Sagging Rear Hose/Line Identification

[macdelorean]

Hello all,

I'm trying to figure out what this sagging line is at the rear of the car:

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Most of my DIY projects involve interior bits and pieces, so unfortunately I'm not very familiar with how things are supposed to look underneath the car.

The line in question goes from the driver's side fiberglass here:

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up next to the engine bay on the passenger side here:

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Can anyone chime in and help identify this line? I'm wondering if I'm missing a clamp of some sort...

Thank you!

[content22207_2]

Parking brake cable.

IIRC from the factory there was one of these mounted to the transmission: http://store.delorean.com/p-6960-cable-clip.aspx

Largely ineffective IMHO. Just reroute the cable above the radiator return line and you don't need any clamp at all.

If you want to clamp the cable to the transmission, I'd use a proper loop clamp: http://www.mcmaster.com/#8863t66/=130bf1o

Bill Robertson
#5939

[macdelorean]

Thanks very much for the quick ID and info Bill, I'll just reroute the cable as you suggested.

[Jonathan]

Just to add to what Bill mentioned about securing that parking brake cable:

There is a small bracket that is supposed to be on one of the bottom bolts on what is the final drive portion of the transmission. It is number 18 on the parts diagram here: http://store.delorean.com/p-7450-cable-clip-support.aspx

It's intention is to give you something to slide on an edge clip to, which then holds the parking brake cable in the centre of the car.

This photo from a recent for sale ad shows the routing, and (not very well zoomed in) the edge clip and bracket:

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(Hey, who says those Beverley Hills Car Sales ads aren't valuable for something?!)

The edge clip is (supposed to be) this one:

http://store.delorean.com/p-7148-edge-clip.aspx

The problem is though that this one (SP10379) is too small. You will really need SP10728, which is also used inside the doors for clipping on the wiring harnesses. http://store.delorean.com/p-6589-edge-clip.aspx

Basically, from the parking brake parts diagram page (http://store.delorean.com/c-299-6-2-1-parking-brake.aspx), you need everything from part 17, 18, 19, 20, 21... one of each if you're missing it that is.

The bracket, from my own experience and others I would say have also seen, gets twisted out of position by tightening (or loosening) this final drive bolt. I tried to show in this photo of my own car (mind the missing auto trans pan as it was the best photo I could find at the moment) where the bracket and bolt are (with red arrows). The curved arrow shows about how far the bolt and little bracket need to rotate to allow room for the edge clip to be slipped on and then it is oriented well enough to hold the parking brake cable.

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I am not 100% sure what the implications would be of loosening that bolt though, and so have not put my own back to the way it was meant. And so I've stuck with the zip tie routine that seems to work just fine anyway. I'm also a little concerned with the edge clip being a little too small still and perhaps pinching off the cable as it tries to move inside that sheath. Again, this fell nicely into my "good enough" category on the car, which I highly recommend you pick certain things on your own car to put into such a category in an effort to save some peace and mind. :)

[macdelorean]

Excellent information Jonathan, I really appreciate the advice and images. I don't have an appropriate jack or jack stands at the moment, so I'm limited to what I can see and do under the car. From what I can tell, my bracket has been rotated out of the way as you described.

After initially just seeing a few wet spots on the parking brake cable, it seems that I've sprung a rather large automatic transmission fluid leak, so will probably have a local shop take a look at that as well as relocating the parking brake cable above the radiator coolant hoses as Bill described.

[jwrayth]

I had to replace my parking brake cables about a year into ownership as they were OEM and ready to die. I routed the passenger side cable over the top of the transmission instead and have had no problems since then.

[Josh]

I had to replace my parking brake cables about a year into ownership as they were OEM and ready to die. I routed the passenger side cable over the top of the transmission instead and have had no problems since then.

same here. seems silly having it hanging below the transmission in harms way.

[content22207_2]

same here. seems silly having it hanging below the transmission in harms way.

Radiator pipes hang lower....

Bill Robertson
#5939

[Josh]

Radiator pipes hang lower....

Bill Robertson
#5939

not necessarily! Well not on my car at least.

[David T]

You want the brake cables to have the least amount of bends and if bent the largest radius you can give it. The inner core MUST be able to move freely and if bent too tight will bind up. If bent too much you may still be able to engage the emergency brakes BUT when you release them with the handle, they will still be on and drag. Not good. If you don't have the clip you can just use zip-ties.