Parking brake cable replacement - 06 V50 T5 AWD

[scot850]

I was dreading this day after discovering my young friends parking brake as not working on one side. He finally got the funds to buy the replacement cables from Volvo, then contact me to help him install them.

I read the few lines on Vida as to cable replacement. The newer car info always makes me cringe when it says something like " this repair process may be generic and used on different models". This usually means the standard of information is either wrong, misses many parts of the process or is just next to useless, much like a Haynes manual these days.

Sure enough the instructions are only for a FWD car not an AWD. This meant it missed probably 75% of the steps required for an AWD cable replacement.

In the end we had to additionally remove:

1) the 2 side plastic undertrays just forward of the rear wheels
2) the 2 undertrays just to the inside of those
3) remove the prop-shaft bearing support bolts (2 off) and the 4 bolts for the cross-member

Then we had to remove the 6 heat shield nuts (well the remaining ones). Finally we could remove the heatshield backwards that sits above the prop-shaft support bearing. Tis took 2 of us wrestling the heatshield rearwards as you cannot remove it without destroying it or removing the prop-shaft and the muffler. There is an indent at the front of the heatshield locking it into the shield forward of it. It also catches on a plate that holds the 2 parking brake cables hidden above it. Eventually we got it far enough rearwards to see the parking brake cable balance bar and the center wire pull to the parking brake handle.

We had to loosen the parking brake adjuster to the driver's side of the parking brake handle with a 13mm deep socket.

This then allows you to access the cable to disconnect them from the balance bar.

Now here is one piece of important information that is missing. The ends of the sheaths that cover the parking brake cables car color codes white and black. White is to the RHR brake and the black to the LHR. What it misses is that the cable cross out of sight about 12" back from the balance bar and fit on the opposite sides into the flat retaining plate behind the balance bar.

Another thing you have to watch out for is the RHR cable runs behind various pipes across to the side of the car which can be easily damaged.

We got the cables out and then discovered the balance bar that came with the new cables is crushed so you cannot separate the cables and remove the balance bar like on the original!!??

There is also no way to be able to feed the cables in as they have plastic mounts attached to then that act like barbs if you try to feed the cables from the front back. We ended up opening the flattened slots on the balance bar allowing us to separate the cables.

Then using a piece of thin wire fed from the back of the car we could pull the cables through but it was easier having one pulling and the other feeding the cable to prevent damage to the cable and those pipes mentioned earlier on the RHS.

What we still had not figure out was how to crush the 2 ends of the balance bar as it it about 3mm thick.

It was at this point we found that the pull cable for the parking brake handle is aligned with the 'T' end up and down, but the new balance bar is designed to have the end horizontal???

It was only then after coincidently talking to my ex-Volvo mechanic friend he said there was a modification to the parking brake for the new cable which requires replacing the parking brake handle mechanism and the pull cable..................!!!

Apparently the Volvo dealer parts guys neglected to tell my friend this when purchased, as in their defense they did likely did not know.

Easy, we will fit the old one. Not so easy as it does not fit over the ends of the cables as they are larger than the originals!!

So I had to carefully modify the balance bar opening up the holes large enough to allow the cable ends to fit.

Finally we could reassemble all the parts. We did also find we nearly had to completely wind the adjuster fully off to be able to connect the cables to the pull cable and not fit the cables at the wheel end until we had done that.

This is not a job done easily. Fortunately I have a hoist which made access much easier, but not a job I want to ever do again!

Neil.