Hi Herbray:

Did you ever have that problem taken care of?

 

copper_90680 - -

Yes, I took care of it myself. I no longer trusted Sears or the Ford dealership to fix it properly.

By the way, the Ford part really isn't "pricey" -- it's only about seven dollars.

The only thing I would be concerned about in using a spring not made specifically for the job is having the wrong spring constant. If the spring constant is too high, then the self-adjuster will never actuate. Then you'll have an under-adjusted hand-brake.

- - Herb

 

Interesting thread, the same thing happened to me. I couldn't for the life of me get the spring to release, so I disconnected it. (When in doubt, take it out) LOL.

Once I disconnected that "clock spring " in the handle, it was free as a bird, and I could loosen up the brake cable. The pawl still engages the ratchet, so it stays wherever I set it. I now have a manually adjusting parking brake, and I'm much happier with it that way. Pull the handle, and it's 6 clicks to engage the parking brake. And it stays that way, no problems. The first time my wife got in the van, she thought it was broken, because it pulled up farther. LOL, it's just working like it should now.

All I have to do now is put a small screwdriver on the ratchet every once in a while, and adjust it a tooth or two tighter if I think it's got too much slack.

The self adjusting feature is a nice thought, but I think we've all found out it doesn't always work right. I almost burned a set of shoes, and I caught it before it toasted the axle seals, but it's something too easily overlooked, even by the dealership. Now that bothers me, if Ford can't even figure it out.

BTW, it works just fine without the spring in the handle mechanism. At least it does for me.

 

AeroPA - -

Disconnecting the self-adjuster ratchet spring is not a bad idea. Maybe I'll do that if the problem resurfaces.

Thanks.

- - Herb

 

All I did was slip it off the pin where it puts pressure on the ratchet to keep it tight. I have to admit I did it as a last resort, to release the tension on the ratchet, so I could loosen the brake cable.

Of course, you know the rest of the story: after fighting with it until I got disgusted trying to put it back on, I discovered that it worked just fine without it, as long as I pay attention to the amount of travel in the handle, and adjust the ratchet accordingly. That spring on the cable near the T-bar seems to give it just enough tension to keep it in place, and it works great. The pawl still engages the ratchet just like it's supposed to.

Funny how we find out these things by accident. It's been a few months now, and the emergency brake works better now than it ever did.

 

I have a 95 aero that has been doing this for a while now and took it into ford dealer where the guy said it was just out of adjustment, he re-adjusted for an hours labour (60 bucks plus taxes in canada here). No parts, just adjusting. I mentioned replacing the spring and the tech said if it needs anything it's a new rachet. Judging from what I see on this thread I doubt it now, too. After one day's use (3 to 4 times) it is almost as tight again so I've quit using it for now (not good for my parking pawl).

I like the idea of creating the "manual-adjusting" rachet but I cannot for the life of me get the self-adjusting pawl to disengage. Tried every pokey object in all the holes (I have 3 holes, one larger one furthest forward, two smaller ones on top of the other a little closer to the rachet) have read the alldata on it, read all the posts and I still feel like an idiot.

What does it feel like when you sweep the nail as it disengages? How much pressure do you put? Draw me a diagram as rudimentary as it may be about what it looks like under the handle so I can know what i'm trying to flick... I'm assuming it's a clicker thing on the teeth of the disk that needs holding back. I don't wanna pay 60 bucks everytime to get it loosened and it didn't seem to be the kind of shop where they'd just show you, either.

 

the ford CD shows a pretty comprehensive description and servicing technique, including diagrams. find it here. the help section on this site can get you through any troubles you might experience. hope this helps.

 

Well, that's clear now, thank you. And... the tech was following the book to say to replace the rachet mechanism. Nothing mentioned about replacing the spring. No wonder so many people have unresolved problems to do with this issue.

 

Well I read this whole thread. I ran into this on my 94.
The problem is that the rear cables don't retract fast enough and the ratchet takes up too much slack. I put a spring to pull backwards where the three cables join, this worked fine. In 95 ford put a spring on all the aero's That spring still isn't good enough if its rusted at all. Keep it new or add another.

To release the brake lever get a long med flat screwdriver, pull up the lever slightly stick the screw driver under the lever towards the driver side. There's a place where it will disengage easily you just push towards the rear. If the handle is really tight you may have to push really hard. I can do it in 5 or 10 seconds, I kept a screw driver in the door bag for years my wife even knows how to use it in a jam..


Good luck

Dick

 

ok - I still couldn't get it to release so I will try the screwdriver trick (notice this post is 3 weeks since I tried last time from ford manual.) I will keep you posted - blade horiz or vertical?

 

Vertical works best.