globy123

Hello. I have a 99 Honda Civic LX. Why does the emergency brake take 16 clicks to fully engage? Is this normal?

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Who cares? As long as it engages. Have you inspected the rear brakes?

black97civic

Search how to adjust drum brakes and adjust them. Unless they need replaced. Also its a parking brake. You would not want to use that in an emergency. Unless of course you master cylinder takes a shiit.

globy123

No I have not. I may need to replace the rear brake shoes. Does anyone know approximately how much it costs to replace the brake shoes at local mechanic shop?

black97civic

I charge 89.00 in my shop. Other places are more some might be less. But I also live in a smaller town.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Yellowpages.com. Make a phone call tomorrow.

globy123

Is it necessary to replace the hardware kit with the springs and drums when replacing brake shoes?

black97civic

I never do drums without replacing the hardware. It's cheap and a hell of a lot easier. Do you have to, no, but I would.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

It's recommended.

teamXteg

have you not tried adjusting he e brake its self? where the cables connects the the handle its self there is a bolt you can tighten and it will adjust it. you wont have to pull the e brake handle so far up before it grabs

black97civic

The proper way is to adjust the drums not the cable.

crazyhouse2011

THE DEALERSHIP THAT I WORK AT CHARGES 109.50 FOR REAR DRUMS, PARTS AND LABOR, OUT THE DOOR. IT CHARGES 99.50 FOR FRONT BRAKE PADS, PARTS AND LABOR, OUT THE DOOR.

jbpnoman

Oh so painfully wrong. Pick up a FSM and read it before you tell people what the proper way to do anything is. You adjust shoe pressure at the drum. You adjust parking brake engagement at the cable, behind the handle. OP, you can get to that nut with a ratchet, 6" extension, and a socket.

Also, if the drum self-adjuster is working properly, you just need to go to an open parking lot, accelerate to ~10MPH in reverse, then hit the brakes. Do that three times, and the self adjuster should have the shoes maintaining proper pressure on the drums.

black97civic

I have adjusted more parking brakes then you could count and I have NEVER had to adjust the cable. If the drum is adjusted correctly it will pull the cable tighter. It makes no sense that over the life of the drums you adjust the parking brake cable then what happens when you replace the shoes an drums? You have to go and loosen the cable?

jbpnoman

Pick up the FSM, then get back to me. I will not have a best practice conversation with someone so painfully ignorant to the basics of cars. I will give you a hint, though: Cables stretch and deform.

black97civic

Im not saying they never need adjusting. If the drums are adjusted and there's still a lot of movement then yes by All means adjust the cable but that's not the first thing you do.

jbpnoman

I'm going to make this very simple for you. Here is the basic diagram for Honda drums.



Show me exactly where you adjust the parking brake engagement point. I'll give you a hint: You don't do it there.

black97civic

By turning the gear between Clevis a and Clevis b. the fact that you ask that tell me you have no clue what your talking about. Yes they have self adjusters but when the drums are adjusted in so far they are the self adjusters are useless. And based off how far he pulls his parking brake(unless the cable is stretched which is very unlikely) then they are pretty far out of adjustment.

black97civic

Look at the back of any drum. There is a rubber plug you can remove and insert a flat tool used to turn the gear.

I will go ahead and add they don't all have access holes. The ones without can be adjusted with the drum off.

jbpnoman

The self adjuster is not for adjusting the parking brake engagement. The self adjuster is to allow the braking system to maintain contact between the shoe and the drum, and to give the driver a consistent brake feel throughout the life of the shoe and drum.

Now, stop avoiding the question and tell me exactly where on that diagram you adjust the parking brake handle engagement point, as you insist you can.

black97civic

Oh I miss read the question. No the parking brake handle adjustment point is not in that picture.

The whole point I'm trying to make is parking brake engagement is directly effected by the drums being adjust so I recommended he adjust the drums. If the handle still gos up that far then adjust the cable.

And I wasn't AVOIDING your question. I obviously made an attempt to answer it. I just miss read.

Merkle

Just remove the center console and adjust the hand brake from inside the car. The steel cable stretches over time and will require adjustment.

Quick Google search:
http://www.civicforums.com/forums/11...djustment.html

I'm sure you could find something with pics.

Heh, this guy gets it.