Doomstein

On my 1990 Mustang GT my parking brake cable snapped near the parking brake handle. When the bable broke it flew back into the hole behind the rubber boot and now my back brakes are stuck. Is this something that I should even bother attempting to fix myslef? The lever came out ok, but I don't feel comfortable getting under my car in my apartment complex's crappy parking lot. What's the likelyhood of fishing the cable out of the hole with a magnetic probe and unjamming the brakes?

83gtragtop

Your going to have to get that thing up on four jack stands and get under there tofigure out exactly what broke.

hotstang97gt

you can take out the center console to see if you can get to it. if your brakes are stuck, then it sounds like its probably sticking in the drums or the cables caught on under your car. your going to have to put it on some stands to fix the problem

Doomstein

Well, the console is apart and the brake lever is out. I'll see if I can manage to fish out the broken end of the cable and give it a tug with the extra-long needlenose to see if that unkinks the line. If not, I'll have to find a safe place to put the car on stands and get under it, which I hate. I suppose either way getting underneath it is unavoidable and I'll have to it eventuallyto fix it permanantly. But if I have to go to a shop I want to be able to drive there and not worry about my brake shoes catching on fire : )

mjr46

a tow will be alot cheaper than the possible damage that'll result if you don't solve the jammed brakes temporarily

Doomstein

So I looked underneath the car, and it seems that the front cable and the bracket it hooks to to connect the back wheel cables are gone. They must have fallen off. So now the two back cables are just sitting there dangling. Quick question though. If the cables aren't attached to anything and are free, shouldn't the brake shoes retract themselves?

mattdel

Theoretically yes, but if the cable pulled on them when it snapped, and they're not in good shape, they could have frozen in place.

A quick fix that you could do in your apt. lot, seeing as how the cables will likely need replacing anyway, is to get yourself a big pair of bolt cutters, something you'd use to cut a masterlock off a barn door. get it in there as close to the end(near the drum) as you can and snip snip snip. They generally don't lockup near the end, so if you cut them, they should release. This won't be easy, and if you're a fairly small guy, you might need someone stronger, or even an electric die grinder or something equivalent.

Doomstein

Ok, so I managed to get a replacement cable and bracket, threaded it through the hole, setting the boot where it needs to be, and hooked the two back cables to the bracket while underneath the car. Easy peasy. Now I'm assuming I have to reset the spring tension in the handle before I can hook the cable to it. Any suggestions on the easiest way to do it? My factory manual isn't actually very helpful on this topic.

mattdel

You want to hook it all up loose, then turn the threaded rod until the cables are tight but not pulling. You shouldn't have to touch anything in the lever mechanism at all.

Doomstein

Threaded rod where?