Replacing Parking Brake Cable

[ptimko]

So I'm replacing my parking brake cable. The housing is badly rusted through. I removed the nuts from the brake lever and I hoped that the cable would just pull out, but it didn't. So before I did anything drastic, I thought I would check here first.

I think the cable should just snap into the parts marked with the blue arrows. So I'm thinking about grabbing the end of the cable (where the red arrows point) and rotating/pulling. I'm a little nervous that blue part will come with the cable. So there will probably be some liberal usage of PB blaster.

Any other thoughts or am I the only one who's ever had to deal with replacing the parking brake cables?
Paul

[JoshS]

Your expectation is correct. If the blue part comes out with the cable, you have bigger problems ... it is welded to the chassis.

[robb1887]

After a liberal amount of PB, from inside and out, I'd try knocking it around (gently!) to see about getting some extra penetration. I'm glad mine didn't look like this when I pulled them out.

[ptimko]

For those of you who don't drive with salt on the road be thankful.

Paul

brake_cables.jpg

[Vintage42]

For those of you who don't drive with slat on the road be thankful...

What does slat on the road mean?

[Randy Forbes]

Every once in a while, I get some that are stuck where the ferrule enters the body; rotate the ferrlue with a pair od Channelocks to break the rust bond and it should pull out.

The next problem is that it only comes out so far then gets caught. A "square edge" on the inner cable can get hung up, but with some wild jiggling motion, you'll get it past that spot and out.

Rest assured, if you left the handle in the lowered position, the cable will line right up and go all the way back into the console area with no fuss__might even work with the handle raised, but I've never tried it. I pulled a pair out of a 3.0 Coupe just yesterday, and RH cable had to be wildly jiggled (bet you'd all like to see a video of that...).

[r3dl3tr5]

Sorry to resurrect this but i'm currently wildly searching BF for help with one of my cables. Here's where I'm at: the driver side cable came right out once i disconnected the nut from under the parking brake handle. The passenger side feels like it pulls out about 5 inches, then gets snagged (seems to be on point with Randy's 2nd point in the post above). Unfortunately, my "wild jiggling motions" are lacking and i have been unable to pull the cable the rest of the way through the hole.

Any other ideas here? The next option I'm considering is to remove the console so I can detach the parking brake handle assembly. I'm assuming there is a flange that the tip of the cable is getting snagged on.

Thanks in advance!

[Randy Forbes]

Don't give up; I bet the next time you try it, it'll come out. Are you sure the ferrule isn't stuck in the tube? a couple back & forth twists with some Channelocks should free that.

- - - Updated - - -

During the wild jiggling, don't keep a constant "pull" pressure on the cable; it has to be allowed to get clear of its obstruction...

[r3dl3tr5]

Thanks for the encouragement Randy. I'm not sure whether or not the ferrule is stuck in the tube. It seems to move throughout the channel freely up until it get's caught. I can push it back up so it pokes through the handle into it's normal position. As I'm tugging on the cable it doesn't seem like any twisting motions are helping much. It feels as though I'm only twisting the outer rubber sleeve. If i grab onto the white plastic tubing, i'm again feeling as though only that tube is twisting, but the actual cable is unchanged. Do the flat sides of the cable need to be oriented a certain direction? i'm wondering if I got the cable twisted up as I was originally loosening the nuts from under the handle...

I'll be back under the car Tuesday night to give it another crack. Thanks again!