Emergencey Brake adjustment help and front brake pulse too.

[Jim]

Does anyone know if it's easy to adjust the emergency brake cable on an 03
OBW? If so, how? My handle pulls up all of the way and still does not stop
the car. It was almost to the top when I bought the car and I will have the
dealer adjust it during the next oil change if it's a pain but thought I'd
ask as they will charge. It's probably my fault it's bad - I used it often
last winter when we had a lot of snow. I used it to fly around corners, do
doughnuts, make turns etc. To act like a kid again I guess. That's out of me
now (Well - maybe not - we'll see when it snows again).
Thanks for any help.
Jim / NJ
Related but not - I have some pulsating (Not the ABS kicking in) in the
front disks when I stop for lights etc but not always. Slow stops - not hard
braking. Is this common in the Subaru? This is my first one. Got it summer
02. Should it be reported.

 

[Anthony Hsia]

Hi! The e-brake lever can be adjusted manually by removing the plastic cover
directly behind the lever. But, if your car is still under warranty have
them do it! Anyway, once you remove the cover, you'll need to little
wrenches and then you can tighten it up there. You'll see where the cable
comes in and where the nuts are. I have mine set at about 4 clicks to full
lock (it's an RS coupe though, and I do fling it!).

The pulsing can be a lot of things. Maybe the rotors are warped, maybe the
tire's aren't balanced, maybe the pad's about to go. Also check your fluids.
I had my front rotors warp up after a 4 hour track session, but that's
pretty extreme stuff...

 

[Mike B.]

MY '01 had 46K on it and it started to "pulse" after a lot of stopping or on
hills. I replaed the pads with the best I could get ($48 US) and darn never
had a problem at 50K. I heard from a web site that it is the PADS that give
the warping feel. After years of cutting rotors to fix it these pads
(Advanced Auto) with semi-metallic fixed it. Real easy to do brakes with some
knowledge.