new rear rotor parking brake not working?

[Yaleh]

Hello all,

Just replaced both sides rear rotors and pads. Now the parking brake doesn't seem to be working. Should it work right away or does it need to bed in a little the new rotor. I didn't take the parking brakes apart but they looked okay. They worked just before and they are pretty new actually (maybe 2 years old?). I did loosen the adjuster at the handbrake lever and then I re-tightened it after I replaced the rotors. It's at about 5 clicks when you pull the handbrake lever, but car still can move forward and backward. Also I cleaned the rotors with brake cleaner before I put them on. That stuff is amazing..

Thanks!

[Yaleh]

I just read the pdf on replacing the parking shoes. I know I didn't do this, I did the rotor, but maybe the issue is similar:

"Test drive and readjust the parking brake
After replacing the brake shoes:
Drive the car at 30 km/h . Apply the parking brake lever until the car stops. This allows the brake shoes to bed into the brake drum."

So perhaps this is what I need to do? Thoughts? Has anyone else noticed that when you put a new rotor on, that the parking brakes don't really work initially?

Thanks!

[Astro14]

How did the parking brake shoes look initially? If they've still got some pad thickness on them, they're OK. Generally, they don't wear unless someone drives for a while with the brake on...

So, when you replaced the rear rotors, let's assume everything looked good. You need to do two things: 1. bed the shoes to the new drum surface (inside of the rotor that you just installed) using the method you just outlined. I would do it a couple of times - bring the car up to 30, pull up on the brake hard and let the car stop. Drive for 5 minutes to cool them, repeat.

Then, you need to adjust the handle, remove the trim around the rear of the handle and there's a 10 or 11 mm bolt there that adjusts the cable. Check the resources section, there is a description there of how to do it in the "replacing rear brake shoes" . Basically, at 2 clicks up, it should begin engaging the shoes, and when down, there should be no drag (though if you have it too tight, the brake shoes will wear away pretty quickly, accompanied by the smell of hot brakes..)...here is what it says:

CAUTION: Follow the adjustment instructions to obtain full parking brake effect.
Turn the adjustment screw so that full braking effect is achieved between the second and the fifth notch.
Final check
Check that the wheels rotate freely after adjustment.
Test drive and readjust the parking brake
After replacing the brake shoes:
 Drive the car at 30 km/h . Apply the parking brake lever until the car stops. This
allows the brake shoes to bed into the brake drum.
 Adjust the parking brake as required.
Install the panel over the parking brake lever.

[Yaleh]

How did the parking brake shoes look initially? If they've still got some pad thickness on them, they're OK. Generally, they don't wear unless someone drives for a while with the brake on...

So, when you replaced the rear rotors, let's assume everything looked good. You need to do two things: 1. bed the shoes to the new drum surface (inside of the rotor that you just installed) using the method you just outlined. I would do it a couple of times - bring the car up to 30, pull up on the brake hard and let the car stop. Drive for 5 minutes to cool them, repeat.

Then, you need to adjust the handle, remove the trim around the rear of the handle and there's a 10 or 11 mm bolt there that adjusts the cable. Check the resources section, there is a description there of how to do it in the "replacing rear brake shoes" . Basically, at 2 clicks up, it should begin engaging the shoes, and when down, there should be no drag (though if you have it too tight, the brake shoes will wear away pretty quickly, accompanied by the smell of hot brakes..)...here is what it says:

CAUTION: Follow the adjustment instructions to obtain full parking brake effect.
Turn the adjustment screw so that full braking effect is achieved between the second and the fifth notch.
Final check
Check that the wheels rotate freely after adjustment.
Test drive and readjust the parking brake
After replacing the brake shoes:
 Drive the car at 30 km/h . Apply the parking brake lever until the car stops. This
allows the brake shoes to bed into the brake drum.
 Adjust the parking brake as required.
Install the panel over the parking brake lever.

Hi Astro14- thanks once again.

Yes the shoes/friction material looked thick.

I will do the bedding in thing and re-tighten/ adjust the 10mm nut if need be.

I have to fix one last thing before I can safely go driving around. My control arm bolt. Whole other story/issue...

Thanks!