rovafa2002

Hi There,

I was having a very dangerous issue on my 98 EX civic. Since I live outside the US it came without ABS in my model. So the problem was that on the 1st or even 2nd braking I did on the car after being stoped for some time it will tend to brake pretty hard on the back, after a couple of brakes this would not happen. Three times I endede up having a nearly a 90 degree spin. Third was the last one.

So to fix this I bought the Honda Genuine brake shoes(previous owner had the shoe linnings rebuild, hence the problem probably). I changed both sides by the book, used haynes and even the Honda Service Manual. Every seemed fine until I started seeing the rear brakes were not as strong as before.

My handbrake used to even lock the wheels if I applied it somewhat high, but now nothing. I am doubting whether I need to do a break in no this or not, I only replaced the shoes not the drums. Cleaned everything with Brake Cleaner obviously.

Any ideas?

Former User

Did you adjust the parking brake and grease clevises A and B?

rovafa2002

I put it back to almost the shortest length, thuought this will autoadjust themselves. I pumped the brakes several times as the manual said.

When I put the rotors back In I put them to the point I could feel just very little drag from the shoes. I even tightened my handbrake to 7 notches, and I do feel resistance but the brakes are not catching the drum as before.


Really lost, wonder if maybe after some days of usage these will come back to life?

TomCat39

From my understanding, the auto adjust only happens when you reverse. So if you don't reverse much it can be quite some time for the parking brake to self adjust. It's still good to adjust it manually first after doing a brake job.

Also, did you turn the drums or replace?

Did you at the bare minimum use steel wool and brake clean on the drum surface to brake any glaze from the previous shoes?

And lastly, did the OEM brake shoes have a break in compound on them? Did you receive any break in instructions with the shoes?

slomofo

iTrader: (1)

If you rely on auto adjusters, it'll never happen.

rovafa2002

Steel wool? Havent seen that in the manuals nor the videos I watched.

Now I am listening at some knock from the back I am suspecting that the brake shoes assembly might be knocking with the drum on putholes due to the fact that are on its minimun seting and not barely touching.

What would be the correct adjustment? Should I feel a bit drag on the rotor or after puting the wheel? Obviusly when I put the wheel it spinned way freely.

Thoughts?

slomofo

iTrader: (1)

You'll notice that the drums slide off and on super easy.
Adjust them outwards until the drum has slight difficulty going back on.
Put the wheel on and continue adjust 1-2 clicks and then spinning the wheel by hand.
Adjust it until you can feel a slight drag with the wheel.

Former User

You need to disassemble and grease the clevises. Did you do this?

Did you correctly assemble the brake shoe assembly and properly adjust the parking brake?

TomCat39

You wouldn't because you are suppose to either replace or turn the drums.

It's a bad habit backyard mechanic trick. You forcefully scrub the rotor or drum with steel wool or 300 grit sandpaper and hose it down with brake cleaner to attempt breaking any glazing that maybe on the metal surface. It doesn't take care of any run-out problems and is not the recommended or proper way to do brakes. Or it's a ritual technique with a honing stone at the race tracks.

I only brought it up being I figured you didn't replace or turn the drums/rotors like is recommended for new shoes/pads. So figured I better ask if you at least did the old bad habit backyard trick of deglazing.

@Ron, thanks for the fsm sheet. I missed the Honda's are different and self adjust by pressing the brakes multiple times. I've looked at that page quite a few times and somehow always overlooked that detail. You posting it, let me see it this time. Cool beans.

CX-Adam

Glad I read this. I always just drive in reverse, too. Thanks Ron and Tom!

rovafa2002

Thanks for the help. I am now feeling my rear brakes stronger. However I still hear the loud knocking noise from the back which are the brakes 100% sure, dont hear the noise while I am breaking going through a rough street.

This weekend I will be taking out the Drums again. Should I use some sand paper as described or should I turn (or swap) the drums. I mean swap by moving the left to the right.

Also Ron, I saw your information but its for Disc brakes, is this the same thing for drum brakes? From what I understand I will probably do the following...
1- Remove drums
2- Swap, put the passenger side on the driver side and vice versa
3- My Handrbake is properly adjuted so I was thinking of pulling the lever up 1 click
4- Adjusting the clevis so its hard to put the drums in and it drags the wheel a bit. I would say puling the lever down should leave not too much drag if any.

Is that ok?

TomCat39

By swap, doesn't mean put the passenger on the drivers side and vice versa.

Swap means buy new drums and swap out the old for new.

You would want to measure the thickness of the drums to see if it's acceptable to have the drums turned (machined).

I'm assuming your drum surface was pretty smooth with next to no grooves.

Your knocking is not likely related to glazing of the drums.

You need to isolate what mechanical error in the back is causing your knocking sound.

I really would not recommend rotating your drums like you do tires. The brake pads/shoes mate up with the drum/rotor and changing things around like that can impact braking performance and also cause premature wear.