88 TII

Here's the deal, the other day my right rear brake was slightly locked and by the time I got home (a very short trip) the brake was smoking. Anyway, I took the caliper off and moved the piston in and out a couple of times to make sure nothing was seized. The piston moved fairly well. So now I have put the caliper back on and the brake works fine with the pedal, however the e-brake cable connector on the caliper is crazy tight, and by "tight" I mean that even the slightest pull on it and it locks up the brake. So is there a way to adjust this or is something messed up inside the caliper? (please don't mention the adjusting screw at the hand brake, that is not the problem here) Note: when I put the caliper back on I positioned the cable connecting lever all of the way out (away from the piston) and the piston was back as far as it would go in the bore, should I position this differently?

-thanks for reading this
-Kevin

 

Kevin, check and see if the cable is stuck. You should be able to move the cable with a bit of effort if both ends of the cable are free. I had a the left side on my paste T2 get stuck because the dust boot riped and water and dirt got in thus jamming up the cable. I also had the same problem with a 85 prelude, 85 toyota pick up and a 87 pontiac. I dont know if this will help you any but given the age of our cars it would not be surprising. Best of luck.

 

it may also be the lever actuator on the rear caliper itself going or is already gone. If that's the case, be prepared to shell out money for a mazda rebuilt one, as opposed to rebuilding it yourself or a parts store discount one. The latter two usually have the e-brake levers failing again.