Seized handbrake lever on rear caliper...

[Kneale Brownson]

When you "hammer" the parking brake lever does the piston move in and 
out?  If so, penetrants and repeated actuation will loosen up the 
lever.  On my 200, the lever worked but the piston didn't retract, so the 
pads stayed against the rotor.  I found rust on the piston and in the bore 
of the cylinder when  I stripped it out.  On a 5K parts car that had the 
brake cables cut, I was able to loosen up the lever and make it function 
again, but it really needed renewal of the heavy, thick grease packed into 
the chamber at the inboard end of the cylinder in which the parking brake 
lever operates a little rod to push out the piston.  It's quite a trick to 
get the cylinder stripped out so you can remove the parking brake lever and 
replace that grease.  There's also a rubberized seal around the shaft for 
the lever that probably is leaking if the thing's rusted up.



At 10:50 PM 12/05/2000 +0200, Gerard wrote:

>Hi!
>
>I removed the rear suspension and brakes from my 200 today for fitting
>new shocks, springs and rebuilding the brakes. It seems the left rear
>caliper has a frozen handbrake mechanism. The right rear one is fine,
>the lever returning to its position when releasing it, but the left one
>is seized tight and it takes a hammer to move it. Is there a way to save
>this caliper or do I have to ditch it and find another one?
>
>Three of the four guides pins on the rear calipers were seized as well.
>I might have to sandblast and smooth them and their bores.
>
>I now see why I didn't have good rear brakes when the car was on the
>road: 4-5mm thick rear discs, 2mm thick brake pads, seized handbrake
>lever, stuck guide pins.
>
>Thanks.
>
>G.
>--
>gerard at poboxes.com
>q-list info: 1989/90 200 (mac13a MC-1)
>