Hello everyone,

a couple days ago I pressed my parking brake down and heard a loud snap, and the parking brake ceased to work at all. Checked it out and I found that the brake cable had snapped at the linkage where it splits for the left and right wheel. The cable that snapped is the one that goes to the rear passenger side wheel. Question is whether or not this is a simple DIY? because this cable goes over and around the gas tank, which i presume would need to be removed if I was to replace the cable? I am a DIY-er, but only have so much talent.

EDITTT- wow sorry guys, major mind lapse. It's a 2001 caravan with disc brakes all around.

Thanks for the help.

 

im yet to know this for the caravan but i know if ya got drums in the rear ya going to have to remove them to get the other end cable end out. im sure someone here will post the proceedure to do it. and if i was you i would not just replace the left but right side too.

 

I don't the year of your van or if you have rear drums or discs. I am posting how to remove the rear cable for the right side.
REMOVAL - PARKING BRAKE CABLE (RIGHT REAR)
Raise vehicle on jackstands or centered on a hoist.
Remove rear tire and wheel assembly.
Remove rear brake drum from the rear wheel of the vehicle requiring service to the rear park brake cable.
Create slack in the rear parking brake cables by locking out the automatic adjuster as described here. Grasp an exposed section of front parking brake cable near the equalizer and pull down on it. At this time install a pair of locking pliers on the cable just rearward of the second body outrigger bracket (Locking Out Automatic Adjuster).
Disconnect the right rear parking brake cable from the connector on the intermediate cable (Right Rear Cable Connection To Intermediate Cable).
To remove the right parking brake cable housing from the body bracket, slide a 14 mm box end wrench over the end of cable retainer to compress the retaining fingers (Right Park Brake Cable Removal From Body Bracket). The alternate method using an aircraft type hose clamp will not work on the right side of the vehicle.
Remove the brake shoes from the brake support plate.
Disconnect parking brake cable from parking brake actuator lever.
Remove the parking brake cable housing retainer from the brake support plate using a 14mm wrench to compress the retaining fingers (Removing Park Brake Cable From Brake Support Plate). Remove the cable.

 

Thanks for the removal instructions, but I am also wondering how I am going to reinstall this cable? It runs directly over the fuel tank across the car to the other side where it attaches to a another cable that goes directly to the disc brake. So would I have to remove the fuel tank to reinstall this cable? is there another simpler way? I dont have the confidence to be removing fuel tanks on my drive way.

Here is the cable that has snapped, figure a couple pics couldnt hurt.

http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/5931/img0027e.jpg
http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/941/img0026j.jpg

 

The instructions doesn't say anything about the fuel tank,But here is the instruction to install, the right side cable.
INSTALLATION - PARKING BRAKE CABLE (RIGHT REAR)
Install the rear parking brake cable in the brake support plate. Insert cable housing retainer into brake support plate making certain that cable housing retainer fingers lock the housing and retainer firmly into place.
Attach the parking brake cable onto the parking brake actuator lever.
Install the brake shoes on the rear brake support plate.
Insert cable housing retainer into body outrigger bracket making certain that cable housing retainer fingers lock the housing firmly into place.
Connect the right rear parking brake cable to the connector on the intermediate parking brake cable (Right Rear Cable Connection To Intermediate Cable).
Install the brake drum, then the wheel and tire assembly.
Remove the locking pliers from the front park brake cable. This will automatically adjust the park brake cables.
Lower the vehicle.
Apply and release park brake pedal 1 time. This will seat the park brake cables.

 

Although this is an old post, I thought maybe it was better to ask my question within it rather than a new one, since people like me searching for the answer might stumble across it... I just had the front cable break where it connects with the metal clip to the two rear cables. Does anyone have a procedure for replacing the front cable?

 

I'm guessing you have a 2001 to 2007 van.
REMOVAL - PARKING BRAKE CABLE (INTERMEDIATE)
Raise the vehicle.
Manually lock out the automatic self-adjusting mechanism tension of the parking brake lever (pedal) assembly. Once the cable is released from the equalizer, do not remove the locking pliers until reinstallation of the cable is complete.
Remove the intermediate parking brake cable from the parking brake cable equalizer.
Remove the locking nut securing the intermediate cable housing to the side bracket on the frame rail.
Remove the intermediate parking brake cable from the cable connector attaching it to the right rear parking brake cable. Remove the locking nut securing the intermediate cable housing to the side bracket on the frame rail.
If the vehicle is a short-wheel-base model, it will be necessary to loosen and lower the fuel tank far enough to remove the intermediate parking brake cable.
Remove the intermediate parking brake cable from the side brackets and vehicle.

