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Car Forum / Mazda / Mazda Miata / January 2006Parking Brake
My 1996 Miata's parking brake does not work. I relpaced the cable running from the equalizer to the rear caliper on one side, thinking that was the problem. Then I tightened the cable at the brake lever. It still does not work. With the car jacked up by the rear differential, I took the wheels off. I then put the car in 1st gear and let the wheels spin. I can see the cables pulling the lever on the caliper when I pull up the brake lever in the car, but the pads still do not engage. I tightened the cable attaching to the lever on the caliper all the way on both sides, but it still does not work. I am wondering if my calipers need to be replaced. When calipers are old, do the levers in the caliper that pull the pads together from the parking brake sometimes stop working? Do they sometimes need to be replaced? Brian > My 1996 Miata's parking brake does not work. I relpaced the cable running > from the equalizer to the rear caliper on one side, thinking that was the [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > replaced? > Brian Yes, they will go bad eventually, but there should be some indication that there is a problem with the calipers. Any brake caliper that I have had go bad has been leaking brake fluid past the rubber seals, either from old seals, from corroded/pitted pistons, and/or both. Are you certain that the parking brake cable is properly adjusted at the driver-side brake caliper? Pat > My 1996 Miata's parking brake does not work. Have you adjusted the rear brakes recently, or at least after the last pad change? It doesn' t hurt to check them at each oil change. See the miata.net Garage for instructions.  SignatureLanny Chambers '94C, St. Louis http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html > Have you adjusted the rear brakes recently, or at least after the last > pad change? It doesn' t hurt to check them at each oil change. See the > miata.net Garage for instructions. In over 85,000 miles on my two miatas I have adjusted my parking brake one time, when the rear pads were replaced on the last one. I also checked it one time just because it seemed like a good thing to do and everything was fine. If I had checked the parking brake adjustment at every oil change, that would have been about 25 to 30 more times that I would have gotten under there and said, "yes, once again everything is fine". That seems excessive to me, I thought that the miata was a low-maintenance, reliable car. In addition, parking brake problems are not a common miata subject except when people fail to adjust them properly, almost always after the pads have been replaced, not from failing to adjust them 4 times a year. I spend way too much time driving mine and doing other things to verify 4 or 5 times a year that the parking brake that appears to be working perfectly is in fact properly adjusted. Pat > In over 85,000 miles on my two miatas I have adjusted my parking brake > one time > > Have you adjusted the rear brakes recently, or at least after the last > > pad change? Lanny asked about Brian's rear brake adjustment, not his parking brake. If the adjustment was not done at the last pad change, the parking brake will not work well as the pads will be too far away from the rotors. SignatureKen Lyons '97 Brilliant Black/'90 Classic Red Inside the Beltway [Remove the first two digits to reply] > Lanny asked about Brian's rear brake adjustment, not his parking brake. If > the adjustment was not done at the last pad change, the parking brake will > not work well as the pads will be too far away from the rotors. Gotcha, but once the adjustment is done, don't the brakes work identically to the fronts? The reason that I assumed "parking brake", is because as fas as I can tell, the adjustment only needs to be made to make sure that the pads are close enough to the rotors to allow the parking brake to work when the lever is engaged but far enough away to let the wheels spin freely when it is released. Once this is done properly, what need is there to adjust the rear brakes unless the parking brake is not holding or is not releasing? Pat > In over 85,000 miles on my two miatas I have adjusted my parking brake > one time, when the rear pads were replaced on the last one. I mentioned adjusting the rear brakes, Pat, not the parking brake. The parking brake cable should probably never need attention, if the rear caliper adjustments are maintained. Frozen slider pins are another source of brake problems; mine get cleaned and lubed about every other oil change. FWIW, I expect my 136k-mile car to work perfectly, all the time. I'm happy to pay my mechanic $30 to change the oil, do all the little stuff, and give the car a general inspection every 3k miles. I'm not poor, and I haven't enjoyed doing my own maintenance for decades. SignatureLanny Chambers '94C, St. Louis http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html > I mentioned adjusting the rear brakes, Pat, not the parking brake. The > parking brake cable should probably never need attention, if the rear > caliper adjustments are maintained. Frozen slider pins are another > source of brake problems; mine get cleaned and lubed about every other > oil change. Ok, I was wrong to mention parking brake, but I am definitely confused here. Are you saying that the rear brakes require adjustment at frequent intervals? Why are they different from the front brakes which self-adjust as the pads wear down? I never adjusted the rear ones except after pad installation and never had a problem. Did I just get lucky? I do check and lube the slider pins about once a year. > FWIW, I expect my 136k-mile car to work perfectly, all the time. I'm > happy to pay my mechanic $30 to change the oil, do all the little stuff, > and give the car a general inspection every 3k miles. I'm not poor, and > I haven't enjoyed doing my own maintenance for decades. Well, I am poor, and young enough that doing my own maintenance is no big deal. Hopefully, I will be old and wealthy one day and will have a trustworthy mechanic at the time. ;-) I wouldn't expect any car to function perfectly all of the time, especially at 136K miles. The miata is great, it is not magic. Even well-serviced cars break down. Pat Hi; I originally started this thread. Yes, the parking brake stopped working when I changed the rear pads myself. I remember the time before that the rear brakes were changed a very skilled mechanic had trouble with my parking brake. It's hard to explain, but I'll try. The parking brake cable starts at the lever in the car. it then travels to an equalizer that splits the cable to two directions; left and right rear calipers. Each of those cables connects to a lever on the left and right rear calipers. It would seem to me that if the