Parking Brake Adjustment

[oldoutboardjim]

The parking brake on my FiST does not work as well as I think it should. Specifically, you need to pull the lever alot before it will hold well. The parking brake on my previous Ford (2004 SVT Focus) would hold well with minimum movement of the lever. Brake rotors and pads are still in excellent shape. Some questions:

1. Is this typical?
2. Is there any adjustment (I was told by two separate Ford dealers that there is no adjustment)?

Thanks in advance!

 

[koozy]

1. No
2. Yes

 

[CarGuy]

1. No
2. Yes

Helpful...NOT!

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[koozy]

Helpful...NOT!

Totally agree, but there's some kibbles of insight and presented as intended

 

[kivnul]

Hmm. I thought our system was self adjusting. If you had the pistons fully depressed like after a brake job, pumping the hand brake moves the pistons back into position with the last pump being nice a solid. If it is taking alot of movement to engage the brakes (and does not get better after pumping it a couple times) maybe the problem isn't the hand brake adjustment but more a stuck guide pin or 3 on your rear calipers (they are way under-lubricated from the factory). Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[oldoutboardjim]

Hmm. I thought our system was self adjusting. If you had the pistons fully depressed like after a brake job, pumping the hand brake moves the pistons back into position with the last pump being nice a solid. If it is taking alot of movement to engage the brakes (and does not get better after pumping it a couple times) maybe the problem isn't the hand brake adjustment but more a stuck guide pin or 3 on your rear calipers (they are way under-lubricated from the factory). Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

Tried this, and it seems to work. Many Thanks!

 

[gtx3076]

I'm noticing slop in my hand brake, it holds okay, but I don't imagine why it would get better on its own. Do I simply pull the handbrake repeatedly to get it back to normal?

 

[green_henry]

I'm noticing slop in my hand brake, it holds okay, but I don't imagine why it would get better on its own. Do I simply pull the handbrake repeatedly to get it back to normal?

I'm probably dating myself, but in olden times, the handbrake would adjust itself when going into reverse and applying the brake. That's from high school auto shop in the '80s, when most cars still had drums in the rear, but I didn't have any issue when I changed the rear pads on my FiST last year, so maybe it's still true

 

[XR650R]

I'm probably dating myself, but in olden times, the handbrake would adjust itself when going into reverse and applying the brake. That's from high school auto shop in the '80s, when most cars still had drums in the rear, but I didn't have any issue when I changed the rear pads on my FiST last year, so maybe it's still true

I remember that being a thing back then. Who knows if it still is?

I have no idea if that would work on a 2014 Fiesta, but it's worth a shot. It is simply a cable-operated handbrake. Try it and see.

 

[spedy7]

Haven't done it myself, but it feels like mine could use an adjustment. According to Ford, these are the proper steps. Requires removing the center console to adjust from there, which is pretty lame.

 

[green_henry]

Haven't done it myself, but it feels like mine could use an adjustment. According to Ford, these are the proper steps. Requires removing the center console to adjust from there, which is pretty lame.

yeow, that's WAY too much work. try going into reverse first and tapping the brake pedal!

 

[gtx3076]

I just tried driving in reverse with the brake up, or engaging it while I was coasting backwards and tried it going forwards for kicks and didn't make a noticeable difference. I tried ratcheting it up repeatedly, and keeping the button depressed and engaging it repeatedly. It's not any better and not any worse.

Mazdaspeed was pretty easy to disassemble the center console. I've seen this diagram before and can't quite make out what's going on. If I care enough to tackle this, I'll take pictures and post. I tried finding videos on youtube but can't seem to find anything specific to the ST.

 

[kivnul]

The center console is pretty easy to remove, 5 minutes tops. The braking while reverse trick only works for drums.


There are some wires for the USB & Power port that I did not copy the picture of.

 

[gtx3076]

Here's the culprit.

10mm socket or nutdriver.

I set the brake down then tighten the nut until it just compressed the spring for the dash light. Hand brake feels much better now. Before the brake would rise a few inches before actually engaging.

I pushed the lock washer down so it would grab the threads a little tighter.

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[Red83199]

Thanks for the info everyone. IV needed to do this for a while but been putting it off. Replaced pads in rear cuz they pretty much dead. But made lil difference. But car still will move if I push it from rear with brake all the way up. Bout to just do it now that finally found good info. Might make a vid to put on my channel so finally have one for us st model.

 

[Intuit]

My previous car (1994) had automated self-adjusters as well. It consisted of a cable running from the hand lever to a brake balancer, (which is just an Isosceles triangle,) two cables running from that to each self-adjuster inside the drum. Each cable had a housing and the housing had mount points. The self adjusters didn't rely on you doing a hard-brake in reverse, but could adjust tighter because the vehicle would keep rolling for a longer distance after the front locks up.

