Replaced the rear rotors and pads this weekend on my 2003 MC-S and now have no parking brake function. I don't think I did anything funny - new pads were thicker so I had to use the retracting tool to push/turn the pistons back into the calipers. That worked fine. I have normal braking function. The new rotors seem to have been shined up by the pads, so I think they are working for normal braking.

I checked the caliper end of the L&R parking brake cables and they are well seated. I checked the center console end as well, and that end seems seated.

I tried adjusting the nut on the parking brake lever, but I still don't get parking brake even with the nut turned all the way down until it bottomed out. I think that is the only adjustment there is.

Any ideas?

 

The obvious question is does the cable move the pawl when you pull the lever?

///Rich

 

pull up and then let down on the parking brake lever several times.
You'll feel it tighten as you go up and down on the lever.
That "winds" the pistons back out that you turned in.

Or at least that's how I do it on mine.

 

What Dan Said

 

Looks like I still need some help.

Both calipers work when I step on the brake pedal - With the rear up in the air, the wheel goes from spinning freely to not spinning.

I tried lifting the parking lever up and down a bunch of times (20-30?). I took the rear wheels off and watched the cables at the rear calipers. The cables are getting pulled on, and the lever on the side of the caliper is being actuated.

One side seems a little weird - I can push the lever on the side of that caliper by hand, and it doesn't seem to retract on its own. When I push the lever on that caliper, it doesn't tighten up the pads on that side. The external spring is in place (on both sides).

The other side seems to operate normally - the lever on the side of the caliper is very hard for me to push, and clamps the pads when I operate it with my big channelocks.

Is there anything I can do to reset that one caliper? Turn the piston all the way in and try again?

 

Follow up - for lack of better ideas, I got a rebuilt caliper sent from Rock Auto and it is working fine now. Guess it was just one of those things - was bad and I hadn't noticed or was close to failing and the brake work pushed it over the edge... who knows. Normal brakes and parking brakes are both working well now.

 

One important and often overlooked fact about integrated parking brakes in rear calipers is that often people damage them.. by accident.. by not understanding how the internals work.

There is a ball and ramp/screw design inside the caliper. When retracted (Say for new pads) the ball and ramp can be easily damaged with a long stroke of hydraulic pressure. The rear caliper system only allows for a few MM of piston movement at a time (unlike the front calipers which are just fluid pistons.)

What happens is often people depress the rear calipers properly with the screw tool. But.. in order to reset the screw you must FIRST only use the parking brake to line everything back up internally. Only once you feel pressure on the hand brake can you THEN step on the brakes with the service (hydraulic) brake pedal. If you depress the service brake several times, or even one long stroke while the pistons are screwed back, you'll bend the internals and damage the parking brake, but leave the hydraulic system functional.

I bet that's what happened.

TL:DR - When putting on new rear brakes, use the parking brake to set the brakes before you step on the pedal, if not you'll damage the calipers.

 

Good to know....
But also know the r53 rear calipers stick pretty frequently...
My mini centric shop guy keeps 3 rebuilt rears of each side on the shelf...
I just got one installed a couple weeks ago...right rear...bet the salt and deicing chemicals did it in...

 

Some auto parts store will loan out specialty tools. It might be worth calling them to see if they have it or something that works.