An inoperative or weak handbrake can be a disastrous thing. It might just need to be adjusted, but a common problem problem is the cams on the rear calipers get frozen with rust. To check/fix the operation of the cams:
- Handbrake off, car in gear, front wheel blocked by a wheel chock, rear end lifted SECURELY by jackstands.
- Under the car, follow the handbrake cable to the rear calipers--they attach to a cam which also has a circular spring held in place by a slot in the cam and a 10mm bolt. The cam is attached to a shaft internal to the caliper. This shaft, in turn, applies mechanical pressure on the rear caliper piston.
- That shaft is not protected externally by a boot and tends to collect rust. The rust prevents the spring from tensioning the cam, which in turn gives little or no feedback to the handbrake--hence the "out of adjustment" feel.
- Carefully compress the spring and removed it, then pull the handbrake brake cable out of the cam slot. If the cam is difficult to move back and forth, then you've found your problem.
- Liberally spray lubricant/rust remover around the cam shaft and work the cam back and forth to it's limit stops repeatedly. Let the lubricant soak in for a while, then repeat several times. The cam should now move easily, allowing the spring to apply tension and feedback to the handbrake.
- If the cam is badly rusted, you can try taking it all the way out to clean it up. You'll have to remove the piston from the caliper first, though. If refuses to move, you'll have to get new calipers.
- When you feel like the cams are freed up, apply some brake grease to the exposed part of the cam shaft, then put it all back together.
- It is rumored that stronger springs from some Ford model will help keep this problem from happening. The Ford P/Ns are: 6141147 & 6141148.
- Please check out this link for useful tips from an URS4 ebrake mod .
