# Parking Brake Adjustment on 1998 Golf



## davesunga (Jul 27, 2005)

My recently purchased Golf is awesome, however the parking brake line is too loose. Several people have recommended doing the tightening adjustment at the drum brake end of the line, even though you can adjust it from the hand-brake end. I opened up the back wheel and exposed the drum brake, but the nut holding the brake line to the lever arm is inaccesable. This is the only point along the brake line that seems like it can be adjusted. My next attempt will be to just open up the console and explore in there. Even though tightening from this end is not recommended, I don't understand why. Any help?


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## davesunga (Jul 27, 2005)

*Re: Parking Brake Adjustment on 1998 Golf (davesunga)*

....continued.....
So I opened up the console and adjusted the cables. Unfortunately, one of the cables is at its limit for adjustment and won't tighten enough. Therefore I re-opened the back wheel, exposed the brakes, and realized there is no nut at the end of the cable, its just a "nub" like on bicycle brakes. Still, doesn't seem like I can solve the problem from this end. I FEEL LIKE I AM THE ONLY ONE ON CRAZY PILLS OVER HERE. Any ideas?


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## DemonEater (Jan 29, 2001)

*Re: Parking Brake Adjustment on 1998 Golf (davesunga)*

Our handbrakes are supposedly mostly self-adjusting, and there isn't a handbrake adjustment on the drum end of the cable, as you yourself discovered..
Some things to check:
How's your shoe thickness? Worn shoes = pull handbrake more, less holding power.
Is one of your cables seized? Ideally, they should be equal lengths under the console, if the little black bracket that connects the two cables is at an angle, there may be something wrong with one cable.
Is the cable the correct length? I just replaced one of my cables, and it was hard to even stretch it far enough to get both nuts on the end. It's pretty weird if it's tightened ALL the way and the cable is too loose. Always possible somebody changed the cable at some point and used the wrong one, I guess.
Best thing to do is try is a complete readjustment from scratch. Loosen both cables to equal points, make sure the connecting bracket is level, and pull the handbrake up and release it a few times. The Bentley says that you should pull the lever up four clicks, then tighten the nuts until you can only just turn the wheel by hand. However, I discovered by accident when I installed my new cable (later looked it up) that if you just adjust the cable neutrally, then reverse and nail the brakes, it'll auto-adjust your whole system. After installing the cable, I was able to pull my handbrake up 6 clicks easily. Backed the car out, stopped, and was then only just able to pull it up 4 clicks, and it works perfectly...
If this doesn't work, check down the list above and see if any of those could be a problem. It may be as simple as the last owner never bothered to change his shoes.


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