Rear-Drum Auto-Adjuster Problem

[Jonny Shu 0]

Hi,

 

Recently, I discovered I had to replace the handbrake cables on the car so set about pulling the drums apart to give them a good clean too. New springs and retaining clips purchased and it's looking quite neat and shiny inside, and a new handbrake cable which seems to run far far better than the totally shot old one

However...when coming to adjust the shoes as per the general advice I have searched for on here (manually adjusting the auto-adjusters so that the shoes will just bite), I have found that the splined wheel will not turn unless considerable force is used :S ! I have, I think, reassembled the drum properly, so can't quite figure out what I may have done wrong here and why the adjustment wheels aren't moving freely as I suspect they should.

 

Can anyone offer any explanations for this, or have I not provided enough of a description for people to understand what's happening?

 

Cheers,

 

Jonny

[Tom Fenton 1,540]

Have you stripped, cleaned, greased the adjuster wheel on its threads?

 

If not I would try this first, the threads get stiff over time.

[Jonny Shu 0]

I haven't re-greased but the threads were clean and the wheel ran freely when the auto-adjust bar/barrel adjuster were taken off the back-plate. That was the first thing I thought of but I didn't think it would make such a vast difference. That'll be job number 1 when I get home then!

[jord294 91]

have you got the right adjuster on the correct side of the car ?

[erbs 42 1 Cars]

i always found these to never really work that well on my old 1.6 i was forever manually adjusting them

Edited October 25, 2011 by erbs

[Jonny Shu 0]

have you got the right adjuster on the correct side of the car ?

 

Yeah definitely not swapped them!

[marksorrento205 80]

With the tension of the springs there is some resistance ( not loads ). How tight are they to turn? Are you adjusting them with the drum off or through one of the wheel bolt holes with a little screwdriver or like?

[Jonny Shu 0]

There is LOADS of resistance...I am yet to regrease however. I am trying to adjust them without having put the drums back on, with them open on the backplate.

 

Cheers

[marksorrento205 80]

Well they should be a piece of piss to adjust like that

[Pugmanian Devil 1]

There is LOADS of resistance...I am yet to regrease however. I am trying to adjust them without having put the drums back on, with them open on the backplate.

 

Cheers

The best way to adjust them is put the drums on, line up one of the bolt hole's on the drum so that you can see/get to the adjuster with a flat blade screw driver. Get someone to press the brake pedal which will take the load off the adjust from the wheel cylinder pushing the shoe's out, the adjuster at this point will move freely with no resistance (just like it moved when you had it disasembled)

 

Hope this helps

 

-T

[Jonny Shu 0]

Thanks for the advice Pugmanian Devil, it has all been sorted now thanks, auto-adjusters are right (I think), and handbrake works a treat

 

Cheers