e brake cable failure

Has any one else had this trouble ? What I have found is that the E brake cable has failed and what is the cause is the plastic covering of the cable at the bottom end by the drivers side where it connects to the brake adjuster part. I found that the covering split and caused the cable to jam and in effect made the adjuster inoperative . now what happends is you only end up with 3 wheel brakes. I have found this on more than one car and was just offering a heads up for every one to check there cars. It may be caused by the heat from the exhaust and muffler, only a guess but it is worth a look.