Technical 1.8 marea weekend brake troubles

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Technical 1.8 marea weekend brake troubles

The saga continues....

Brake shoes replaced, master cylinder renewed, rear handbrake adjusters renewed. Still no brakes! No handbrake either.

Any more suggestions? Fluid level constant - no leaks:bang:
 
The only thing I can think of have had a look see if the nut is still on the hand brake lever end in the car. Lift the leather look shroud and see if the nut is there if its gone nothing will adjust up.
 
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Handbrake seperate from hydraulic foot brake.Suggest you concentrate on the handbrake first.
Handbrake. handbrake lever.Pulls cable. to equalizer.then cable to each wheel this pulls pads on to drums which you say you have replaced.
I have known the cable to the wheel to have frayed inside the shroud and this prevents the brake comining on.Also as suggested the only other adjustment you havnt mentioned is at the handbrake itself.
Are the brake levers on the rear drum backing plates moving freely when handbrake applied???
If you can get the handbrake to work you can then work onward to the foot brake...
 
If she can get the handbrake to work the footbrake will work. They maybe separate parts but if the shoes arent adjusted up the hydrolics have to push the shoes out before there is any pressure to get thats why the pedal goes a long way down.
 
Interesting - so the handbrake needs to be properly adjusted before the hydraulic brakes work? We will check the handbrake adjustment nut below the handbrake lever next to see if we can pull in the cable - will also check the equaliser. I know there should not be too much movement (3-4 clicks) as this should be enough to push the shoes onto the drums.

We have two new 'ratchet' type brake adjusters and what I did was to insert them with the ratchet/pawl assy at the front and twist the ratchet round until the adjuster was tight against both the leading and trailing shoes. When the handbrake is applied, the lever that attaches to the cable seems to pivot around this adjuster. The lever moves freely under the brake shoe when the handbrake is applied. The bottom of this lever gets pulled in by about 4-5cm's...

Hopefully we can get this nailed tomorrow - thanks for the help guys! Appreciated.
 
No no no! I am only suggesting you work on the hand brake to make sure all cables and levers are working from the hand brake lever to the rear drum brakes and that there is movement in the adjuster mechanism.
When this is all proved free, then. when pressing the foot pedal with the rear drums fitted the rear brakes should self adjust hydraulically. this will then allow you to adjust the handbrake on the adjustment screw accordingly in the car.
 
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I thought it was strange that the hydraulic system was dependent upon the mechanical handbrake. :confused: It makes sense that the hydraulics self adjust and that the handbrake adjustment is dependent upon the hydraulic settings.
 
To be honest i think you still may have a problem elsewhere,if all parts are moving freely at the rear but you are loosing pressure under foot.looking back on this thread nearly everything in the brake system has been mentioned

you seem to have done everything possible at the rear drums if the adjusters are fitted correctly
you said previously when you pump the foot pedal you were getting a brake.
is this the case now?
did you cure the hissing noise at the servo? Vaccume leak?
 
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No no no! I am only suggesting you work on the hand brake to make sure all cables and levers are working from the hand brake lever to the rear drum brakes and that there is movement in the adjuster mechanism.
When this is all proved free, then. when pressing the foot pedal with the rear drums fitted the rear brakes should self adjust hydraulically. this will then allow you to adjust the handbrake on the adjustment screw accordingly in the car.

Could you tell me how the brakes self adjust hydraulically. Why have a mechanical adjuster on then if that wasnt there the the springs would pull the shoes back in which is what it sounds like is happening. I think myself at least one of the adjusters isnt working. Both adjusters need to be working before you can adjust in the car otherwise one wheel will be tight and the other not adjusted up at all because of the separate cables.
 
When you have fitted new brake shoes. you can easily fit the drum. ,you will then sit in the car and press the foot pedal until the brake shoes open up and meet the drum. the ratchet will sit in its nearest seration(slot) (and it will adjust over a period of time as the brake shoes wear). in effect the adjuster works with the hyds and the springs will only return the shoes slightly off the drum. hence self adjusters.
the handbrake cable can be adjusted to suit. this is how i have believed the brakes to work.Roughly.
if i am wrong then please correct me.
 
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When you have fitted new brake shoes. you can easily fit the drum. ,you will then sit in the car and press the foot pedal until the brake shoes open up and meet the drum. the ratchet will sit in its nearest seration(slot) (and it will adjust over a period of time as the brake shoes wear). in effect the adjuster works with the hyds and the springs will only return the shoes slightly off the drum. hence self adjusters.
the handbrake cable can be adjusted to suit. this is how i have believed the brakes to work.Roughly.
if i am wrong then please correct me.

The operation of the handbrake works the brake shoes which in turn operates the automatic adjusters. Nothing on the adjusters move when the pedal or the handbrake is applied its only when one or the other is released that the adjusters actually adjust when the return spring on the brakeshoes pulls the shoes back in. Something to try if it hasnt been done is take the drum off, screw the adjuster so that the drum just goes on with a bit of a push. Press the pedal to centralise the shoes then see if the drum will come off easy, if it does adjust up a bit more and repeat.If you can do this operation e.g. turn the adjuster and put the shoe back on, the adjuster isnt working correctly. If theres any wear on the drums e.g. a lip, new drums are needed. Ive added a pic for you to check springs and adjuster are fitted correctly.
 

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Sorry, in all the excitement I forgot to log in last week and let you know the car finally passed its MOT.(y)

Elder son is thrilled to bits and has been pestering us all weekend to take him out driving. We now have a new problem though - how the heck do you get the L plates to stay on - the magnetic ones keep flying off:D:eek:

Thank you to everyone for their input. Once the handbrake cable was adjusted and the garage did a final pressure bleed the brakes met requirements. I must say they are not sharp when compared to my volvo;)
 
Sorry, in all the excitement I forgot to log in last week and let you know the car finally passed its MOT.(y)

Elder son is thrilled to bits and has been pestering us all weekend to take him out driving. We now have a new problem though - how the heck do you get the L plates to stay on - the magnetic ones keep flying off:D:eek:

Thank you to everyone for their input. Once the handbrake cable was adjusted and the garage did a final pressure bleed the brakes met requirements. I must say they are not sharp when compared to my volvo;)

Thats good news you got it sorted. The sharpness as you put it might be down to the pads but the brakes should be pretty good.
 
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