So I replaced front and rear brake pads on my 2012 Accord sedan.

On a test drive, it seems to brake normally, no perceived difference versus before the change. I decided to test the emergency/parking brake by taking my foot off the accelerator at 25 mph and pulling hard on the e-brake lever with the button depressed. I pulled it forcefully but not all my strength. To my surprise, the e-brake had negligible effect in braking the car?

When parked on a fairly steep slope and in neutral, the e-brake works as expected to hold the car in position.

Is this performance normal? I always thought the e-brake should have some significant braking effect even if normally the front wheels do most of the braking?

Thanks in advance for any comments.

 

The e-brake operates the rear brakes mechanically and should stop your car in the case where your normal hydraulic brakes fail. This is a safety feature and should be addressed asap.

Put the rear of your car on jackstands and pull off the tires. Have an assistant pull the ebrake lever and watch for movement in the mechanism for each brake caliper to see if the cable is pivoting the mechanical connection to each caliper. You may need to use some penetrating oil to free up the mechanism if is not moving properly.

 

Another possibility is the self-adjusters just have to settle in. Or maybe the cable needs adjustment. I don't have a 2012 shop manual, so I don't have the exact details.

The handbrake self-adjuster is inside the caliper, and it's the reason why you have to twist the rear caliper piston to make it retract. Pushing the piston in with a C-clamp can damage that.

What I've found is that when you replace the pads, you twist the piston all the way in, & that's too far. So what I do is twist the piston back (counter-clockwise) a little at a time, until there's just enough room for the new pads. Not excessive amount of room. Each time you press the brake pedal, that self-adjuster can move just a little bit. So if you retract the piston too far it takes many times pressing the brake pedal before the handbrake adjuster "catches up" to the new position.

 

Thank you for you comment.

I did use a rear brake piston compression tool to turn the piston in clockwise. The diameter of the face of the tool was slightly larger than the piston diameter so the turning stopped just a bit before the piston was totally reset. At the point I stopped turning, coincidentally or not, the slots in the piston were correctly aligned with the posts in the brake pad and the caliper could be reinstalled over the pads without the need to turn the piston counter clockwise.

That said, the test I described in my first test was a short one, just around the block so to speak. I will conduct another test drive, exercising the brakes more and see if the emergency brake function improves.

Thanks again.

 

Thank you for your reply.

This car's home is in the south and corrosion is not much of an issue here. Pulling the lever has some visible effect/movement on the parking brake mechanism at the rear calipers.