Parking brake won't hold car on Hill

Eastsidegeorgiaboy · Post by **Eastsidegeorgiaboy** » 20 Jul 2016, 13:25

I have a 1999 Volvo S70 T5 manual. I also had a 1999 Volvo S70 T5 automatic. I have experienced this issue with both cars as well as my older 1993 Volvo 850 GLT manual. The problem is when I am on a hill with the front end of the car facing uphill, the car will roll backwards almost freely as if the e-brake does not work at all. The e-brake works if the front end of the car is facing downhill but not if it's facing uphill. What is this? Is it the parking brake shoes? Because I have asked my mechanic before to tighten up my e-brake and it did nothing. This can be particularly annoying in situations where I'm sitting in the car facing uphill and want to take my foot off of the the Clutch and Brake, but can not do so because the emergency brake will not grab hard enough to let the car sit on the hill while the car is not in gear.

Post by **abscate** » 20 Jul 2016, 14:27

Its the shoes. They need replacing every 20 years or so.

Couple of threads on this here, let us know if you can't find them

Eastsidegeorgiaboy · Post by **Eastsidegeorgiaboy** » 20 Jul 2016, 15:28

Cool. Thanks. I will look for the threads.

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 20 Jul 2016, 18:46

Uh oh another parking brake thread! lol The cables can stretch as well so you'll want to check the adjustment on those. The 'rough' adjustment should be done with the star nut at the brakes themselves while the fine adjustment should be done with the allen bolt at the back of the hand brake lever itself (inside the car).

Some info here -> https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... hp?t=29623

Post by **scot850** » 20 Jul 2016, 19:41

Everyone thinks the parking brake system is a fit and forget, but it needs maintenance. Strip the system down, clean and lube everything and check that both cables are moving smoothly and are not broken or binding where they mount to the rear floor. If the rear parking brake drums are old, roughen up the surface of both the shoes (or replace the shoes altogether) and the drum to remove any shine, and then adjust the cable to the advised tensions.

Neil.

Post by **tryingbe** » 20 Jul 2016, 20:01

Take the rear rotors off and inspect. You won't know what the car needs until you take them off.

Eastsidegeorgiaboy · Post by **Eastsidegeorgiaboy** » 20 Jul 2016, 23:11

Thanks everyone for the quick replies