Author Topic: Parking brake hangs causing brake light to come on  (Read 3555 times)

Offline tale

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Parking brake hangs causing brake light to come on
« on: January 24, 2019, 01:38:36 PM »
Is there an easy way to adjust the parking brake cable so that it puts more tension on the foot release?  Right now everything seems to work, but when I release the parking brake the cable doesn't hold enough tension on it, which causes it to droop a bit and it touches the parking brake switch.  This causes the brake light to stay on the dash.  I'm hoping that I can adjust the cable so that it will hold the foot release pedal in the proper position.

Thanks!

Offline Henry

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Re: Parking brake hangs causing brake light to come on
« Reply #1 on: January 24, 2019, 02:15:08 PM »
Hi Tale:
What year and model truck do you have? On my 76 C-20, the parking brake pedal and cables have no connection to the brake light switch or the brake warning lamp on the dash.
Regards,
Henry

Offline tale

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Re: Parking brake hangs causing brake light to come on
« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2019, 02:22:41 PM »
Sorry, I should have stated what vehicle I have.   :)  I have a 1979 Chevy C10, 2WD.  The foot pedal has a switch that makes contact if the cable is a little slack, like it is on my truck.  Check out the photo that I uploaded.  The switch is circled.

Offline Henry

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Re: Parking brake hangs causing brake light to come on
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2019, 01:13:28 PM »
Hi Tale:
So my 76 does not have the little switch that your does but other than that the foot pedal assembly looks the same. So it looks like the GM guys added this feature to notify you of some misadjustment of the parking brake.

Assuming the rest of your parking brake system is the same as mine, you should have a 3 cable arrangement: #1 cable from the brake pedal to the #2 cable; #2 cable to #3 cable; and #3 cable to each rear brake(there are 2 of these cables). Between cable #1 and #2 there is an equalizer nut that allows adjustment...it is underneath the truck on the drivers side near the transmission tailshaft.

Assuming your brakes a working fine, here is the adjustment:
1. Raise the rear of the vehicle so the rear wheels are off the ground...make all the prudent safety precautions as you need to get under the vehicle.
2. With the parking brake off, the rear wheels should rotate freely...if not, you need to adjust your rear brake shoes.
3. If they rotate freely, set the parking brake to the first notch from the fully released position.
4. Tighten the equalizer nut until a moderate drag is felt when each of the rear wheels are rotated forward.
5. Fully release parking brake and rotate the rear wheels...no drag should be present.

If all this does not set things right, maybe you have some corrosion or crud in #1 cable preventing the cable to slide freely in the jacket(conduit). Get some cable lubricant (not WD40) and use a spray tube to spray it down the cable jacket. This would be the same lube that motorcycle and bicycle guys use for their brake cables. You can also get it at bicycle stores.

Regards,
Henry

Offline tale

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Re: Parking brake hangs causing brake light to come on
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2019, 01:35:44 PM »
Thanks for the detailed instructions Henry!  I'll give that a try.