Hey everyone, I have a problem with my ebrake. It is extremely weak and it is very diffcult to park my car on an incline due to this. I attribute this to letting my mom borrow the Z a couple of days and found out she "forgot" to put the ebrake down before going out for a drive!!! How does the ebrake on the Z work (Drum or Disc Lock)? What do I have to replace/fix to get it back to working order?

 

Thats funny because mine was really weak as well...I'd pull mine up and I would still roll off my drive way....I took it to the deal to get the brakes fixed and I mentioned that to them and they said they fixed it. Overall, i think its a little better but yeah, it kinda sucks....I'll prolly tell them to fix it again??? who knows....

 

Pull hard and leave the car in gear?

Mine is also pretty weak, unleass I really pull on it. I leave the car in gear as well just to be sure it won't go anywhere.

-D'oh!

 

agreed... i have the same problem... one time i backed my car onto my driveway for a wash (very steep... close to ~30 degrees) and it rolled down the street... i had to chase after it and jump in

made me feel like james bond lol

what did the dealer do to "fix" it?

 

It's a rather common thing... not really dependable IMO. One time I had to help jumpstart a friend's car that was parked on a hill... well, couldn't do that while the car was running b/c of the weak e-brake... and couldn't put it into gear (as if parked) or I would stall...

Had to get my dad's truck to come out and provide the jump.

 

Supposedly, there's a little adjustment **** underneath the small storage compartment on the armrest. I have had mine adjusted at the dealer twice. Feels exactly the same but now sometimes, even when it is all the way down, the brake light comes on in the center console. Yeah I am pissed. I have heard conflicted things about the ebrake on the 350z... Some say it uses a cable that locks the rear discs, some say it's a separate drum assembly. If it's a drum setup I know im going to haveto refinish the drum and get some really grippy brake shoes. Problem is, I dont know exactly what kind of setup it is... and my jack doesnt fit under the car :/ Does anyone know exactly how the ebrake works on the 350z?

 

On my 03 Track model (OEM Brembo brakes) there is a separate inner drum for the e-brake in the rear.

You can adjust the tension by removing your rear wheel, and brake disc and you will notice there is a small rubber plug in the hub. Once you remove this plug you will have access to a spin adjuster which you can turn tighter or loose as needed.

Make sure to count turns and adjust evenly on both sides, to avoid premature wear of one side over the other... HTH's

 

By the way this only takes a few minutes to do, and I use my e-brake while drifting for 2 years and have never had to replace the shoes... they should last the life of the car under normal use.