 

Thank you MasterTech for responding, I am very appreciative of any assistance you can give. I am still having trouble. My van is indeed a 2007, a Grand Caravan.

I am trying to disconnect the cable from the foot pedal, and am having trouble following the directions you attached. I don't suppose you could translate into "backyard mechanic" for me? The cable broke at the midpoint where it attaches to that metal clip which pulls the left and right rear cables. So I have fed the cable up thru the floorpan. It's still attached to the pedal mechanism on what I believe is the "self-adjusting tension mechanism" that your instructions above refer to. It's a circular set of bands where the cable end is attached, and when I pull down on the cable it turns/adding tension. How do I lock out this tensioner? And assuming I get this locked out, how do I remove that cable end, because I can't seem to figure out how it pops out or screws out or unwraps... It looks like there's a metal end on the cable that somehow sits in a fitting in that tensioner. Am I supposed to remove the entire parking brake assembly from the side wall (and if so, it appears like a hell of a job on its own)? I may be just a DIY'er who's comfortable with pulling wrenches, but this thing is like a Chinese finger puzzle....

 

The park brake lever is self-adjusting. Remove the lever from the body and pull back the machanism and lock it into place. This way once the new cable has been install, unlock the machanism on the lever.

 

I’m going to post my solution to this problem for the next unlucky soul who has to deal with that brake pedal cable. My van is a 2007 Grand Caravan with sto-and-go (I understand that there are different cables for regular seats vs sto-and-go, and for regular Caravan vs Grand…)

1. Remove the plastic trim panel that runs from the lower edge of the dash to the door sill. It simply pulls off.
2. Pull back the carpet from the firewall, under the pedals, and toward the seat so that the cable is exposed where it runs thru the floor under the vehicle. (Optional: I removed the plastic panel from the side of the dash that gave me just a slightly better view from underneath and allowed a little more light under the dash as well… 2 phillips screws on the side of the dash and one on the bottom edge)
3. Unhook the cable from the clips holding it in place on the underside of the van and feed it up through the floorboards, and set it off to the side so that it’s lying freely. I ran it along the side of the drivers seat

.… If you now look at the park brake mechanism, it is held in place with an upper and lower 13mm bolt to the sidewall of the van, and a 13mm nut to a bolt mounted into the firewall. That lower bolt on the side is partially obscured by another metal bracket that holds the dash to the sidewall. This is an awkward position and no socket or wrench will grab it with that bracket in place.

So I removed the bolt holding the bracket (another 13mm) and then I took my trim removal tool (or any other tool you can use to pry) and simply pried that bracket away, bending it a bit purposely. This allowed me to get a socket around that lower nut. Don’t worry, it’s easily bent back in place when you re-install the bolt holding it… you’ll see what I mean when you’re looking at it.

4 I then removed the two bolts and one nut holding that pedal mechanism in place. This required my moving the pedal a bit to get at the lower bolt and then releasing it to get at the upper bolt with a U-joint and extension. I used a deep socket to get the nut off. I also had to disconnect the plastic brake release handle from the mechanism. On the back side of the handle, you’ll see a metal bar with a plastic tab holding to the handle. Pop the plastic tab off of the metal bar, and the metal bar will then disconnect from the handle.
5 Now as you attempt to fish the whole mechanism out, look for the wire attached to the switch on this mechanism and simply unplug it so you don’t break the wire. This is for the dash light for the parking brake. Start moving the pedal mechanism upward to clear that bolt on the back/firewall. This may require you to bend that lower dash-holding bracket even further. Once you’ve cleared that back bolt, you then have to work the whole thing down through the wiring and out onto the floor.

