Adjusting Emergency Brake on 2003 GP GT??

Well on my Grand Prix GT 2003 the emergency brake pushes all the way down and dont hold the car...i see the brake cable going to both rear tires, just wandering what and where i need to do something to tighten it and get my E brake back. thanks

Do you have the emergency/parking brake cables that go to the rear calipers or to the bottom of the backing plate and the top hat style disc rotor?

rear calipers

Don't know exactly for the GP, but on most of the vehicles I have owned, if you jack up the back so the wheels can spin:


Find a steel cable that is coming from on the hubs and connects to a short cable that goes to the other hub.
Somewhere connected to one of those should be a threaded connection with a nut.
Apply the E brake to 2 clicks and leave it there.
Check the wheels ability to spin, there should be some drag. Thats from the brake shoes rubbing on the hub housing.
If at 2 clicks you don't notice any drag, adjust the treaded connection until you get some.
Once you have slight drag, adjust you E brake to 4 clicks.
You shouldn't be able to turn the wheels, if you can adjust the threaded connection until you can't.
Now that you cannot turn the wheels by hand, disengage the E brake completely and make sure that the wheels turn freely without any dragging.That should be about it. Unless you have recently replaced the brake shoes. In that case there should be a somewhat rounded rectangular opening on the back of the hub. Inside there is a gear like knob that will tighten/loosen the tension. If you replaced the shoes yourself, you should have noticed it.

Hope this helps. :smokin:

thanks man, yea...i didnt jack it up yesterday but i could see form crawling under it a little that there is a threaded wire with a nut on it, directly between the two hubs around the fuel tank ceter. I guess i'll spin that with the parking brake applied a little bit righT?

That should do it. I would also suggest that you check the brake shoes too. If you don't know how to do that, then I would say take it to one of those brake places, and they should be able to let you know if you need new shoes. They are alot cheaper than replacing the drums.

i dont have drum brakes in the rear, i have the Disc Brakes, i ment to say disc brakes above a few posts^^^

Then you can disregard the part about the drums, and that should jsut about take care of everything.

Good Luck

Thanks, i'll let ya know how it goes.

That should do it. I would also suggest that you check the brake shoes too. If you don't know how to do that, then I would say take it to one of those brake places, and they should be able to let you know if you need new shoes. They are alot cheaper than replacing the drums.

If he has the older style parking brake system with the horseshoe style parking brake shoes attached to the hub backing plate they are not cheap. Costs around $70 and up for the pair. The rear top hat disc rotor has to be removed to inspect the parking brake shoes and there is no access hole where you can adjust them found on older cars. Also, keep in mind he has disc brakes on all four wheels. The rear hub has to be removed to replace parking brake shoes on these models.

For 2003 and up Grand Prixs you should be able to adjust the emergency/parking brakes at the turn-buckle adjuster on the main cable by the rear of the gas tank or a special procedure where you adjust the caliper piston since these are supposed to have the parking brake system integrated with the rear disc calipers.

Parking Brake Shoe & Cable
Adjustment
Apply and release the parking brake six times.
Ensure that the parking brake pedal assembly is fully released.
Raise and safely support the vehicle.
Remove the rear wheel and tire assemblies.
Remove both rear calipers.
Remove both rear caliper brackets.
Loosen the parking brake cable.
Remove both rear brake rotors.

Brake drum gauge
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/4492/parkbraketf8.gif (http://imageshack.us)



Set the brake drum measuring gauge inside of the parking brake drum at the widest point.
Tighten the set screw on the measuring tool to lock it at the widest point.
Position the measuring gauge over the park brake shoe at the widest point.
Turn the adjuster on the actuator until the measuring gauge just touches the parking brake shoe. Adjust both sides.
Install the brake rotors.
Install both rear caliper brackets.
Install both rear calipers.
Install the rear wheel and tire assemblies.
Adjust the parking brake cable by turning the nut at the equalizer while spinning both rear wheels. When either rear wheel starts to drag, back off the nut one full turn.
Lower the vehicle enough to check the parking brake pedal travel.
Apply the parking brake; check the parking brake pedal travel.
Release the parking brake. Verify that both wheels rotate freely.
Lower the vehicle.