99 S70 AWD Parking brake shoes don't return

[burnout8488]

99 S70 AWD:

I've got new shoes and hardware in the rear right now, but even when adjusted properly, the shoes never snap back like they do on my FWD vehicles. The two e-brake cables are Scantech, probably 25,000mi on them. (2 years old) When I assembled everything, I made sure the actuator and all of the hardware was lubed properly. Nothing is sticky, and the springs are new.

My 96 and girlfriend's 97 both have very snappy, clean actuating e-brakes. Immediately when the lever is released, the shoes snap back to the original position, and the lever is "loaded," ready to be pulled up again. (heavy feeling)

On my AWD when I pull the lever, the shoes grab, but when I release the lever, the shoes stay locked in the drum, and the lever can lift up and down freely with no engagement or hesitation.

What could cause this? The cables SEEM fine, and after driving for 10 minutes the shoes eventually back off. I took the discs off and readjusted the brakes today with the parking brake cables completely slack, and they still do it.

(Not my car, example pic)


Could these actuators being on backwards cause this perhaps? I don't know if they are, but it's possible. They seem omnidirectional, like it wouldn't matter if they were put on upside down or not.

My final thought is that maybe Volvo OE cables would be smoother and better built, so the cable is able to retract easier?

[jimmy57]

Apply park brake and then release it. Get under car and wiggle the park brake cables and then see if the brakes are released. I can't imagine Scantech stuff being made from anything resistant to rust. I quit buying their practice parts. I didn't need practice doing things twice or more when good parts would only have me do it once on the same vehicle in a dozen years.

[burnout8488]

Good idea.

I regret using Scantech to save a few bucks a few years ago. This was before I heard how bad Scantech/Uro were. The cables look physically OK, but who knows what's going on internally.

Tomorrow it's supposed to warm up, I'll go investigate.

[burnout8488]

Ever use Nordic parts? Are they crap? This price seems too good to be true:

http://www.eeuroparts.com/Parts/8771/Pa ... e-9485386/

$16 a piece…

I'm still leaning towards Genuine Volvo cables, but 16 bucks….

[QuirkySwede]

Posted this recently:
DIY: Parking Brake Failure Inspection ('98 S70 as ref')

If you're already down this far, might as well pull the shifter console so you can see if the cable pulls smoothly and freely both ways inside the sheath.

Also, at the very least, that brake assembly needs a good, thorough cleaning, rust brushed off (brass or steel brush), bearing cap installed, parts cleaned and greased on slide surfaces, backing plate/dust shield cleaned polished (to remove any high spots) and painted (corrosion barrier, inhibitor), and would do the same for any hub-to-drum/disc and drum/disc-to-wheel contact areas or you might find your wheel or disc cold-welded (rusted) to the car, "nearly" impossible to remove requiring a TRACTOR to get it off!.

Example from above DIY article:

This price seems too good to be true: http://www.eeuroparts.com/Parts/8771/Pa ... e-9485386/ $16 a piece… I'm still leaning towards Genuine Volvo cables, but 16 bucks….

Says for 1998 S70, but the drum-side end (both cable stop and sheath end) does not match. See photo showing both ends in the DIY link above.

[burnout8488]

My car is an AWD, which has a different parking brake system than the FWD cars. So that's why the cables might look different. The AWD cables are usually more expensive, so $16 is surprising.

I should have mentioned first, the picture I posted is not of my car. The picture above is from another thread on this forum. Mine are clean

I totally serviced my parking brakes a few weeks ago, and they're still "sticking." I've pretty much ruled out everything but the cables at this point, it just makes sense that they're hanging up. Gotta get outside and pop the console off to see if I can push the cables back after yanking the lever up….

[abscate]

In the deep freeze this week? Maybe wait until next week...I'm on business in Ithaca a

[scot850]

Had a similar problem, and it was the cables seizing inside the outer cable cover. I stopped buying Scantech/Uro for anything that is critical, and will avoid at all costs if there is an option. Lost count of the wasted time re-doing jobs.

Not sure if the AWD is the same as the V70XC, but you have to be careful how you route the cables under the car. For the XC it means dropping the rear suspension to allow you to remove the cable. Also check (if you had to do this on the AWD) that you didn't pinch the cable where it rivets just in front of behind the rear suspension mounts. Try to keep the radius's as curved as possible. I do find the XC a lot stiffer than the 850 FWD I used to have. My 2000 V70R is somewhere between the 2.

If it has been cold where you are, it could also be water has gotten into the cables and frozen. Once the car warms up the ice melts and releases. Used to be a common problem in the UK when I lived there. When it got cold you never used the parking brake, but put the car in gear (manual tranny) or didn't use anything other than P on auto. Not a great solution but worked!

Neil.

[burnout8488]

Yup, same AWD system as the XC. When I re-did the system a few weeks ago, I routed the cables under the mounting plates for the trailing arms as you mentioned. This could be a point where it binds up, although I did route them perfectly so they didn't get "smashed" as one might expect. Being Scantech, the cables are probably the wrong diameter and not designed for this, where the Volvo cables would be.

[burnout8488]

Put in OE Volvo cables and the parking brake is a million times better now. It's not totally fixed, but the shoes eventually do return.

Now, the aftermarket hardware and the crusty dust shield need looking at. They don't snap back like my FWD car does.

Looks like the dust shields are discontinued, so I'll have to get out the sandpaper and smooth mine over.