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240sx Rear Caliper Swap Issue - E-brake Actuation


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I recently completed the 240sx rear caliper upgrade and could not be happier. However, I can not get my e-brake to actuate eventhough I have the adapter. The rod is fully extended/adjusted and the brakes (well, the left brake at the moment) is *just* beginning to grab when the ebrake is fully up.

 

Has anyone else experienced this issue? On which side of the ebrake mounting bracket on the caliper should the shim be installed?

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Well, I messed with it some more last night and managed to fix the issue. I wish I could point to one thing I did that solved the problem, but I was making all sorts of adjustments.

 

Let us know. I am having the same problem. Also, did anyone one get an

adjustable proportioning valve. According to Ross, it is not needed, but the rear really grabs hard before the front.

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I had the same problem at first. I made some adjustments on the e-brake rod under the car (PITA) and it's better but it still doesn't lock as as hard as i want to. If I tighten the rod up any more there is just too much preload one the calipers and there is resistance when the car rolls.

 

I'm thinking the ratio on the S30 ebrake lever is not enough for the s13 calipers. Ive even thought about taking an S13 cable ebrake and fitting it on.

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I had the same problem at first. I made some adjustments on the e-brake rod under the car (PITA) and it's better but it still doesn't lock as as hard as i want to. If I tighten the rod up any more there is just too much preload one the calipers and there is resistance when the car rolls.

 

Item in bold = oh HELL yes its a PITA. This is exactly what I did as well. I was under the car for a good 15 minutes, just looking at the e-brake setup on the car, pushing the rod by hand, looking motion of the second lever arm in front of the "y", etc. If you adjust e-brake on the main lever/rod, you are going to reduce the total movement of the second lever arm and there by limit the travel on the caliper.

 

What I did was install a spacer over the main rod that pushed the adjustment nut towards the back which helps to maximize the total movement of the caliper. I then pre-loaded the caliper by moving the shim on the outside of the e-brake bracket. The wheel does not drag. My ebrakes actuate when the lever is about 1/3 of the way up.

 

I'm thinking the ratio on the S30 ebrake lever is not enough for the s13 calipers. Ive even thought about taking an S13 cable ebrake and fitting it on.

 

I think the e-brake cable is just a tad too long in addition to what you stated as well, and when in combination renders the ebrake useless.

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Thanks for the solution Bo, I was wondering about this my self. Just completed the swap. Didnt grab much in my case either, but I figured that because I haven't added brake fluid and flushed it yet. I kinda thought it was going to be a "mechanical" function, like the stock s30 cars, but according to my cousin with an s13, he claims it needs to be properly bleed to work. Kinda got me wondering, what if there is a leak? Does that mean the hand brake fails? I don't have an answer. Just thinking out loud.

 

Also did you use the Modern motorsports 240sx rear caliper kit to complete your conversion? If so, where did you put the supplied washer? Between the bracket and the caliper, or between the bolt and caliper? Reason I ask, is because the rotor doesn't seem centered on my car.

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I kinda thought it was going to be a "mechanical" function, like the stock s30 cars, but according to my cousin with an s13, he claims it needs to be properly bleed to work.

 

It is mechanical. When I re-built the caliper, I was able to extract the piston by simply cranking on the ebrake arm until the pistion was out far enough.

 

Also did you use the Modern motorsports 240sx rear caliper kit to complete your conversion? If so, where did you put the supplied washer? Between the bracket and the caliper, or between the bolt and caliper? Reason I ask, is because the rotor doesn't seem centered on my car.

 

What washer? :lol: I only bought the rear brackets and sourced the rest of the kit from other places.

 

The rotor may not seem centered because the rotor floats on the studs and will shift until the pads are in and the wheels back on the car. Maybe I am misunderstanding your problem.

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What I did was install a spacer over the main rod that pushed the adjustment nut towards the back which helps to maximize the total movement of the caliper.

 

:cheers: I do the same thing with the 280zx conversion.

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Also did you use the Modern motorsports 240sx rear caliper kit to complete your conversion? If so, where did you put the supplied washer? Between the bracket and the caliper, or between the bolt and caliper? Reason I ask, is because the rotor doesn't seem centered on my car.

 

What washer? I had a general repair shop install this 2 yrs ago, and I don't recall a washer. What did it look like and where was it installed?

 

Thanks

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Ill see if I can snap a picture this week end. Maybe someone has one handy?

 

 

What washer? I had a general repair shop install this 2 yrs ago, and I don't recall a washer. What did it look like and where was it installed?

 

Thanks

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On my conversion I simply rotated the piston out of the housing until the new pads just cleared the rotor. Afterwards, I kept applying the brakes and setting the parking until everything worked as desired. It didn't take long. I think most people rotate the piston too far into the housing and expect the caliper to adjust rapidly. That ain't going to happen.

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When you hooked your cables up to the calipers, did you use the left side for the right side, and vice versa? I don't mean to change the cables, but under the car you cross them and the right one goes to the left and left goes to the right. This makes them more the correct length from what I found. The only problem I have with mine is that one of the caliper brackets fell off and I need to find a 240SZ in the wrecking yard so I can get the caliper bracket and bolt to put back in.....

 

Greg

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I have the S13 240SX calipers on my car, and have been having the same issues with my E-Brake. I'm going to swap in a 79 master, and replace all the fluid. Hopefully this will resolve my issue. I think I will also try to put a spacer or washer between the cable bracket and the e-brake cable, to see if this gives me more throw.

I have tried to tighten up the rod assembly, but I feel that it puts to much pre-load on the caliper. I'll be re-doing this tomorrow, so I'll let you all know how it works out.

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Hmm.. never had any problem with my parking brake and the 240sx calipers. Grabs hard about halfway through the handle throw. But I made my own adapters. My cables are crossed too -- otherwise they hang funny under the car.

 

ParkingBrakeAdapterInstalledMedium.jpg

 

You don't need any fluid in the calipers for the parking brake to work...

 

 

 

- Greg -

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Look at Mrfancypants photos as this is what I had to do as well. I made some adjustments so that the adapter is as shown in the photo above. As shown in the photo, there is just a bit of preload on the caliper because of where he shimmed it. Also, read my fix for the e-brake adjustment as you may need to do something like this if you've run out of play.

 

My brakes now grab about halfway up as well.

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By the way, what's the part number for that bracket there that holds the cable? I can't find it for the life of me, so I've been trying to use my old ones (for the drums). Stupid calipers didn't come with them as they were remanufactured units from A1 Cardone.

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Hmm.. never had any problem with my parking brake and the 240sx calipers. Grabs hard about halfway through the handle throw. But I made my own adapters. My cables are crossed too -- otherwise they hang funny under the car.

 

ParkingBrakeAdapterInstalledMedium.jpg

 

You don't need any fluid in the calipers for the parking brake to work...

 

 

 

- Greg -

 

What cable is that as it's different than a 240z cable?

 

Cameron

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