I've been trying to solve this problem since I bought the car.
I recently changed the rear drum shoes thinking that would fix it and bled the brakes all around.
I looked at the rear brakes as I had someone pull up the parking brake and it begins to expand the shoes but won't expand far enough.
I tried to adjust the bolt behind the parking brake lever but still hasnt fixed it.
I'm starting to wonder if there is slack in the cable somewhere.
Any ideas? Possible fixes? Help me out, please. =]

 

How do the inside of the drums look? You need a good surface for the shoes to grab onto.

 

The inside of the drum is smooth. No warping from what i can see. No rust either.

 

Adjust this.

 

Do I pull up on the self-adjuster lever? or Do I spin the adjuster bolt? I know that bolt is made of 3 pieces. Also, are the shoes supposed to be sitting flush with the drum?

 

when you are installing the drums the shoes should just be beginning to touch them. when you spin the drum it should hit the pads and provide a small amount of resistence. if it's difficult to turn, or super easy to turn, then you need to play with the adjuster a bit more.

 

Thanks a lot. Gonna go try and mess with it.... *wishes he had rear disc brakes so he wouldn't even be dealing with this*

 

Sorry I can't help, but I'm so glad I have rear disks... Problem is, my right cable snapped and my left cable isn't connected... haha

 

Have your friend step on the brakes with the rear drums on & rear wheels off the ground. Try to turn them. If you can then yes you have a shoe adjustment problem. If you can't then it's the parking brake cable/s frozen inside the cable housing (very common in the rust belt area). Next have him let off the brakes and pull the parking brake. Now try to turn each wheel. You may only have one cable stuck or both.
I have had three different Civics myself that had one cable or the other frozen in the housing.
It's caused by a crack in the plastic/rubber housing that then allows moisture inside and the steel casing rusts & expands binding the cable inside. Usually only about $50 a cable at the dealer. Even less from Autozone.

 

i agree

 

i had the same problem an thought it was the brake shoes too low but never made a difference. gonna try adjusting that scre thing a see if it works