Emergencey Brake adjustment help and front brake pulse too.

- J
- Jim
  
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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Nov 18, 2003 11:26 PM

Does anyone know if it's easy to adjust the emergency brake cable on an 03 OBW? If so, how? My handle pulls up all of the way and still does not stop the car. It was almost to the top when I bought the car and I will have the dealer adjust it during the next oil change if it's a pain but thought I'd ask as they will charge. It's probably my fault it's bad - I used it often last winter when we had a lot of snow. I used it to fly around corners, do doughnuts, make turns etc. To act like a kid again I guess. That's out of me now (Well - maybe not - we'll see when it snows again). Thanks for any help. Jim / NJ Related but not - I have some pulsating (Not the ABS kicking in) in the front disks when I stop for lights etc but not always. Slow stops - not hard braking. Is this common in the Subaru? This is my first one. Got it summer

Should it be reported.

- A
- Anthony Hsia
  
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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Nov 25, 2003 5:32 AM

Hi! The e-brake lever can be adjusted manually by removing the plastic cover directly behind the lever. But, if your car is still under warranty have them do it! Anyway, once you remove the cover, you'll need to little wrenches and then you can tighten it up there. You'll see where the cable comes in and where the nuts are. I have mine set at about 4 clicks to full lock (it's an RS coupe though, and I do fling it!).

The pulsing can be a lot of things. Maybe the rotors are warped, maybe the tire's aren't balanced, maybe the pad's about to go. Also check your fluids. I had my front rotors warp up after a 4 hour track session, but that's pretty extreme stuff...

- M
- Mike B.
  
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posted
20 years ago

Thu, Nov 27, 2003 5:46 PM

MY '01 had 46K on it and it started to "pulse" after a lot of stopping or on hills. I replaed the pads with the best I could get ($48 US) and darn never had a problem at 50K. I heard from a web site that it is the PADS that give the warping feel. After years of cutting rotors to fix it these pads (Advanced Auto) with semi-metallic fixed it. Real easy to do brakes with some knowledge.