emergancy break

ok so i have a 96 grand am and my e break doesnt work. We took the wheels off and watched the breaks as i applied the e break, the breaks took but it doesnt hold the car. I know that it needs ajusted i just wanna know if anyone could point me in the right direction on how to accomplish this.

It needs adjusted. Not sure how to do this, but that is the problem.

One way is to drive the car in reverse and pull up on the brake lever,this can take many passes to get it adjusted. The other way is to take out the small oval shaped plug on the back side of the brake assembly and use a brake adjusting tool or flat screw driver to spin the little wheel with teeth on it. If you jack up the car (make sure to use jack stands for safety) you can spin the rear wheel while moving the adjuster wheel, do that until you are able to stop the wheel from spinning by pulling up the e-brake. Once you do both sides you may have to use the reverse method to get it adjusted to where it will stop the car. Make sure to put the rubber plucs back in place to minimize the dirt and road grime from getting into the brakes.

I hope this helps. And Welcome to the Forum

Not sure if you have drum brakes or disc brakes on the back, if you have drum brakes its real easy, pull off the tire, remove the drum, on the bottom between the pads there will be an adjuster, turn the adjuster so it pushes the pads apart until you barely fit the rotor back over the pads. Or you can back up and hit the brakes, but this may take some time and there is no way to tell if both sides are adjusted equally, i prefer to take my drums off.

If you have disc brakes the e-brake backup thing may work, im not sure how they have the e-brake set up on those.

If you have disc brakes the e-brake backup thing may work, im not sure how they have the e-brake set up on those.

If the rear disc brake doesn't have a drum parking brake setup the parking brake automatically adjusts as the pads wear down.

the back breaks themsleves are grabbing just fine. I just need to know how to ajust the e-break

marykate784, sometimes the back brakes work for stoping, but if they are to worn out(if thier drum brakes) the e-brake just wont hold the car. The brake cable it's self might be stretched, do to just being 9 yrs old and or frequent use.

Is there a way to tighten the cable itself without replacing it?

i dont think there is. majority of new cars are self adjusting. If backing up and applying the brakes Several times hasn't tightened it up, You may need to have it looked at by a Brake Mechanic. The shoes could be worn, the adjusters may worn out or need greased, the cable could be stretched. Lots of thinks to check out to be certain though it's not adjustable usually.

marykate784, sometimes the back brakes work for stoping, but if they are to worn out(if thier drum brakes) the e-brake just wont hold the car. The brake cable it's self might be stretched, do to just being 9 yrs old and or frequent use.

If there is a way to adjust it the adjustment would be located where the cable goes from 1 cable (coming from the brake lever) to two cables (that goes to both rear drums). If there is no adjustment there then chances are your car doesn't have it.

If there is no adjustment there I would pull off the rear drums and check to make sure they are adjusted right, you might be able to get more life if you adjust them out so the drum just fits over the shoes. If that doesn't work then you need to replace the rear shoes.