cables pull that lever (when the parking brake is applied), the parking brake should engage. My cables pull that lever just fine, but the parking brake still does not work. Also, the rear brakes themselves work just fine when I press the brake pedal. So, I think I adjusted and seated the brake pads in the caliper fine when I changed the brakes. But still, the parking brake does not work, even though the lever on the caliper gets pulled when the parking brake is applied. I figured maybe it was a problem with the calipers themselves (the mechanism that allows that lever on the caliper to squeeze the pads on the disk). However, I am suspicious that *both* calipers have a problem. That's why maybe there is some adjustment on the calipers for the parking brake I don't know about, or maybe I did something wrong when I changed the pads. I'm baffled. Any ideas? Brian > However, > I am suspicious that *both* calipers have a problem. That's why maybe there > is some adjustment on the calipers for the parking brake I don't know about, > or maybe I did something wrong when I changed the pads. I think so, too. Visit miata.net, go to the Garage section, and read about brake pad installation. The rear adjustment procedure, which involves an Allen wrench, is explained in detail. SignatureLanny Chambers '94C, St. Louis http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html Oh, when I installed the new pads I extensively read about that on that website and especially in my Haynes manual. I am pretty sure I got the pads adjusted correctly. It is a balancing of the nominal clamping of the pads - you adjust the clamping of the pads with an allen wrench. Not too tight to have the pads rub; not too lose that the pads don't ever reach the disc when applying the brake. I had a hell of a time with that (originally the pads I used had no shims and were rubbing the discs intermittently), but when I got the good pads - I think they were semi-metallic and they had shims on them, I got the brakes working. But, still the parking brake does not work. Brian > > However, > > I am suspicious that *both* calipers have a problem. That's why maybe there [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > about brake pad installation. The rear adjustment procedure, which > involves an Allen wrench, is explained in detail. > I had a hell of a time with that (originally the pads I > used had no shims and were rubbing the discs intermittently), but when I got > the good pads - I think they were semi-metallic and they had shims on them, > I got the brakes working. Recheck the adjustment, now that the new pads have bedded in. SignatureLanny Chambers '94C, St. Louis http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html > I wouldn't expect any car to function perfectly all of the time, > especially at 136K miles. > The miata is great, it is not magic. Even well-serviced cars break down. I got my Miata at 54k, and it's now at 136k. Only two things have failed so far: an intermittant coolant fan motor, and the clutch slave finally needed fixing after 11 years. Neither sidelined the car, and repairs were at my convenience. I'm still on the original clutch, top, and A/C charge. All other work has been routine maintenance/consumables or discretionary upgrades. It's magic! SignatureLanny Chambers '94C, St. Louis http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html > I got my Miata at 54k, and it's now at 136k. Only two things have failed > so far: an intermittant coolant fan motor, and the clutch slave finally > needed fixing after 11 years. Neither sidelined the car, and repairs > were at my convenience. I'm still on the original clutch, top, and A/C > charge. All other work has been routine maintenance/consumables or > discretionary upgrades. It's magic! I think that we have different definitions of the word "expect". I replaced a starter that failed with no warning on a miata with far less miles than your's. The owner was not the type to crank the car with the car running, the part simply failed, despite being on a miata. That car was sidelined. Your starter might make it to 300,000 miles, but it could also fail tonight. Would it really shock you if your A/C compressor failed, your radiator started leaking, your clutch started slipping, or any of the many other things that happen to any model of car, especially as they start to get to be well over 10 years and 100K miles. Pat > Would it really shock you if your A/C compressor failed, your radiator > started leaking, your clutch started slipping, or any of the many other > things that happen to any model of car, especially as they start to get > to be well over 10 years and 100K miles. Except for the radiator (an all-metal replacement), no, not really. I expect various parts to start showing their age, and some of them sooner rather than later. I don't expect anything to fail disastrously without warning, though, because both I and my mechanic watch for those warnings regularly. Just because one's car has never used oil between changes doesn't mean one shouldn't check it weekly--if it starts using oil unnoticed, the engine's demise could be accelerated. The Miata really is more reliable than most other cars. I think there are several good reasons: the drivetrain is mature and well developed, the turbo-spec engine is in a relatively mild state of tune, and the car's light weight presents a modest stress load. And when it does break, most things are cheap and easy to fix, as modern cars go. SignatureLanny Chambers '94C, St. Louis http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html > Except for the radiator (an all-metal replacement), no, not really. I > expect various parts to start showing their age, and some of them sooner [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > car's light weight presents a modest stress load. And when it does > break, most things are cheap and easy to fix, as modern cars go. I think that we are in general agreement here. My last miata was by far the most reliable car I have ever owned, and I am sure that my similar near-fanatical maintenance was part of the reason, as well as the ones you listed above. Still, there are certain things that are not regularly checked, like the starter that I mentioned that died without showing any symptoms. These type of parts can easily fail without warning, leaving you stranded. Neither of us has ever been stranded by mechanical failure in driving approximately 80K to 85K miles each in our own miatas. Others have been far less lucky, either due to bad maintenance/pure chance, or both. I also agree that these are very easy cars to work on, (relatively), especially the earlier years. Taking one completely apart has helped a lot with knowing how everything interacts. Wow, what a ton of wiring! Good night, Pat |
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