16v parking brake... ahhhh help!

[alves at email.unc.edu (Carlos Alves)]

Hey guys,

Installation of the o2 sensor was finished last night, and I'm pretty 
sure that was the culprit of the sputtering, no such sputtering since. 
IT was  PAIN tho, getting underneath the catalytic converter, sheesh.

Now, one of the infamously "reliable: interior parts fell apart on my 
16v last night, the parking brake. It is still functional, but the 
actual "locking" mechanism no longer seems to work. I think it may be 
the spring mechanism which needs to be readjusted or something, but I 
could be wrong. Basically, the parking brake works but there is no way 
of making it stay engaged. If it helps any, I suspect it is because the 
actual lever is no longr correctly aligned, it is pointing towards the 
left front of the car instead of dead center which is what I think it 
should normally look like ... the Bentley manual doesnt have anything 
about how to adjust this, could anyone help me out?? I just hope I can 
get it taken care of soon so that I can use my parking brake, no 
parking brake can only lead to trouble.

Thanks,

Carlos