2004 Pontiac Grand Prix Parking Brake

[BIGPROFITT]

The parking brake on my 2004 Grand Prix does not hold. I changed the pads. Still does not hold. How do I adjust these? Thanks

[AndrewTeal]

does it not have an adjuster wheel under the wheel cylinder? if it does then turning it one way will run out the shoes the other way will bring them in...adjust them until you feel a small amount of drag when spinning it by hand...also after you think its adjusted then apply the parking brake put it in gear ...you want the car to stay still at 1500 to 1800 rpm that should be fine...be ready to hit the regular brake pedal incase they arent adjusted right lol

[gmtech1]

Originally Posted by BIGPROFITT

The parking brake on my 2004 Grand Prix does not hold. I changed the pads. Still does not hold. How do I adjust these? Thanks

The proceedure stated above is for drum brakes, you have 4-wheel disk brakes. There is a adjuster nut at the park brake cable equilizer bar (where the rear cables meet the front cable). Thighten the nut,( you will need to hold the front cable from turning) until the park brake lever at the calipers is off the stops. If they are off the stops before you start the process then you have a binding cable. After you get the levers off the stops, loosen the adjuster nut till the levers just hit the stops. Apply the park brake 3-4 times to check adjustment.

[Tech II]

GMtech1, doesn't this have "drum" type e brake setup, with the round brake shoe inside the rotor? If yes, then the rotor has to be pulled for adjustment....could even have rust build up on "inside" contact surface or rotor....

As GMtech1 said, cable movement should be checked....

[gmtech1]

Originally Posted by Tech II

GMtech1, doesn't this have "drum" type e brake setup, with the round brake shoe inside the rotor? If yes, then the rotor has to be pulled for adjustment....could even have rust build up on "inside" contact surface or rotor....

As GMtech1 said, cable movement should be checked....

If this is indeed a 2004, all of my information is that it uses the calipers for the parking brake and does not have the rotor/drum set up.

[BIGPROFITT]

This is a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP Comp G. I am not sure about all of the 2004 Grand Prix's but mine has the style of parking brake where the caliper is actuated by a screw type piston and applies the pads to the rotor just as the brakes normally work by clamping down on the rotor. My parking brake is not the drum/rotor type.

Before I dig into this I just want to make sure how and where to adjust.

Thanks for any help.

[gmtech1]

Originally Posted by BIGPROFITT

This is a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP Comp G. I am not sure about all of the 2004 Grand Prix's but mine has the style of parking brake where the caliper is actuated by a screw type piston and applies the pads to the rotor just as the brakes normally work by clamping down on the rotor. My parking brake is not the drum/rotor type.

Before I dig into this I just want to make sure how and where to adjust.

Thanks for any help.

Follow the procedure in post #3...

[Tech II]

As GMtech1 stated, get under there and watch the cables as someone pulls on the lever......should see the cables move the "arm" they are attached to, off the stops....if they don't cables are binding......if they hardly move, then grab the adjuster assembly with your hand, and pull to see if the cables move the stops....If they do, then the adjuster has to be adjusted....