hi all...
my brakes were great all day long until this evening...i braked...car slowed down but wasnt as good as before....then i heard a funny sound...cant really describe it but when i parked the car...i pulled the hand brake and the lever went much higher.
i think the handbrake still works at the 'higher' point but it isnt as strong.
The brake pedal is a little softer too.
Any ideas what happen? did i pop/break the handbrake cable?
I'm running ferodo 2500 pads and motul 600 brake fluid. I plan on bleeding the brake fluid to see if it will help....but just checking if i did break something.
Thanks
Franklin

 

adjust your rear drums. they can affect brake pedal level and e brake operation. dont adjust ur ebrake because its most likely not the problem

 

Thanks for the info.
So how do i adjust the rear drums? or do i have to take it to a shop?
thanks
franklin

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by to_carpediem &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hi all...
my brakes were great all day long until this evening...i braked...car slowed down but wasnt as good as before....then i heard a funny sound...cant really describe it but when i parked the car...i pulled the hand brake and the lever went much higher.
i think the handbrake still works at the 'higher' point but it isnt as strong.
The brake pedal is a little softer too.
Any ideas what happen? did i pop/break the handbrake cable?
I'm running ferodo 2500 pads and motul 600 brake fluid. I plan on bleeding the brake fluid to see if it will help....but just checking if i did break something.
Thanks
Franklin</TD></TR></TABLE>

Brakes don't do that unless something broke... Inspect the rear brakes carefully...

If your brake pedal is softer, that is not normal and no adjustment, in my opinion, will correct that... Without seeing the car, i can say that you should take it to a free brake inspection shop and see what they come up with... I have never ran into a situation where brakes are fine one day and then a second later, need adjustment...

Maybe someone else here has a another opinion

fs

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by filthy_shovel &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Brakes don't do that unless something broke... Inspect the rear brakes carefully...

If your brake pedal is softer, that is not normal and no adjustment, in my opinion, will correct that... Without seeing the car, i can say that you should take it to a free brake inspection shop and see what they come up with... I have never ran into a situation where brakes are fine one day and then a second later, need adjustment...

Maybe someone else here has a another opinion

fs</TD></TR></TABLE>

I second what he says, dramatic changes are a sign something is seriously wrong. Unless you know what you are doing find a pro to tell you wats wrong. This is a potientialy very serious situation.

 

Something similar happened to me about 2 yrs ago. You should check the rear drums . When I went to check it I almost couldnt pull the drum off . It ended up being that all the springs and clips snapped off . The rebuild kit cost like 10 & takes like 5min to install but if you really dont know what your doing its best if you take it to a shop .

 

thanks for all the advice.
I took the car in for a free estimate and here's what they found out.

Rear drum wheel brake cylinder leaking on both sides. So pretty much they recommend changing everything but labor seems really high.

I ordered all the parts and will get them tomorrow
2x rear brake drum
2x rear drum wheel cylinder
1x brake shoe set
1x brake mounting hardware kit

Now has anyone done this job before?
I'll be renting a car to work...but will begin prepping the car for the swap when i get the parts in. Any tips/advice?
thanks
franklin

 

Heres a good tip if this is your first time repairing drum brakes. Jack up both sides and put jackstands under the car (safty first). Then remove both rear tires and drums, do both sides one at a time. This way if after taking apart one side if you forget how it goes back together just look at the side thats still in one piece.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by to_carpediem &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thanks for all the advice.
I took the car in for a free estimate and here's what they found out.

Rear drum wheel brake cylinder leaking on both sides. So pretty much they recommend changing everything but labor seems really high.

I ordered all the parts and will get them tomorrow
2x rear brake drum
2x rear drum wheel cylinder
1x brake shoe set
1x brake mounting hardware kit

Now has anyone done this job before?
I'll be renting a car to work...but will begin prepping the car for the swap when i get the parts in. Any tips/advice?
thanks
franklin


</TD></TR></TABLE>

I would have guessed this if I read it earlier, but only because the exact same thing happened to me at the end of a race day. Don't pay any labor. If you can work a vice grip and a flat-head screw driver, you have the skills to do the rebuild. Take grampagoldhatch's advice above. That's how I learned to work on my drums. The first time is a bitch, the second time is cake.

 

Thanks you all for the tips.
I'll try it tonite.

Franklin