Rear Brakes/ Parking Brake

92 Tercel.

I have new shoes and turned drums. No leaks, relatively low fluid. Two (or three) questions:

The parking brake lever works, and spreads the shoes, but doesn't hold until about 7 clicks. I think that's too far. The pedal travel is also what I believe is too much. I think I need to adjust the star adjuster on my brakes, but I'm just not sure how spread out I should go. Should I go until the drum can't move with light force, and the slightly back off???

In other vehicles, I just adjust until very slight drag, and the auto-adjuster seat the brakes in reverse. The auto-adjusting doesn't seem to be happening in the Tercel. Is there a different method of self-adjustment?

TIA,

Fred

Reply to
Cornerman
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I think I need to adjust the star adjuster

That's what I always do. It should take care of your problem. You should be able to turn the drum by hand without the wheel on the hub but feel a slight resistance from the shoes.

Nirav

97 Corolla DX - Sold
Reply to
njmodi

If you assembled everything properly, and DIDN'T put one of the adjusters on BACKWARDS like I did (Hey...all my other cars were Disc rears!) Then all you have to do is hold the button on the parking brake handle and move it up and down a few times.

As for the atcual travel of the handle, there is an adjustment under the console for that...it means the cable is stretching.

Reply to
Hachiroku

I adjust rear brakes so that with the wheel and tire mounted, it rotates about 1 to 1 and a half times when you give it a spin by hand.

Reply to
Ray O

Thanks Ray. I definitely wasn't that far.

Fred

Reply to
Cornerman

you're welcome!

Reply to
Ray O

"Cornerman" wrote in news:1158935999.926531.312000 @i42g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

You "think" thatt's too far? What is the basis for your "think"?

According to the Tercel factory workshop manual, the brake lever should be fully engaged between 5 and 8 clicks.

Adjustment is done by working the parking brake handle up and down repeatedly until it won't adjust any more.

Keep in mind that new shoes will take a while to wear to the exact diameter of the drum, so you may find the lever and pedal to be a tad loose for a few months until they wear in.

Reply to
TeGGeR®

Jack coments,

Have you tried removing and cleaning the adjusters? They sometimes get sticky. The threads can be cleaned extremely well by gently holding them up to a wire-brush in a drill. I clamp my drill in a work-bench, or just step on it. You might want to use vice-grips to hold the adjuster (don't clamp the threads), safety glasses and perhaps leather gloves. This saves wear and tear on you.

There is a special grease that can be applied to the threads for re-installation. If you use regular grease, it may become too stiff in the winter, or contaminate the brake shoes, lubricating them and making them useless. If you don't have brake-safe grease, you could consider lightly oiling the threads with a motor oil, then wiping them off carefully, so no oil can get on anything else.

An old paint brush and a bucket of water can be used to rinse & brush away the dirt, dust and asbestos from the brake assembly. Dump lots of water over the area before whisking. Avoid inhaling!

I set my shoes initially (with the parking brake 'off') to a light drag. In theory, they are automatically adjusted by braking and by parking brake application. This does not always work.

If you don't use the parking brake, cables can rust and seize. There is an adjustment for the parking brake lever travel. I believe the specifications call for it to lock the back wheels in about 6 notches' travel. You can tell how the rear brakes are working by driving at low speed, on some loose sand, when no other people/cars are around, and pulling up on the parking brake lever. Keep the thumb-release depressed, because you'll want to let the brakes off at once to stop the skid.

Good luck with this veteran Tercel, a fine car.

- Jack

Reply to
Ralph

To conclude, the brakes did indeed settle in and self-adjust after about a week (or at least, that's when I noticed how good everything felt). Parking brake engage and hold at about 5 or 6 clicks.

Thanks everyone,=20

Fred

Reply to
Cornerman

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