is still in place - keeping the over-rotation from occurring so that the switch plunger is keeping the mechanism from rotating while the foot pedal is tried to be pushed.

Does anyone think it's worth taking out the parking brake control assembly and trying to diagnose or rebuild it?

partsguyed.com has a part for about $130.00 - which is kind of pricey for such an old vehicle.