rear disc E-Brake problem

[truckinwagen]

I just did a rear brake job on my 85 GTI, including:
wheel bearings, brake pads, sliding pin lube, and ebrake cables.

the problem is that one side adjusted properly and the ebrake works, the other wont no matter how tight I make the ebrake cable.

I thought that maybe I retracted the caliper too far, and that the ebrake cam couldn't take up the space between the pad and the rotor.

the rear discs being self adjusting, I thought that by driving the car, and using the brakes, this gap would close and the ebrake would be in its range and work again.

nope, not at all.

I thought maybe the rear brakes weren't getting fluid, which would keep them from clamping and adjusting, but I can get the rear end to lock up with the foot pedal, but still at full pull, with the cable as tight as it will go the right rear ebrake will not grab at all(and I mean at all)

any ideas as to how to get both my rear wheels to brake when the ebrake is applied?

thanks,
-Owen

[rabbitman]

I don't know much about rear disk, is yours the type that you screw the piston back in?

I found this online: http://www.aa1car.com/library/2003/bf40358.htm

According to this it won't work if the cables too tight or too loose.

[truckinwagen]

so, maybe I should try loosening the cables up to allow the piston to self adjust, and then re tighten the cable to get the ebrake to grab(with a fair amount of driving in between to let the adjusters do their thing)?

[Quantum TD]

You could try that, but the early rear calipers on the MK2 were notorious for freezing up/not working. With the e-brake lever on the top of the caliper, it would let water/sand/salt into the lever area and screw it up. About 1989, they flipped the caliper so the lever was on the bottom. It helped alot.  But in areas where they use road salt, you're gonna do some caliper replacement at some point or another.

[the caveman]

Without the cable attached can you make the ebrake work by moving the lever by hand ? if so does it release completely. Does the lever come all the way against the stop when released? If so for all this then you may have to turn the caliper out until you have a 1mm gap between the piston and pad when installed.

[Vincent Waldon]

is yours the type that you screw the piston back in?

Yes, your's are.   

Did you rotate the pistons as you were pushing them back into the cylinders (using the special tool or a pair of channel-lock pliers) or did you just push 'em straight back like one does with the front brakes?

If you didn't rotate 'em the e-brake mechanism is likely damaged on that one side, and a new caliper is in your future since they are not repairable unfortunately.

[truckinwagen]

I did rotate the pistons.

the car is not on the road right now(blew the clutch) so I will try some of this later on.

thanks for the advise,
-Owen

[Vincent Waldon]

I did rotate the pistons.

Great... one less thing to consider.