Parking Brake

kgh31386 · March 23, 2005

i bought my 93 GS with a parking brake that didnt work. how do i check that and see whats wrong?

TurboGS300 · March 23, 2005

What doesn't work? Check rear shoes, probably worn out. If rear shoes ok, check & adjust cable. <_<

kgh31386 · March 23, 2005

Where's that cable at.

kgh31386 · March 23, 2005

Because the parking brake doesnt work at all, i push in the pedal and nothing happens.

TurboGS300 · March 23, 2005

The cable is attached to the parking brake, make sure it's not broken. If it's still attached , next pull the rear wheels and rotors off and you'll see the shoes and adjusters. See if the shoes are shot and if the cable is moving and spreading the shoes when the parking brake is applied. Replace shoes and or cable. Readjust B) , call it a day.

lexuseng · March 23, 2005

Because the parking brake doesnt work at all, i push in the pedal and nothing happens.

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When I bought my 2001 GS300 used I thought the parking brake did very little so I thought I'd adjust it. I've done rear drums many times but this is the first car I've had with 4 discs. I took the rear wheel off and the adjustment is on the front of the rotor/drum (not in the back like I'm use to) which is nice. I adjust it about 10-12 clicks max until I feel some pressure. Put the wheels back on and that night drove it to dinner. About 1/4 mile down the road, I knew something was wrong, very bad vibration and turned around after a mile. Got out and my rear wheels were too hot to touch. Luckily the adjustment is not one-way like in many cars ( I was wondering why there wasn't the positive click when I was tightening the cable). Lexus must have known some weekend mechanics would tighten it too much and left the ratcheting mechanism out. It was hard for me to believe 10 clicks (which at the most is 1 1/2 turns) would have made it too tight from barely holding. Anyway, definitely different than adjusting the park brakes with rear drums. Don't tighten too much!