I had to routinely warn people not to mess with the hand brake cable because this threw the entire system out of calibration meaning, they'd have to constantly mess with it forever after. Once it was set at the factory, there was never a reason to mess with the cables. (cable stretch was a non-issue) If a mount broke, it would change the effective distance between hand brake and drum, but then you'd just fix the mount. When I eventually ran into the problem myself, I discovered that the self-adjusters inside the drums, had teeth that were gradually worn/stripped/eroded away. The fix there was to merely replace the self-adjusters. I elected to enhance the profile of the existing teeth, which gave me a few more years out of them. All in all and again, there was never a valid reason to mess with the cable at the hand brake and in fact, was counterproductive in the long run.

Don't know whether that's the case here because I haven't looked to see how our system is setup. But it's something to keep in mind if we find similarities.

 

[gtx3076]

My previous car (1994) had automated self-adjusters as well. It consisted of a cable running from the hand lever to a brake balancer, (which is just an Isosceles triangle,) two cables running from that to each self-adjuster inside the drum. Each cable had a housing and the housing had mount points. The self adjusters didn't rely on you doing a hard-brake in reverse, but could adjust tighter because the vehicle would keep rolling for a longer distance after the front locks up.

I had to routinely warn people not to mess with the hand brake cable because this threw the entire system out of calibration meaning, they'd have to constantly mess with it forever after. Once it was set at the factory, there was never a reason to mess with the cables. (cable stretch was a non-issue) If a mount broke, it would change the effective distance between hand brake and drum, but then you'd just fix the mount. When I eventually ran into the problem myself, I discovered that the self-adjusters inside the drums, had teeth that were gradually worn/stripped/eroded away. The fix there was to merely replace the self-adjusters. I elected to enhance the profile of the existing teeth, which gave me a few more years out of them. All in all and again, there was never a valid reason to mess with the cable at the hand brake and in fact, was counterproductive in the long run.

Don't know whether that's the case here because I haven't looked to see how our system is setup. But it's something to keep in mind if we find similarities.

Claiming it's "self adjusting" but you need to replace worn parts so it will self adjust properly is contradictory.

Nobody here seems to know one way or another. I don't have a firm grasp on braking systems, but I do know that removing the console and running that nut down to take up the slack fixed my issue. If someone can show a more effective means to adjust the self adjusting rear brakes, please post the information. I searched videos and threads and found nothing conclusive besides removing the console.

 

[Intuit]

Claiming it's "self adjusting" but you need to replace worn parts so it will self adjust properly is contradictory. Nobody here seems to know one way or another. I don't have a firm grasp on braking systems, but I do know that removing the console and running that nut down to take up the slack fixed my issue. If someone can show a more effective means to adjust the self adjusting rear brakes, please post the information. I searched videos and threads and found nothing conclusive besides removing the console.

Not at all. Things eventually wear out. The car was somewhere between fifteen and twenty years old by the time I rant into it. Some folks, not nearly that long though. It's just the nature of that design.

My only point is, dig a little deeper to find out the real cause for the issue; particulary if you've already replaced the pads.

 

[PunkST]

When mine wasnt grabbing i re greased the slide pins. Started working just fine again.

 

[Intuit]

@PunkST - Ya know that reminds me of the FIRST time I ran into a problem with the e-brake in that old car. I had noticed that my e-brake was gradually weakening. Eventually it had difficulty holding it on steeper hills. One day I jacked up the rear, but forgot to loosen the lug nuts. "No problem." I thought, will just set the e-brake. Tried to loosen the lugs on the driver side and the wheel rolled. "Oh, did the e-brake snap loose on me?" Went and peaked. Lever was still set. But went ahead and maxed it out. Back at the driver side wheel, same thing. Just rolled freely. Checked the passenger side and it was as tight as could be. "Is the cable broke?" Took a peek at the brake balancer and it was cocked-off to one side. But all cables were properly attached. Cable mounts were all good. So the problem must be at inside the drum. So I set it back on the ground, loosened the lugs put it back in the air.

Slightly longer story short, the driver side self-adjuster was totally seized; from the Winter road salt, the Rusty Reaper was well at work. Removed both sides, cleaned them up, lightly lubed them, reinstalled. My prior story was the second time I ran into an issue with the e-brake; several years down the road.

But your discovery makes sense. In a drum system, the adjuster's job is to help keep the pads, close to the braking surface. In a caliper system, those slide-mounts perform the same function.