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Vintage Volvo 140 Brake Woes

C

CRatcliff

Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2016
Location
Seattle, Washington
Just started driving my car yesterday, and it is behaving super oddly. When I let off the parking brake it isn't rolling as normal, and when I drive it immediately decelerates. At first I thought I had a super flat tire, but the pressure is all great. My guess at this point is that one of the e-brake shoes is locking up, but I can't tell for sure. My plan for the next step is to put it on a stand and start rotating each wheel to see what happens.

Any advice? Is that a dumb idea? Most likely culprit to start with?
 
Seized parking brake cable?

If that's the case you can remove the pin from the lever at the backing plate to release the parking brake.

If the wheel doesn't spin freely after removing the pin then it's probably a plugged flex hose.
 
The backing plate is the dust shield behind the rotor. Here's a pic of what it's supposed to look like.

ParkingBrakeCableDetail.jpg


The lock pin (#10) needs to be rotated to un-clip it from the cable before it can be removed.

1035248.jpg
 
If they're sticky and dragging just a little bit, sometimes going a little distance in reverse will release them, but it's best to open it up as hiperfauto says and see what the hang up is.
 
Another thing you can try is to take a fairly long screwdriver and pry on the lever (no. 1 in the diagram above) using the axle tube for a fulcrum. If the cable is not totally locked up, this will often work to pull it out and release the brake.
 
Just FYI it was a frayed cable! Did as you said and disconnected it and ordered a new one from VP-Auto. Easy swap to install. Only thing to note is to make sure you tighten the bolts at the furthest back stay for the cables on each side (right before the final springs) BEFORE putting the springs on. I had to take everything off again to do that.
 
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