Over time it is almost gauranteed that at least one of your parking brake cables will freeze up & need replaced. The cables run about $50 each at the dealer and that’s the only place you can purchase them, unless you want to try your hands at making your own. Here’s a write-up of using factory cables. Only takes 30min-1hour to do.
1) Support rear of car on jack stands and remove wheel.
2) Remove clip from the hole pin that attaches the cable to the parking brake lever on the caliper
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3) Remove the U-shaped retainer holding the cable to the cable support bracket
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4) Remove the undercarraige protectors. You won’t have to remove them completely if you are only replacing one of the cables. But if doing both at the same time go ahead and take the time to remove them all the way.
5) Now follow the cable up towards the front of the car & remove the two 12mm bolts holding the cable support brackets to the frame of the car.
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6) About a foot further to the front you’ll see another brace holding to the car. Remove the 10mm bolt, and unsnap the cable from hook.
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7) Another 10mm bolt & bracket
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8) Now you should have enough slack to remove the end of the cable from the main assembly.
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9) Remove yet another bracket held up by two 10mm bolts.
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10) Pull the bracket out toward you so that you can get a good angle on it. Now slide (or pry if necessary) the plastic connector off the bracket.
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11) You can then pull the cable out through the tube in the main assembly.
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12) Installation of the new cable is just the opposite of its removal. You may need to loosen the tension on the cable to attach the new cable. See the next step for a pic on how to do this.
13) Once installed you will need to adjust the tension on the cable. This is easily done by turning the 2 adjusting nuts on each side of the equalizer piece that the 2 cables attach to.
- Pull the parking brake lever all the way up and down for 2-3 times. Then return the parking brake lever.
- Depress the brake pedal several times.
- Check to see if the parking brake crank on the calipers is in contact with the stopper pin. If not, loosen the adjusting nuts & cable until the crank begins to turn. If the crank is already touching the stopper pin, tighten the adjustin nuts & cable right before the crank stops moving.
- Tighten the adjusting nuts so that the equalizer is horizontal to the ground.
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Parts pics:
Here’s just some pics of the new cable:
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Old worn out cable:
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This documentation in no way replaces the Toyota MR2 Repair Manuals. The purpose of this content is only to provide supplementary information to fellow MR2 enthusiasts. Midship Runabout and its contributing authors will not be held responsible for any injury or damages that may occur as the result of practicing any of the methods or procedures described within this website. Article and photo submissions are property of the contributing author.
