rolg

i just had my right rear brake caliper and pads replaced by a local mechanic.
The emergency brake hardly grabs now. He told me that the emergency brake is
self adjusting and it will improve as i use the breaks.
this does not sound correct to me. I wouldn't think that anyone would
design breaks in this fashion. By law emergency brakes are suppose to work.
Is he correct?? thanks

it is a 2002 mazda protege 5

djs2571

If it's got rear drums, the brake should be adjusted manually to get close - after that it will adjust on its own as long as all the mechanical parts are in working order.

If it's got rear disk you should not notice any difference when new pads / rotors are installed.

rolg

thankyou for your reply. pads rotor and the caliper was also replaced. so i take it
my mechanic is not correct. But there is an emergency brake adjustment in ht caliper.

eggynatey

To adjust the rear brakes, turn the piston in the caliper with a pair of needle nose pliers. The rears won't self adjust by pumping the brake or retract with a c-clamp like the fronts do.

rolg

the brakes work fine but it is the emergency brake that hardly grabes.
Are the emergency brakes adjusted as eggynatey's post?
i am not going to do it myself but just want to know if my mechanic
is any good.
thanks

djs2571

The e-brake only needs to be adjusted when new parts are added, when more space is needed for the brake hardware. The e-brake automatically adjusts for brake wear - which means it should tighten up on its own.
When it doesn't automatically tighten is when there are issues with the hardware, which i've only seen on drum brakes.

rolg

i see. i have driven the car for a couple of days and the regular brakes are fine but the
emergency brakes hardly grabe. So i take it that if they are ng now they will have already
automaticaly adjusted and will remain ng untill someone makes an adjustment

Canso

Sounds like the pads never seated in.
After installing new rotors and pads the mechanic will go on a test drive and do a few brake aps. from 30mph-0mph to help seat in new pads.
It more difficult to seat rear brakes since very little (30%) braking comes from the rear.
Or
They are glazed; the rotors will look shiny like a mirror as well as the pads. (Overheated during break-in procedure.)

rolg

that is what i was think. I should have had emergency brakes when i left the
garage. Anything less is shoddy workmanship.
thanks.

Flipside

Typing from the perspective of a GM-Grandmaster technican, owner of a Mazda 5 with 120,000 km's and having serviced countless cars with the same brake set up as the Mazda 5............ Your brakes have a problem!!! Also the whole seating pads thing by going out and beating the crap out of your brakes is wrong and potentially damaging to friction material and rotors. The car wasn't built with an emergency brake that didn't work and the e-brake worked up till your service then your problem is obvious. It is not working properly and needs to be fixed correctly. Find a technician who can correct it.

slavuta

Late to the party but...
I recently encountered this problem in Mazda3. I figured this out - there is a trick to this. When replacing rotors, with parking brake off, make sure that parking brake actuator on the caliper is all the way back. If it is not, push it there. If can't push, go to your cabin, remove whatever covers it next to parking brake (in case of Mazda3 cup holders). There is a nut on the end of the cable - loosen it until actuator can be moved back to its limit. With this done, turn caliper piston in. Assemble everything, start the car and press brake pedal several times, till piston firmly on the pad. At this point you can start using parking brake. tighten the nut in the center console until brake operates comfortably and holds the car. Done