I replaced my rear calipers and now the parking break doesn't work. I get tension on the lever and I can see the arms on the calipers being actuated by the cables but the wheels still spin freely. What gives? I'm honestly not entirely clear on how the E break on these calipers works. As I understand there is some sort of ratcheting mechanism that depresses the piston rotationally but honestly I'm at a loss.


Any ideas?

 

Correct.
If the pistons don't 'bite' when applied the self adjusters won't work.
Bleed the system. Make sure the caliper PB lever is in the 'off' position, disconnect the parking brake cables if they are putting tension on the levers/are not fully retracting with the PB handle down. The cables may be sticking, if so they may need to be replaced.
Take note/measurement of the amount the piston protrudes.
Depress the brake pedal several times. Full pedal depressions. Don't try to kill the pedal, just normal pushes.
Verify the piston is moving out and taking up the space.
If not, you may need to have an assistant use a screwdriver to prise on the caliper cage to put pressure on the piston while pumping the brake and actuate the self adjuster.
There will be a slight amount of take-up needed when the brakes are fully adjusted, you don't want the caliper biting the discs with the pedal off.
Reinstall the parking brake cables and adjust.
Pull the hand brake up one notch. Adjust the cables so that the wheels are just starting to drag at one notch up. The balance bar should be even, if the bar is cocked then one of the cables may be sticking. Inspect.
Release the hand brake and the wheels should not drag. 7-11 clicks should lock the rear discs.

 

I thought it was a rathcet type system? I yanked on mine like 30 times and almost popped the piston out when I had no pads on. Did that deliberatly to clean the piston up before twisting it back in to get the new brakes on.

I would jerk on the brake all the way like 50 times and see if they ratchet out. If not, like said, have an assistant check on the back of the calipers to see if the cable is moving the PB lever on the caliper.

 

It uses a one way clutch system that is integrated into the piston. Most likely a ball bearing sprag clutch, there will be no ratcheting. This allows the nut inside the piston to screw out and take up space when the rear pad wears while preventing the piston from getting knocked back. This is why you need to screw the piston in when replacing pads.

 

It cant be a sprag clutch as the piston would not twist back into the caliper housing. A sprag is a one way device. Then again, to be fair, I have only seen the sprags in the transmissions I rebuild. I do not know of ALL the sprag setups out there. Been meaning to look at the manual as I need to pop the piston all the way out to replace the caliper seal, sometime, but, just havnt gotten around to it.