B Fish

I joined this site to find out if a problem I am having can be resolved before I go to Honda to have it looked at. I am not looking to offend anyone by registering for just one question, just trying to get an answer from people who may know how to solve this problem. Has to do with the rear drum brakes on my wife's 97 Civic DX. This is a stock car with approx 113K miles on it.

The issue I am having is that the rear drums do not self adjust, and has to be done manually. Jack up the car, release the e-brake, and use the hole and a screwdriver on the backside of the drum to adjust them, usually until there is a drag while trying to spin the wheel.

I have replaced the wheel cylinders along with all of the springs and clips within the drum assembly. When adjusted properly, the brakes work great along with the e-brake (stops after 7-8 clicks). After time the shoes wear slightly and do not contact the drum with the same force, therefore I am going through front pads a lot quicker than I should be. There is also a rubbing sound from the drums when the pedal is pressed with minimal pressure, but goes away while pressing harder. Sounds like the shoe is not contacting the drum fully until more pressure is applied to the pedal. The e-brake also does not work as well once the shoes wear. More travel on the e-brake handle the longer I go without adjusting them. Do not have any leaks either.

Thought about replacing the master cylinder and/or the proportioning valve, but do not want to waste money by replacing parts if they do not need to be.

Also had two different mechanics look at it all they did was adjust them manually and say they could not find any problems, other than being out of adjustment.

Morasso

maybe its time for new drums? It sounds like the shoes aren't able to contact the drums without a lot of pressure so maybe the drums have been machined or worn down too much and need to be replaced...

B Fish

Went ahead and replaced the front rotors (to thin to cut) and pads. Cleaned the rear drums with break cleaner and greased the all of areas in which the shoes contact the backing plate. Adjusted the drums until there is a slight drag while turning the wheel by hand. The e-brake now stops after 8 clicks and the brakes respond well with little pressure on the pedal. The rear wheels do lock up when the e-brake is pulled.

Morasso,
Thank you for your response to my dilema, very much appreciated. The last time I did a break job, I cut the rear drums. I looked at the drums today and the inside still has the machining marks from the last cut, which I do not think it should. Also, the shoes have more wear on the top near the wheel cylinder than the bottom. The adjustment screw is not out that far now and the shoes do make good contact with the inside of the drum. I did replace the drums approximately 3 or 4 brake jobs ago prior to replacing all of the springs and clips. The shoes get replaced every other brake job and I usually do not cut the drums unless I see something that may be an issue.

I never did replace the adjustment screws on either side. Could the teeth wear down enought to a point where the adjuster lever is not able to turn the star wheel and self adjust? Being that eveything seems to work well now, I do not believe the master cylinder and/or the proportioning valve are causing the problems.