Thanks for the reply, for some reason my notification never showed that I got a reply. I accidentally saw this now searching for another old post. The car is an 05.

I still have the same problem and given how inconsistent it is, haven't been able to pinpoint it.

I checked #1 multiple times and couldn't find any foreign object that could be interfering with the mechanism.

I haven't taken and chased the cable all the way end to end, but have looked at the two ends (lever & wheel/drum/shoe). Can't really see the problem, but so far I haven't felt the "catch" when the wheel has been off so makes it real hard to guess what is causing it. Will keep looking... Thanks for the suggestions.