Tried searching around but couldn't quite find the answer. Last night I changed shoes/drums/hardware on the rear of my 02 Accord. When all was done and put back on they already had a small amount of drag so I didn't adjust them. However the parking brake has a lot of slack in it. Will this adjust over time or should I manually adjust them? If I need to I'll head back to the shop and adjust them. But for the sake of time I don't have, if they'll adjust themselves within a few days I'll let them go. Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

You can try backing up and stopping the car. This will help self adjust the rear drums. But if the handle is out of spec you may just need to adjust it.

 

Not sure if Hondas have floating rear drums. What you want to do is pull the hand brake a few times. I like to adjust until my hand brake is only 3-5 clicks. Make the brake pedal feels pretty tight and high. Then take the drums off and turn the star wheel to make them clicks about 5 times. Put the drums on. Spin it for a full revolution. If it goes more then it's still loose. I adjust it until I get a slight drag. I get mine real good to 3 clicks on the ebrake. The rear shoes are real thin. New they are 4.5mm and replace at 2mm, some people even let it goes to 1mm if the shoes are not rivet on. WARNING: never press on the brake pedal or pull the hand brake with the drums off, both must be on.

 

Thanks man. I tried this and it may have adjusted them a little but there is still a lot of slack in the hand brake. Can you explain to me why going in reverse matters? I can't seem to wrap my head around it.

Yeah I always used to just adjust them until there was a slight drag, I was just running low on time and its a PITA to get behind them and turn the adjuster through that little hole. I'll head to the garage tonight and do it the right way. Thanks fellas.

 

Stopping in reverse doesn't do anything special on a Honda. Just pressing the brake pedal down should step up the adjusters if they're loose. Other brands use different setups.

I adjust mine until the wheel will go around twice maybe and then stop. That gives me a nice 3-6 click parking brake feel, and a nice high and firm brake pedal feel.

I usually just take the drum of and go 2 starwheel teeth at a time until it's right. Just seems that using the hole is a good way to damage the teeth on the star wheel.

Self-adjusters don't really seem to work well anyway, it's just such a Goldberg setup. Even when mine do work they only work if there is large clearance. So they keep things from getting totally out of whack, but if you want to get good pedal feel, you've got to adjust it yourself.

 

I got it all adjusted and everything is great now. I accidentally went too far on the left side and then couldn't get the drum back off. Had to do the old thread the two bolts through the drum routine. You're right, 2 teeth at a time is probably the safe route. Thanks fellas. All is well!

 

Of course I spoke too soon. Last night I started getting this clunk, clunk, clunk, sound when applying moderate pressure. Heavy braking doesn't cause it. Any suggestions for what I should look for? Could they be on too tight?

 

When you "pulled" the drum off with the two screws, did you make sure that everything was in place-pins, springs, ect?

Also, the right tool will make adjusting the shoes (in or out) a breeze with the drum on. Spend the $5 and get a brake spoon.

 

I did end up having to put everything back in place but I made sure everything was set. Maybe I'll have to pull it again and check it out.

 

Pulled them again. Everything was still in place but the right side was a little too tight. Couldn't even spin the wheel a full rotation. So I loosened them back up, put everything back together, and still have the same problem. This is so frustrating because I've been doing my own brakes for years. I'm lost to what it could be.

 

What problem? The loose parking brake or the noise? I cant help with the noise,but for the parking brake:

Adjust the rear drums so that there is a slight amount of drag when you spin the drums. (There should be very, very little, to no drag when you put the wheel back on and spin it.)


After that if the P-brake still engages too high, then there is a cable adjustment behind the the P-brake lever. There 2 adjusting nuts,one for each side. Adjust these nuts a little at time until the P-brake engages with in 5 to 7 clicks. If you adjust the cable too much the brakes will drag.

 

Well the parking brake is looser now as a result of turning the adjuster back in a bit. But the clunking sound still remains.

I'm half way wondering if something else has given out either as a coincidence or a result of new brakes? For a few months before this I've had a sound at low speeds when backing out of the driveway that sounded like a clunk as well. It sounded as if something was binding and would clunk once or twice.

This is so frustrating becaue I don't have near as much time to work on cars as I used to, but I hate to pay $60-70 an hour for a shop to do it. I've never taken one of my vehicles to a shop before.

 

Ok, I don't mind going way out on a limb. Is the noise from the brakes or the suspension system. A worn bushing could cause noises. If it was the front I'd say check the strut rod bushings, on the rear not too sure. Looked quickly at the diagrams but nothing jumped out at me.

 

I really can't tell. But as I read through other similar posts I see suggestions of the stabilizer links? Wouldn't that be a pretty big coincidence though? Why would they just happen to fail right after changing the brakes? It's all in the rear of the car.

 

This is so aggravating. Monday I replaced everything again. This time I cleaned everything, lubed contact points, etc. Yesterday (Tuesday) everything was perfectly fine. Today on the way to work, same sound came back. Clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk all the way up to the point where I stop. So I'm guessing its a coincidence and has nothing to do with the brakes? I guess I could try the stabilizer links next but I don't understand why they would clunk continuously throughtout the stop. I could see a clunk or two as the suspension is loading or unloading...but this is constant until the stop is made. Argh.

 

that constant clunk happens when your brakes arent properly adjusted. your going to have to adjust them. this will be easiest with a flat head screwdriver. with the tire on, and e brake down. jack the car up and spin the tire as your stick the screwdriver in the adjustment hole, which should be covered by a small rubber protector maby the size of a capsule pill. and spin the tire as you adjust. once the tire gets hard to spin your done!

 

Since your handle is hondawhiz I'll give it a shot See on the original hardware I installed I thought having them on too tight caused some kind of warping to happen and caused all these problems. But I'll try doing it with wheels and everything on and snug them up til there's some drag.

 

Doing it with the wheel on will cause you to adjust it too tight. The wheel should never drag, only the drum.

 

I adjusted them a couple clicks at a time with the wheel and drums off since it was simply easier. I adjusted it until I could grab the drum with both hands and just had a slight drag when I moved it back and forth. Put the wheels back on and could spin them and get 3 or 4 smooth revolutions. However, the problem persists

Last night when it was near 80 and dry the sound was very minimal. Today when I came to work it was low 60's and damp and the sound is much more profound. Would the stabilizer bar end links move back and fourth rapidly during breaking or do they simply flex? I just don't know what else it could be and I really don't want to pay a shop for a diagnosis that they won't back unless I have them do the work.

 

you have to make sure the wheel gets to a nice smooth grab it shouldnt spin freely for four turns. it shouldnt spin freely at all. . then your still not adjusting it properly. its going to be very difficult to do this when the tire isnt on..

 

Ok. I'll tighten them up some more and see if I can get in behind there with the wheel still on. Thanks for the tip.

 

Thanks for all the advice fellas. I figured out the problem. Turns out that when I got the 1st replacement drum stuck and used the two bolts to back it off, the force is exerts as its pulling against the shoes closed up the spring clips a little bit so they didn't have real good tension anymore. So when they were opened back up with a flathead screw driver, they were good and snug. Problem solved. By being a little loose it was allowing the shoe to bounce around inside the drum when the brake was in use. Thanks again for all the help. Hopefully this will help someone else down the road.