Lubricating e-Brake Caliper Cam

2001 Honda Accord 2.3l, sedan, manual transmission, 217,000 km Right rear e-brake lever is sticking ever since I replaced the pads Have checked brake cable and its travel is unimpeded. Strongly suspect e-brake caliper cam is 'sticking' due to lack of lubrication or dirt/rust, although local brake shop says this happens 80% of the time when pads are replaced. Yikes!! Brake shop just wants to replace the whole caliper at $355 CDN (and then they recommend doing both rear calipers at the same time - $710 CDN!) but I would really like to fix the source of the problem and thereby save some money. Is there a relatively easy way to lubricate the cam and, if so, what would I lubricate it with? In the alternative, would putting a stronger spring on the lever likely resolve the 'stickiness' and, if so, how would I specify such a spring (what spring coefficient?) and where would I be most likely to find one?

balls

Reply to
ballstoyourpartner
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"ballstoyourpartner" wrote in news:leqdnZMAlIm6H3TTnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@posted.toastnet:

Are you sure it isn't simply the clevis (pivot on the end of the cable) seized on the cam lever? That sticks ALL the time.

The clevis is held to the cam lever by a pin, and and a tiny clip on the underside of the clevis. The parts rust together, clamping the clevis to the cam lever so it can't pivot and allow the cam lever to rotate all the way. Get a set of Vise-Grips, and see if you can force the cable clevis into rotating on the cam lever.

Reply to
Tegger

I do not have a clip on the underside - the clevis, with a rectangular-shaped hole in it, simply slides over a 'claw-shaped' point on the end of the cam lever and is held there simply by the tension of the e-brake cable and the semi-circular path it would have to take to come off. Also, my clevis cannot rotate on the cam lever because of the rectangular hole in it and the 'flatness' of the point on the end of the cam lever and it doesn not need to rotate because the cable pulls almost straight down on the cam lever.

So, this brings me back to my original question - is there a relatively easy way to lubricate the cam and, if so, what would I lubricate it with? In the alternative, would putting a stronger spring on the lever likely resolve the 'stickiness' (it doesn't take much hand force to 'release' the cam lever) and, if so, how would I specify such a spring (what spring coefficient?) and where would I be most likely to find one?

balls

Reply to
ballstoyourpartner

"ballstoyourpartner" wrote in news:jco178$nu6$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

My mistake. I was imagining the earlier design. The idea is the same between the two designs, though.

The end of the parking brake lever IS supposed to pivot on the parking brake cam. But that square hole rusts to the cam lever, preventing the square hole from swiveling on the cam lever. If the end of the cable cannot swivel on the cam lever, the cable will bind inside its sheath and prevent the cam lever from rotating.

With the parking brake OFF, can you pivot the end of the PB cable on the cam lever? If not, then it's rusted and needs to be broken free.

Don't even try. The cam mechanism is deep inside the caliper, at the bottom of the cam-lever post. There is a rubber seal (similar to an engine oil- seal) between the cam lever post and the hole in the caliper. If you try to put grease in there, you will destroy the rubber of the seal while getting nowhere near the cam mechanism itself.

Honda did have a run of very early-'90s calipers with defective seals on the parking brake cam post. Water would seep past the seal, allowing rust to form on the cam post, causing it to seize inside the caliper, preventing the post from rotating. But yours isn't one of those.

Reply to
Tegger

Tegger wrote in news:Xns9FC19501260tegger@208.90.168.18:

Corrections:

Parking brake CABLE, I meant to say...

Parking brake cam LEVER, I meant to say.

Reply to
Tegger

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