The parking brake seems to be stuck or broken. I made it half a mile down the road when I decided to pull over because the God aweful noise was increasing... At first, I thought the transmission was slipping, or the rear end was locking up/gears being destroyed. So I walked away and returned later... the noise was focused at the rear brake. Looked under the car, and the cable was dangling down forming a "U" shape... needing to get the car home... I krept it 1/2 mile all while the parking brake was stuck on... at times it would catch and lock the rear up...





I'm thinking the assembly inside the drum isn't in the correct position... allowing it to grab and lock the wheel up








So i've got to tear the rear brake apart..





any pointers as to what I should keep an eye out for? disconnect the parking brake completely?





Thank you
Robert

For right now, you definitely have to keep an eye out for whatever damage might have occurred due to the car being driven like that.


Main issue is, that due to the excessive heat, you could have boiled your rear wheel bearing grease. I would defiantly take the covers of and have them inspected. If there's not enough lube, they can lock up any time, you wont be able to drive the car at all, and you will have to spend a lot of money.


Every part has a purpose, whether you use it properly or not. Disconnecting instead of proper maintaining or fixing it? It's up to you, disconnectingthe parking brake, which besides from securing your vehicle and supporting your transmission, is also an Emergency brake, doesn't that already sound awful?


The most likely reason for the parking brake to fail is: because it is not used. The bowden cable runs back underneath your car back to the "u" shaped bracket, from which the 2 cable then activate the right and left brake assembly. Manufacturers recommend to use it occasionally. I do, and also put some lube on it from time to time, and still have it operational.


You can easily take the cable off (to replace it), it has built in connectors:


[img]uploads/92Mercury/0900823d8017448f.jpg[/img]


If you want to replace it, let me know, and I can post the instructions.


Greetings!

Ended up inspecting the rearend... the parking brake was not the culprit... the pinion assembly attached at the U joints into the differential had about an inch of slop... so after making inspecting it... i concluded the u joints were fine, so i dropped the driveshaft, tore off the rear end cover and inspected the gears... lo and behold... the inner and outer bearins (after taking the gears out) were absolutely melted, destroyed and the pinion gear was not lining up properly... causing the rear wheels to lock up every 8 feet or soo... so after buyingthe bearings and the taper bearing cases and the differential seal... i began rebuilding the rear end..> UNTIL i realized i would need the gears also... so after searching... I actually found a whole rear end assembly with only 70,000 miles on it and no rust... perfect working order... Got it for $100... so after breaking all the rusted bolts off the rear end and replacing them all with new ones, especially the sway bar bolts... I got a whole new abs mechanism, rotors, calipers, pads, axles, axle shafts, differential and components. Only took2 weeks from first symptoms to final product. Did it with my brother in law in the driveway. So now the car runs excellent, and in the process, got a whole new parking brake assembly too :)





It was a nice deal!

Well, sounds like you got what you wanted. Okay, it took some effort, but at the end, the result counts, right?


And let's not even think about how much a dealership or even a regular shop would have charged you.


Greetings!