My wife's '97 850 wagon has parking brake cable issues and must be replaced. The housing has cracked so much along its exposed length that it is full of crud and rust. Trying to clean the housing out and oiling it up works for a while, but soon siezes up again since nothing is hindering the crud. Getting dangerous. I looked diligently, but can't find any discussions that explain how to do it. I wonder if it is because no one has been foolish enough to attempt it- I have read it is a real pain. Could someone please let me know?
Thanks in advance
--
'97 188K+miles 850 grey wagon, '91 340K+ dark grey 740 wagon

Just completed this task on my '96 855.

Some elements of this design are pretty goofy.

As Klause said, one of the confusing aspects of the repair is figuring out those plastic hold-downs under the rear carpet. With a 100 different fasteners already in use on the car, why they had to come up with a new fastener design for this one minor application is beyond me. Basically, there is a sheet metal screw coming up through the floor and these plastic caps simply push on to that screw. To release them, just do as Klaus said and pry them up.

It was easier for me to deal with the whole brake cable system by removing the front and rear seats and the center console and pulling-up the carpets--also gave me a chance to vacuum areas that had never been vacuumed before.

You may have to spend a bit of time disassembling the emergency brake hardware residing in the rear hub. My cable was so rotted in-place that, after removing the shoes, I had to clamp on the the rear brake shoe actuator with a Vise-Grip and pull that with a slide hammer to release the old cable enough to cut it.

The cable assemblies mount to a bracket under the rocker panel with a Torx head sheet metal screw. On my car, they had rotted to the point of snapping-off when I removed the screw and I had to re-drill those holes--replaced them with stainless steel screws.

Where the cables anchor to the rear swing arms is very important. You'll have to drill-out the rivets holding the clamp and replace with a rivet, or thread the arm for a bolt. That clamp is key to sealing the cable where it enters your rear hub. Where the cable enters the rear hub, there is an O-ring that provides the seal, but I found that, despite careful cleaning and re-assembly, unless there is constant compression holding the cable into the hub, the cable assembly will reliably pop out of the hub, exposing your emergency brake mechanism to contamination. So, make sure that when you tighten the clamp holding the cable to the rear swing arm, that the cable assembly is positively seated into the hub assembly.

BTW, I spent a whole weekend doing this repair, taking my time, cleaning everything, and making sure everything was carefully fitted. It is a pain-in-the-ass task, so plan accordingly.

Yes, it is a pain. My 1998 had 2 cables, some of the 850's have just a single cable in the cabin and a join under the car.

The hardest part was the cable hold down under the carpet, until I figured out how to remove them. Slide the seats forward, lift the carpet from the rear so you can see the cable. Follow the cable forward until you see the hold down. Take a large screwdriver and pry the plastic up from the floor. The plastic is attached to the floor via a screw and the screw does not move. So, just pry until the the holder is free.

There are several places under the car that hold that cables, frame and axle.

--
My name is Klaus and I am a V♂lv♂holic