my e brake does not work for crap on my car. i had the dealer fix it 2 times and it stops working a few months after. my cars out of warrenty now so im not taking it back to the dealer. what do i do to fixs it so its tight. i can drive away with it all the way up.

 

mines the same way

 

ditto

 

yea im thinking all the cobalts and g5s do this. i remember reading somewhere on here that alot of people have proplems with the e brake.

 

Wouldn't know, don't use mine...good luck to you.

 

hes looking for help you *******. he said to post if youve had problems too and if theres any solution. and why wouldnt you use it?

 

Cause he has an automatic. These cars are so slow already I cannot fathom owning a slushbox with these NA motors.

 

lmao i didnt notice. wow thats even worse

 

Yeah it is...oh well. I have my goals for my car and for my future cars...it's a great MPG car even for an auto (average almost 27 consistently right now...and that's a good mix of city and a little highway). When I'm done with it hopefully 30 will be my average...

::EDIT:: If you think these cars would be bad with an auto...drive all the previous cars I've owned...90 Grand Am, 91 Saturn SL1, 99 Saturn SC1...all with less than 100hp at the crank and all auto...this car was a huge improvement in terms of power over the others.

But yeah, auto is why I don't use it...only a few times on steep inclines, but I've had no problems...I do recall reading other people having a similar problem though.

 

As for the OP, hell I dunno... yeah our brakes suck I had the pleasure of watching the Subaru guy return after doing appraisal on my car and he pulled in, started getting out and was like WTF when the car started rolling back. Gotta crank that thing right up to the top before it starts doing anything.

 

yea the e brake sucks right now i have to move my arm rest so i can pull the brake all the way up to hold the car. im going to go to my uncles house today and see if he can help me fix it. im takeing the car to canada in 2 weeks so i would like to have it working incase i need it for anything.

 

It's only strong enough to hold the car at a complete stop. You can drive away with the brake on because the engine is much more powerful than the brake, this is normal. If it can't hold your car in a parking space then you have a problem. If your car is rolling slightly, pull up the brake one more click.

 

Just put your car in gear when you turn it off jeez.

 

take apart the center console thingy between the seats, real easy just pops off, (you will have to take off ebrake handle which there is a little clip on the underside to do) and then on the remains of the e-brake handle there will be a bolt ( I believe its only like an 9 or 10mm) attached to a bracket and you will see two lines connected to the bracket also. Tighten it up, but don't make it too tight or you may break the cables. GM recommends it only being 3 clicks max, so test it out after you adjust it and make sure you will only get 3 clicks.

Theres a how-to somewhere, but I'm too lazy to look. Mine was real sloppy and I tightened the bolt and now it works 5 times better.

 

thanks man ill have to try it

 

thanks ill give that a try

 

it works pretty good for the most part on my 09 2.2 ???? i pulled mine at 65 on dry pavement and spun the car around... long story for that event. but it wont hold the car still on a slight incline

 

Just throwing this in there... but my friend bought a brand new 08 civic SI and he pulled his e-brake while coasting and nothing happened, I mean nothing he just kept coasting. We did it when he was coasting very slow and all it did was very slowly slow down the car. He brought it to the dealership and they told him word for word "It is supposed to be like that, it only slowly helps the car stop because when it locks up the wheels you stop slower than if you slow down gradually"

I couldn't believe they told him that. His e-brake was 100 times worst than my ebrake before I adjusted mine.

 

you're supposed to use the e-brake as well as leave the car in gear. It's a known fact that the e-brakes in cobalts are not strong, and over the years I have seen quite a few members who didn't leave their car in gear come outside to find that it rolled down the hill. Put it in gear, and call it a day.

 

Just a side note, Mr. Automatic didn't notice a problem because he has rear drums, not discs.

The vehicles equipped with rear drums seem to not be subject to an e-brake that doesn't hold well, just those of us with rear discs.

 

True that a locked wheel has less traction than a rolling one but really..........maybe they are worried little Johnny is going to yank the handle and spin backwards into oncoming traffic at 60 mph? I can see the lawyers rubbing their hands over that one.....

Yep, the rear drums work much better as park brakes, they get tighter as they cool down rather than looser.
My 535i actually has a little tiny drum brake (maybe 6" in diameter) built into the rear disc, holds great and is capable of locking the rears pretty much at will
Figure they knew what they were doing

 

Ahem:

How to adjust the e-brake on a Cobalt

https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/how-guide-43/how-adjusting-emergency-parking-brake-05-09-cobalt-w-rear-disc-brakes-168592/

 

^^^ Good info but won't fix the shitty design.

Adjust to spec, get the brakes good and hot, set the park brake.
Come back in an hour or 2 and you can easily drive away without releasing the park brake.

Brake set and in gear to park, why take the chance of your car ending up on the neighbors lawn - or worse, the neighbor

 

The e-brake was designed to assist in holding your car while it is parked. Understand that the REAR brakes are never intended to stop or prevent the vehicle from moving while powered by the engine! Most cars have a 60/40 split brake bias or something approximate, so most of the force is coming from the front brakes.

I always shift into gear when I park, but I always make it a habit of using the e-brake as well.

 

I Feel Your PAIN!
https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/lounge-42/if-you-own-2-jeeps-make-sure-has-winch-189197/
Take a look