Re: Parking brake

[Andrew Duane USG/PE <duane@zk3.dec.com>]

Hairy green toads from Mars made JSoult@aol.com say:

> I have a 1991 80Q with 77K.  The parking brake stoped working.  Not having
> the time or enough confidence to tackel the job, I sent my beloved to the
> dealer.  He said: Needs new calipers - $1070 installed = :-((( (my chin
> hitting the ground).  I find it hard to believe this is the problem.  Me
> thinks I am being taken.

It could be.

I had to replace both calipers to fix my parking brake. The stupid
little $2 lever/spring that controls the parking brake tends to get
frozen, and you have to replace the caliper to fix it. It's easy to
check: pull the parking brake up, and look at the rear calipers.
You'll see a 90-degree arc of a circle that the cable pulls on at
the bottom of the caliper facing the back of the car. See where it
is. Now, release the brake, check the position again, and see if the
return springs have pushed them back.

Now, that said, rebuilt calipers for these cars can be had for
under $200 each, and about 2-3 hours labor to replace both. This
does not add up to $1070, except using a dealer's arithmetic.

-- 

Andrew L. Duane (JOT-7)			duane@zk3.dec.com
Digital Equipment Corporation		(603)-881-1294
110 Spit Brook Road
M/S ZKO3-3/U14
Nashua, NH    03062-2698

Only my cat shares my opinions, and she's too heavy to care.