Emergency brake pawl question

[JohninKuranda]

In the end my issue did not directly relate to either the pawl of the ratchet. I dismantled the handle to give it a clean and realised I had another "farmers fix" Instead of the pivot pin in the pistol grip handle there was an undersized bolt. When I replaced that with my own "farmers fix" of an oversized bolt reduced to the diameter of the pivot pin, it all came together with the pawl and ratchet. Previously when depressing the pistol grip there was enough play upwards so as to not to push down on the pawl.

Why did it take to the very end for me to realise this was the real problem?

Again, thanks for the responses.