2004 & Up Grand Prix-How to diagnose a stuck rear parking brake, and replace caliper

[guitarfish]

2004 & Up Grand Prix – How to diagnose a stuck rear parking brake, and replace caliper

My 2008 Prix's parking brake started locking up at 125K miles/ 3-1/2 years old. Since I couldn’t find much info on this when I was having this problem, I figured I post my experiences for others.

Problem – when releasing the parking brake, the driver side rear wheel wouldn’t turn.

I. How to diagnose – is it the caliper or a stuck cable?
1. Fully engage the parking brake
2. Release the parking brake
3. Remove wheel that is locked up
4. Without tapping on the caliper mechanism that controls the parking brake, use a screwdriver to tap the ball end of the parking brake cable upward/towards the front of the car.

If the problem is a bad cable, then as you tap the ball end forward, the parking brake mechanism will release, which is what it’s designed to do. If the problem, is a stuck caliper, you will be able to tap that ball end forward about a half to three quarters of an inch, and the caliper mechanism will stay put, the parking brake still engaged.

II. How to replace the caliper
1. If the caliper is bad, do step 4 above. Now you can tap the ball end of the cable far enough and then use a screw driver to easily pry it free from it’s slot.
2. Remove the brake fluid line, wrap the end with some plastic and tape with duct tape to prevent loss of fluid. Push it up high as far as you can out of the way.
3. Remove the caliper bolts
4. Remove the caliper from the car, all that’s left attached to it is the parking brake cable.
5. There’s a small clip inside where the cable is seated in the caliper housing. When you press that clip in with a screwdriver, you should be able to pull the cable free from the caliper.

III. How to reinstall the caliper
Because the new caliper won’t be stuck in an open position like the bad caliper, reassembly is a little different.
1. Push brake cable into caliper house until the clip in section II, step 5 above is seated.
2. Install the caliper bolts
3. Use lock grip pliers or something similar to engage the parking brake mechanism (moving it in the direction it would go if fully engaged).
4. Slide parking brake cable end into place, then let go of the mechanism.
5. Depress parking brake cable and release.
6. Make sure parking brake mechanism is fully released (it may stay fully open the first time).
7. Test parking brake
8. Reattach brake line. Pay attention that there’s a small washer on each side of the brake line connector.
9. Remove bleeder, allow gravity to fill caliper, and bleed brakes.

I hope this helps someone.