parking brake adjustment

[bap]

2000 lesabre with parking brake adjustment problem. can engage brake with parking brake pedal and it feels like its grabbing when I put it in park and release main brake pedal. But when I put car in gear the brake doesn't hold. There is tension on the parking brake pedal and the cable under car it taut when engaged. Noticed there is an adjustment mechanism. How does it work? Thanks.

[inafogg]

have you checked rear brakes they could be worn down?
if brakes are ok & its just a matter of adjustment,you can set parking brake
jack rear up & see if wheels will spin,adjust cable by turning nut applying
more pressure until wheels are tight, release p/brake make sure wheels spin freely
btw car will move w/e-brake on in reverse w/some resistance but not in drive
Good luck

[bap]

Thanks for the advice. I recently had rear brakes done. Parking brake issue is same as before brake pads were replaced. Jacked up car. With parking brake engaged left rear wheel does not move; however, right rear wheel turns with just a little resistance. With parking brake disengaged, both wheels turn freely. Don't know if there is a way to adjust tension on the right wheel, only.

[inafogg]

im not sure what e-brake set up you have,but it looks to be through
the caliper,meaning it adjusts the brakes when e/brake is applied.
do you use e/brake,probaly not & if calipers are'nt siezed(common problem)
you can use e/b to adjust.if they do stick then calipers need attention
this should of been looked at when brakes were done
Good luck

[BNaylor]

If you have the top hat style rear disc rotors the parking brake pads are in the center. They should be horseshoe shaped in design. On most GM/Buick cars with this setup there is a star adjuster which can be adjusted to move the horseshoe pads out to compensate for wear or being uneven in application force. Each right and left rear wheels should have one. If this doesn't work then the horseshoe pads need replacement which is a job by itself. Plus they are not cheap. Also, you may have a turnbuckle style adjuster on the parking brake lines back towards the gas tank.

The other setup GM has is the rear disc caliper pistons are adjusted in or out to adjust the parking brakes.