I had a similar problem after replacing the brake shoes, springs and wheel cylinders on my 1993 XLT. Somehow (perhaps because the hand brake was pulled while the drums were off), the emergency brake cable became overtight. I ultimately fixed the problem by loosening the cable at the adjuster wheel. Remove the parking brake handle boot cover and lower/release the parking brake. I put a punch through the "pawl lock-out hole" (the hole closet towards the front of the van), and pushed it down, towards the rear of the adjuster, and it released the tension on the parking brake cable. I have not had any more problems in over a year.

 

copper_90680 - -

Sorry, but I don't know the correct nomenclature. I think that we're both referring to the same thing: the bar where the hand brake lever cable attaches at the center, with cables for left and right rear attaching at either side.

My '95 Aerostar has a spring through the center of which passes the handbrake lever cable. One end presses against the bar ("equalizer", "T", whatever), and the other end presses against the flange further to the front through which the cable passes. This places pressure toward releasing the brake, opposing the coil spring in the lever. The way I see it, when these opposing forces are at equilibrium or in favor of the brake springs, no adjustment occurs. When the balance shifts the other way, so the that the coil spring in the lever is prevailing, the self-adjuster ratchet will advance to tighten the cable at hand-brake release time.

This spring (by my observation) is not an integral part of any assembly. The cable merely passes through its center.

theinrich - -

I tried poking and pressing and pulling, and there was no way I could figure out how to release that pawl. Now that I've pulled the lever assembly out and inspected its workings, I'l be able to release it easily (if I ever have this problem again) without getting underneath the beast.

- - Herb

 

Herbray:

My 93 2WD doesn't have a spring where you described. They must have put that in after my year model. For my car, where the T is, there is nothing but the three cable ends.



Theinrich:

Thanks for the tip on releasing tension on the hand brake. I'm having a real hard time with that thing.

 

My recolletion is that the Haynes manual has a description of the procedure for releasing the tension on the hand brake. I'll check again tonight. It was a real lifesaver after the local mechnics could not figure out the problem and simply disconnected the e-cable at the T-bar.

 

From the Haynes manual:

Remove the parking brake handle boot cover and insert a steel pin (a nail or drill bit will work) into the pawl lock-out hole from the inboard side (larger hole) at a slightly upward and forward angle. Push the pin in as far as it will go then manuever it downward and to the rear to move the adjuster pawl out of the way. The pin should now pass through the outer hole (see illustration on page 9-16).

Maybe I was lucky, but it worked for me right away.

 

Okay Fellas (especially jkorreck) - -

It's called "parking brake equalizer spring", and the part number is
I'll probably install it this weekend, and then we'll see.

- - Herb

 

Hi Herbray:

How does the new spring work? Did you get it from a Ford dealer? Just out of curiosity, what are the length, OD and ID of the unloaded spring? I'm beginning to think that Ford might have forgotten to put one in my 93 van since I'm having a lot of problems with the handbrake tightening up on me.

Thanks

 

The dealer did not have it in stock, nor did the local warehouse. I expect the dealer to get it in any day now. I'll give you the dimensions when I get the spring. The one I removed from my XLT was rusty, rotten, and bent.

This spring pushes rearward against the bar to which the three cables are connected. The handbrake lever cable jacket is attached to a sort of flange, and the cable itself continues out of the jacket and through the flange, through the center of the THE SPRING, then attaching to the bar to join with left and right cables. The effect of the spring is that of increasing the tension that you feel on pulling the handbrake. It adds to the tension you feel that comes just from the brake shoe springs. Without this added tension, the self-adjuster coil spring in the handbrake lever will "win" the tug-of-war and keep ratcheting up the tension, until the brakes locked "on".

- - Herb

 

Don't you have two springs, one for each of the rear cable? On mine, the rear cables have springs where they are attached to the lever, which is attached to the rear shoes. These springs work in the same direction as the one spring you are talking about, i.e. against the tension in the parking brake handle. My God! I have confused myself here

 

Sorry, but you have me at a disadvantage: I'm nowhere near my van, so I can't say about the springs at the levers.

 

Sorry Herbray, I should have checked those things out myself first before posting questions. I went to www.fordpartsonline.com and it seems the parking brake parts are identical for all Aerostar 92-97. That means the control assembly, the front and rear cables are identical. If you have a spring at the T bar, my car should also have one. Alas, I see none there on my car. Ford must have "forgotten" to put one on my car. This van used to be driven by my wife and she never used the parking brake. Now that she got a new car and I have inherited the van, I started to use the hand brake and it's seizing up on me. Chalk one up for Ford quality again, eh?

Regards

 

Hello Herbray:

Any progress on the hand brake problem? I'm afraid my control is all shot now. The hand brake is seizing up pretty good after a few pulls!!!!!!

 

Sorry, but I must put off the installation of the spring until next weekend; however, I think it's safe to say that you need this spring. I posted the part number earlier.

I would go to a dealership and see if it is called for on your exact model. If it's not, you might want it in there anyway if your hand brake is ratcheting up.

Unfortunately, it's going to be a couple of weeks until I can do this repair, and then it'll still be a while before I'm sure that this fixed the problem. But, having taken the handle out and seen for myself exactly how the thing works, all bets are on.

- - Herb

 

OK, I finally had that problem taken care of. For some reason, my van did not have a return spring on the front cable near the equilizer. Since I have been the original owner, and the parking brake has never been touched before, my only conclusion is that Ford left it out when they built my van. Buying a spring from Ford is kind of pricey and will take too long. So I went to Orchard Hardware Supply and bought a compression spring (C880) and a metal rope clamp (the type they use for boat steering cables). Slip the spring over the front cable, bear one end of the spring to the rear of the cross-brace, compress the spring about haflway, tighten the clamp on the cable. What this did is to cause the spring to push the front cable rearward when the brake handle is released. Worked like a charm. No more hand brake seizing up. Thanks Herbray for pointing out that there is indeed a spring back there. I would have never guessed.

 

Thank you for being my guinea pig. I am now quite confident that my repair will succeed.

By the way, I ordered the spring from Ford, and it was only a bit over seven dollars with the tax.