How To Replace Volvo E-Brake Pads

The e-brake holds the car stationary, when the driver’s seat is empty, by mechanically locking/blocking two wheels. A faint electric motor noise can be heard when the e-brake is being applied. The noise can also be heard during the automatic function checking of the parking brake.

Is it time to replace your e-brake pads?

If the car is stationary when the e-brake is applied then it only acts on the rear wheels. If it is applied when the car is moving then the normal foot brake is used, i.e. the e-brake acts on all four wheels. Brake function changes over to the rear wheels when the car is almost stationary.

bobsnow100  »

Hi
I just replaced my e-brake pads. Yours may be so worn that it feels like the cable is not working when you pull the lever but actually it is because the emergency pads are so worn. You can check by jacking up the rear of the car, (support on jack stands) removing the wheels. There are 2 bolts attaching the brake caliper (on the back side of the caliper). Remove these and tie up the caliper so the weight is not being supported by the brake line. Once you remove the wheels and caliper you’ll see a aligning stud on the wheel drum/rotor which helps you line up the wheel when installing the lugnuts. Remove this stud with a wrench and now you can remove the brake disc. Sometime they get stuck. Once removed, You’ll see the emergengy brake pads and be able to see if they are worn. You can have an assistant pull the lever to see if the cable is working.
If you need to replace the pads, do so in the same way you remove them. Do one side at a time just in case you need to see how the springs attach,etc .Turn the pad adjuster ( the star wheel on top) in, so the drum will fit over the pads. I also lubricate inside the adjuster with proper brake parts grease. DO NOT get any on the pads.Next you’ll have to adjust them.

Procedure

Ozark Lee » This is my parking brake repair/replacement.

It finally quit raining in the Midwest long enough to replace the parking brake on my ’94 850 sedan.

The process starts with the usual block the front tires, get out your jack stands stuff. Jack up the rear wheels of the car and set your jack stands. As an extra precaution I leave the jack in place on the side I am working on.

The next step is to remove both rear wheels. I have an impact wrench so I do this step after the car is off the ground. If you are using the lug wrench loosen the wheel studs before you jack the car up.

The next step is to remove the rear calipers. The removal requires a 13 mm socket on the two bolts on the inside of the caliper as shown.
You now need to support the caliper so as to not stress the brake lines. I used some leftover audio wire but anything flexible that you can tie a knot in will do. At this point you use a 10 mm socket or wrench to remove the locating pin from the rotor.
At this point the rotor should be free. In my case there was considerable rust so a light tap with a hammer was required to free the rotor from the hub. Strike the center portion of the rotor, not the edge and not the dust cap. One tap should free it.

Now you can inspect your parking brake shoes. I have no idea how anyone could destroy parking brake shoes to this extent.
The nest step is to remove the old parking brake shoes. Haynes says to remove the lower spring first but I could not make that happen . My procedure was to remove the upper spring which is located just above the adjuster, by hand. At that point you can remove both the front and back halves of the shoes, along with the springs as one assembly by more or less twisting them around the parking brake mechanism at the bottom of the assembly.
The parking brake shoes and the lower spring after removal.

I had noticed, based on the noise under braking in the rear of the car, that the rear rotors were warped. At this point I jacked up the other side of the car, set another jack stand, and removed the other rotor. The clouds were looking ominous. I took the rotors to O’Reilly Auto Parts where Jim turned both of them. It cost an extra $7.00/ rotor on top of the $9.00 per rotor for the rotor portion but I had him turn the parking brake drum surface as well as the caliper surface.
The machined rotors, both the rotor surface and the parking brake surface was turned.

Since I dropped of the rotors to be turned I took this opportunity to clean up all of the stuff behind the rotor with brake cleaner. I also cleaned up the magnets on the ABS sensors with a cloth and a straight blade screwdriver.
The cleaned up brake back plane and ABS magnets.

The toughest part of the project, from here on, is getting the lower spring hooked back up to the new brake shoes. I have a drum brake tool that I have used on numerous GM and Chrysler vehicles but it was worthless in this application, I used a medium sized straight slot screwdriver to pull the lower spring back into the lower slot on the shoes. Hook one side and then pry the other. It would not go all of the way but I could get it to catch and then, with a tap of the hammer onto the screwdriver, I could seat the spring into the opposite brake shoe.

Once the lower spring is in place I added “just a touch” of grease to the rotating ends of the adjusters and then pulled the upper spring into its slots by hand. The upper spring does not have very much tension.

At this point check that both the front and back shoes are seated into their slots on the parking brake mechanism. Check each side with the help of an assistant (wife) to assure that the shoes extend outward when the parking brake lever is pulled. If the shoes do not extend outward on either side recheck that the center parking brake mechanism is seated in the slot on the shoes.
Properly seated shoes from below.
New shoes installed with springs.

From here on everything is easy. The next step is to mount the rotors and re-attach the calipers. I pulled them back into place, started the bolts, and then released the wires that I tied off to support them. Once they are in place and the bolts are started torque them down snug with a 13 mm socket. In noticed that the original had locktite(red) on the threads so I added locktite (red) as well. If you cannot get the rotor to go on, adjust the shoes up or down or side to side as necessary .

At this point you should adjust the shoes. There is a single hole, outside of the lug pattern and the locater pin, where you can insert a straight blade screwdriver, to adjust the parking brake. Prying up tightens the brakes while prying down will release it.
Adjusting the parking brake shoes.

Adjust them to a point where the rotor is just locked to the touch. Next you need to rotate the rotor and few revolutions. As the shoes center the resistance will decrease dramatically. Continue to tighten and spin until the resistance no longer decreases after the rotor is spun.

Now back each adjuster off by prying down 3 or 4 clicks. Each rotor should turn with “just a touch” of drag.

Now you should test the parking brake in the car. The lever should have good tension within 3 to 5 clicks on the lever. If you have more throw in the lever you need to adjust the cables.
Parking brake cable adjustment access through the center console.

The cable adjustment is accessed through the center console via a plastic plate at the lower front of the compartment. Use a straight blade screwdriver to pry the plate free from the bottom surface. Once open use an Allen head socket or key to tighten the lever, the Allen screw is – more or less – ½” inside of the access panel, to a point where the parking brake engages within the 3 to 5 click area of upward pull on the handle. After adjusting, release the brake and check that the parking brake is not dragging while the lever is in the released position. If it is dragging substantially you went too far with the cable adjuster – back it off.

Once the cable is correct replace the access panel in the center console by placing it back in place and giving it a whack by hand. It should snap back in place.

At this point all you need to do is re-mount the wheels, jack up each side, and remove the jack stands. Be sure to remove the front wheel block that you placed in step 1. You did pay attention as to which wheel was which didn’t you?

My brakes went from not working at all to working great

Without pictures and without the turning the rotors it would take 45 minutes or so. I just spent a little over 2 hours posting it. The posting takes longer than the job.

Hope it helps someone.

How To Replace E-Brake Pads