adjusting E-brake

[rclayton12]

Is there a way to adjust the ebrake so that you do not have to pull the handle up all the way?? In my 73 240z, I have to pull the e-brake as far as it can go before the parking brake is in the least bit usefull, and still at that point, the wheels don't lock up so I absolutely have to leave the car in gear.

[Arne]

There is a threaded rod adjuster on the linkage inside the tunnel. You have to get under the car to adjust it. Make sure the car is securely supported on ramps or jackstands before attempting this.

[a7dz]

There is a threaded rod adjuster on the linkage inside the tunnel. You have to get under the car to adjust it. Make sure the car is securely supported on ramps or jackstands before attempting this.

My first thought is what do the rear shoes look like and are they adjusted properly? Before you get into the emergency brake adjustment. The rest of the rear brakes need to operate correctly. Then you can adjust the HAND brake lever. Do the adjusters for the rear brakes turn freely. As Arne pointed out in a different thread this past week end the self adjustment is done by setting the hand brake lever. If the adjusters do not turn freely no reason to mess with the emergency brake lever. You are masking a more serious problem. Lack of properly adjusted rear brakes.

my 2c's

[Arne]

Excellent points, Jim. Your answer was better than mine.

[EScanlon]

From what I recall, the basic simple adjustment is to pull up on the handle and release several times until the brakes grip at 7 "clicks" or so.

Of course, this presumes the system is working properly and the shoes aren't so far gone as to not allow for adjustment. This is what the FSM refers to as "automatic adjustment", except YOU are doing it "manually".

E

[rclayton12]

I have rebuilt both the front calipers and the rear wheel cylinders. I know when i was finishing up with the rear, the manual did say to keep pulling up and down on the E-brake untill it stoped clicking, which I did. The problem though is that the e brake doesn't even feel like it is doing anything unless you pull it as far as it can go up, and my boot that I have for it is starting to split because of it. I was trying to fix it so that there is less "slack" in it, and it will engage at a smaller angle.

[Arne]

In that case, go back to post #2.

[a7dz]

Did you adjust the rear brakes with the star wheel at all? My experience is that if you do not get these brakes shoes close to the drums the auto adjusting mechanism does not have enough tension on it to turn the star wheel. I actually adjusted mine up until I could not turn the drum and then backed it off to where the drums were just free. This will move the shoes so they are in correct alignment with the drums.

When you had the wheel cylinders apart did you notice if the adjuster wheels had sharp points on all the notches all way around. If you get a couple bad points on either side the brakes will only adjust until the star hits that position and then the adjuster bar just slides over the top of the star wheel. The other question is do the adjuster bars both have sharp edges where the contact the star wheels. If the adjuster bars are rounded over the same as above still plays into the equation. The reason I ask all these questions is I have owned my Z over thirty years and the emergency brake lever has never been adjusted except when I replaced a broken cable.

I just replaced one of my wheel cylinders because it was leaking and had a bad star wheel. The other one was frozen solid. I am in the middle of a refresh. If you find you need a star adjuster I do have one here that I salvaged off the old ones here. It is off of a 70 but, the star wheel should be the same.

Send me a PM and I will get it to you.

If all the above was good I agree with Arne go back to post two.

[rclayton12]

alright guys thanks for all the help!! I will see what I can do once the rain stops