1997 V70 Handbrake adjustment

The rear brakes are combined units - disc brakes for stopping and drum brakes for parking. You need to make sure that the shoes in the drums are correctly adjusted before worrying about the cables. With the rear wheels removed, you can get at the adjusters through holes in the drums. Turn the adjusters with the end of a screwdriver until you can't rotate the disc, and then back off about 3 clicks.

The cable is adjusted at the base of the lever, after removing part of the centre armrest console. But there's only *one* adjuster and a balancing lever - so this won't remove side to side imbalance if the shoes are too much out of adjustement. Hence do the wheels first.

Excellent - thanks Roger - will do it tomorrow

Nick

Whilst the wheels are off I guess it would be sensible to remove the drums to check the state of the brake shoes.

Not having been there yet, is drum removal obvious or are there any obscure points to look out for / gotchas ?

I did notice that when the handbrake was "full on" when bleeding them the other day, I could turn the rear wheel by hand one way but not the other, as if the shoe was grabbing / self-applying in one direction but not in the other - I guess this would be not unusual though if they were grossly mal-adjusted ( as I suspect they are )

Thanks,

Nick

It may be a good idea. They don't normally wear because they're only used for parking. I wonder whether yours have been binding.

The drum and disc are in one piece, so you have to remove the pads and calliper to be able to remove the disc.

The pads are held in by two little pins which have to be knocked out. Then use pliers on the ends of ther pads and the sides of the callipers to retract the pistons. *Don't* lever against the discs. You should then be able to pull the pads out. You then need to unbolt the calliper from the hub [1], and support it to avoid straining the pipe. [No need to disconnect the hydraulics]. Then fully slacken the handbrake adjusters and remove the wheel-locating spigot pin. The disc/drum should then pull off. Make a note of its rotational relationship with the hub so as to be able to put it back in the same place.

I wonder whether something is deranged, preventing the shoes from being located correctly. All will be revealed when you remove the drums.

Assuming you're in the UK, it would be worth arming yourself with Haynes Manual No. 3573 - it contains quite a lot of useful information.

[1] The official instructions say to use new bolts - not refit the old ones - when re-assembling. I don't know how important this is.

Thanks for that - I will find a Haynes manual and study - fortunately I have two motor factors, and a large Halfords near me and a Volvo main dealer not too far away as well so won't have to travel too far to get any bits I need..

Thanks again,

Nick