.…Now you can look at this damned clockspring contraption clearly. Find a pair of regular pliers and a pair of locking pliers, and for the locking ones preferably the smaller the better. I used my favorite pair of 10 inch waterpump pliers and a set of needlenose vice grips which are approximately 9 inches long. I also recommend using some electrical tape on the teeth of the pliers so you don’t damage the cable, but if you’re gentle, I’m sure you can get away without it. You can use bigger locking pliers right now, but later when the whole thing is re-mounted, you will likely want to redo this step while mounted under the dash… trust me, I’ll explain later…

You need to take the tension off the clockspring and lock it out. This means that you need to pull that cable all the way as far as it can go and then lock that clockspring from spinning back to its resting position...

6 Hold the mechanism by the cable so it hangs, and then put it on the ground. Put a foot on the metal bracket, take your waterpump pliers and grab hold of the exposed cable on the outside of the bracket/housing, and pull so that the clockspring rotates to the end of its travel. While holding it with one hand, take those locking pliers and pinch the clockspring so that the pliers prevent it from spinning back. Then let go of the waterpump pliers. Don’t get too aggressive and crush the clockspring either.

…There may be some other way of locking that clockspring in place but I couldn’t find it anywhere on the internet. If there is, feel free to chime in. Down below, you’ll see again the need to lock this thing out once it’s re-mounted on the side of the vehicle, so I’m open to suggestions…

7 If you’ve locked it properly, you can now remove the cable by taking pliers, bending that metal tab and removing the cable. Then pull the old cable out and off the pedal mechanism. Feed the new cable through and reinstall, bending that metal tab back in place. DO NOT yet plug the cable housing into the pedal bracket… leave it loose so that the cable is exposed on the outside of the mechanism.

… Now you need to be careful. If you simply remove the locking pliers and let that clockspring spin, you’ll likely yank that cable hard enough to pull the opposite end of it right inside the cable housing… you don’t want to do that. So I used two pairs of pliers to release the clockspring…

8 Grab the end of the cable with one set of pliers from the outside of the housing, so that you can maintain the lockout of the clockspring. Then release your locking pliers. Then pick your other set of pliers, grab the cable about an inch away from the pliers in your other hand, and slowly let it feed through an inch at a time until it’s back to its resting position. Notice that the other end of the cable is slowly being pulled inside the cable housing and likely the other end is partially inside the end of the housing. Don’t let it get pulled all the way inside or you’ll be cursing and potentially having to start all over again by removing the cable to try to feed it back out. I suppose if you can manage it, you could take the locking pliers and grab that end so it doesn’t get sucked in, but I didn’t bother.

9 Time to re-install. Work the mechanism back up, fighting and cursing as you re-position it back in place. When you’ve got the bracket over that firewall bolt, reinstall the release handle onto that metal bar. Don’t forget to plug in the dash wire. Then snug the two bolts and one nut down tight. Then reinstall the bolt holding that piece of dash bracket you bent, and you’ll see it snugs up. I tapped it with a hammer a few times to flush it up completely. Now you can plug that cable housing into the pedal bracket. Feed the other end thru the floor, and along the body to the U-shaped equalizer bracket that connects to the two rear cables.

… Now comes the difficult part. When you try to attach the cable to that metal U-shaped equalizer bracket holding the two rear cables, you’ll see there isn’t much slack. This means you have to pull that cable all the way (which means rolling that clockspring and locking it out) in order to get the slack you need to fit it in. There was no easy way to do this. If you have someone helping, you can have that person under the dash holding the cable with a set of pliers while you manipulate the cable end into the bracket.

I didn’t have someone helping. So I grabbed a pair of extra-long needlenose pliers that had bent tips, reached up above where the cable housing attaches to the pedal bracket, and I pulled the cable down to spin the clockspring. Then I reached up with my small needlenose locking pliers and locked it out again. This allowed me to pull the other end of the cable out of the cable housing, and I had enough slack to reattach it.

10 Reinstall the piece of dash if you removed it, and the lower trim panel. Ensure the rubber weather plug is firmly installed into the floor where the cable goes thru. Engage and disengage the pedal a few times and road test to make sure the parking brakes are working properly. That should be it.

When I re-read this, I can see it’s lengthy and it’s a lot to digest. But I believe that once you get into the work, simply stop at each step and read it, and you’ll see it’s pretty intuitive. I’m not inventing anything new here. But the dealership quoted 2 hours for this job. I did it in about an hour and I’m no mechanic. I saved $220. Cable cost $40 from the dealership. I’m pleased.