95 240sx e brake problem, help!

[burgerwitfry]

heres the story, like 6 months ago, when i pull my e-brake, only the right side locks up, the left side doesnt!

So, thinking the left rear e-brake is messed up, i changed with a new one and it still has the same problem, So now its 2 in the morning and im confused as hell!

PS. when e-brake is pulled, i looked under the center of the car and see the right side is pulled more than the left side, why is this?

Sorry for the long post, just really mad right now! Thanks in advance for the help!

[IanS]

Your left cable is seized, the cable wont pull, so it just pivots and pulls the right side, replace the cables and you will be fine.

[burgerwitfry]

i did replace the left one and it still wont lock in, do you think i need to replace the right one too, even thought it works perfect?

[burgerwitfry]

bumb.... i went to a mechanic and he says it might be the rear caliper's e-brake mechanism thing which is seized up, therefore it no longer locks in, can this be it, have this ever happened to anyone?

[MagnumP_I]

wow Im really late but Im having this problem now did you figure it out before i go replace cable

[sjbsuperman1425]

im going to give this a nice old bump..im having the same problem in my 89. left side locks up, right side doesn't..underneath, the mechanism pulls more on the side that doesn't engage.

[troskinatior]

bumpity bump bump

same things happening with me but the right doesnt lock and the left doesnt lock great

[burgerwitfry]

oh wow this tread still exists?? haha

any who, I've replaced the e-brake cable and it still doesnt work so dont waste your money...

best suggestion is get a new caliper because its probably seized... which what I was planning to do before my car was totaled.. hopes this helps

[Jagstang]

Bump. I'm having the same problem with my 95 zenki (while the ebrake is up, the rear wheel on the drivers side spins freely). So did any of the above guys figure out the problem (calipers, or cables)?

Help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

[zallow]

I'll share with the group since no solution has been posted.

Lots of rebuilt rear calipers with the ebrake twist pack (like on our 240's) are defective from the factory. Meaning the companies that rebuild them are doing a s***ty job. I replaced both of my rear calipers this summer with rebuilt units and 2 times in a row i received both right side calipers and when i finally got a left and right and installed on my car, the left side ebrake twist pack was seized. The mechanism wouldn't release the piston from its compression stroke. So my rear left caliper was always "on". I exchanged it and finally got a working unit. A lot of hassle for such a simple job... My room mate is a 3 year apprentice mechanic and he told me that everytime he has to replace rear calipers with ebrake twist packs, practically 50% of the time, they're fubared from the rebuilt factory. So if you get rebuilt units, don't give up if they don't work right away, it happens alot. And who knows, maybe some units don't even lock at all, opposite of mine that stayed locked.

I highly doubt that the cables can actually seize, they can definitely rust, but there's no where for them to seize on. The only thing i can think of is the lil ball at the end of the cable that inserts into the twist pack lever on the caliper could seize, but that's pretty unlikely. They would most likely stretch, rust and snap before seizing on anything.

[IanS]

I'll share with the group since no solution has been posted.

Lots of rebuilt rear calipers with the ebrake twist pack (like on our 240's) are defective from the factory. Meaning the companies that rebuild them are doing a s***ty job. I replaced both of my rear calipers this summer with rebuilt units and 2 times in a row i received both right side calipers and when i finally got a left and right and installed on my car, the left side ebrake twist pack was seized. The mechanism wouldn't release the piston from its compression stroke. So my rear left caliper was always "on". I exchanged it and finally got a working unit. A lot of hassle for such a simple job... My room mate is a 3 year apprentice mechanic and he told me that everytime he has to replace rear calipers with ebrake twist packs, practically 50% of the time, they're fubared from the rebuilt factory. So if you get rebuilt units, don't give up if they don't work right away, it happens alot. And who knows, maybe some units don't even lock at all, opposite of mine that stayed locked.

I highly doubt that the cables can actually seize, they can definitely rust, but there's no where for them to seize on. The only thing i can think of is the lil ball at the end of the cable that inserts into the twist pack lever on the caliper could seize, but that's pretty unlikely. They would most likely stretch, rust and snap before seizing on anything.

You get what you pay for when you buy re manufactured calipers. Not all reman companies are created equal. It doesn't just happen with caliper. Ive gotten bad alternators, starters, power steering pumps, AC compressors, control arms, and CV axles.

As for seizing cables, it happens all the time. The cable is made up (at least on Nissan's, and most other late model cars) of a braided steel wire within a wound steel cage that is coated with rubber. Over time the rubber can crack or be worn off, allowing water into the casing. This causes both the the wire and the winding to rust. If they are not used, even for a few weeks, the cable can and will seize up. Its especially problematic on cars with automatic transmissions, whose parking brakes never get used. A few weeks ago I replaced the passenger side cable on a 98 200SX Se-R. The customer complained that the parking brake had gotten progressively harder to pull, until finely it took both hands to keep the car from roll down the driveway.