info please on parking brake....

[LFrank]

My parking brake no longer engages. I got down to look at the mechanism and found that the pawl (the grabby thing that raises and lowers when one depresses the thumb button) seemingly has nothing to grab on to. What does the pawl engage to hold the parking brake up?

LFrank
Washington DC
65 230 sl
DB334/Hellblau

[W14]

Hi LFrank,

You should be able to see the piece of metal with all the teeth on it, that the pawl engages.  This piece is held in place by both the main pivot bolt, as well as its own smaller bolt just to the rear of the pivot bolt.  It can't go anywhere, but I guess the teeth could wear out over time.
Did you just have work done on your rear brakes?  The lever has to be raised quite a bit before the first tooth can engage, so you may have to loosen the chrome adjuster nut on the lever to put some more slack in the cable.
If you decide to remove the pivot bolt to investigate further, remember that it is REVERSE THREADED (turn CW to loosen).

Will W14
1965 230SL 4spd
Victoria,BC

[LFrank]

Thanks Will - yes, I had work done on the rear brakes, after which the e-brake no longer functioned. Thanks for the heads-up on the reverse-threading; brake works fine now!

LFrank
Washington DC
65 230 sl
DB334/Hellblau