Hand Brake Adjustment
Discussion
Right, got MOT on wednesday and damn hand brake dosen't work very well, as it's an auto never really use it, but don't want to fail an MOT, any advice on how to adjust, have read about reversing and pullimg up the brake to adjust, although it appears to work in reverese it dosent seem to be as effective when rolling forwards
What is the easiest way to adjust?
Cheers
What is the easiest way to adjust?
Cheers
Remove wheel, remove brake calipers (hardest bit) then rotor. Hand brake works as an old brake drum. Adjust via star shaped wheel (can't remember which way to turn) using trial and error until drum binds with handbrake on:
Parking brake fix
Date Published: 2002-05-01
Submitter's Name: Bill Matera
Email Address: wmatera@snip.net
Corvetteforum.com Member Alias: Evil-Twin
I posted this fix several years ago, but it was lost in the software upgrade... When My C5 was new the e brake barely worked,, I took it to the dealer, and was told that brakes are a wear item and that I would have to pay for new shoes.. the car had less than 1000 miles on it .. the e brake only engages when the car is stopped so how could they be worn.. Any way I decided to take a look ans see if i could do anything..I was not crazy about the dealer touching my car anyway.. OK.. here we go.. the e brake works similar to the e brake on most cars with rear drum brakes.. with that in mind... jack up the rear of the car...remove the wheels...then remove the bolts for the calipers...then the calipers and pads...you will see the caliper bracket.. it has two bolts that hold this to the brake backing plate.. they are very very tight... but they will come off ( They are 125 ft pounds with loctite)... Once the bracket is off you can remove the rotor ( make sure the e brake is not engaged ).....Next.. you will see how the system works.. it has a set of shoe brakes .. and the rotor has an internal drum... In the last few years I have found that many many C5 come from the factory with poorly adjusted e brakes... Now locate the star adjuster.... turn it out to make the shoes grow in diameter...( Mine were out 33 clicks)... I did ten clicks at a time and the slid the rotor back on.. I did three sets of ten before I could feel any drag... I then clicked five more and could not get the rotor on...I then backed off two clicks and got the rotor on.. it was tight when I started it on the shoes but when i finally seated it it was perfect.. I then did the other side.. it was out exactly the same amount.... I then put everything back...Now for the test...When I engaged the e brake.. it locked up the brakes at a point about 45 degrees.... 90 degrees being straight up.. the lock up was so positive...I knew I did it right..next .. to check the release .. I took the car to a hill... set the e brake .. car in neutral and it stayed there ... then to check on the release.. I slowly disengaged the ebrake...and found that the shoes where totally retracted after only an inch of lever release...after this fix I could stop the car using only the ebrake with the car doing ten miles an hour...The ebrake also has an auto adjust feature.. but it will only work if your e brake lever is between 45 degrees and 55 degrees..if your ebrake is out further than that the e beake will not auto adjust..... ( AUTOADJUST feature ) roll the car backwards on a hill.. or in reverse @ 5 mph..pull up on the e brake lever... this will slam your car to an abrupt stop.. the engagement of the shoes to the drum while the car is moving backwards will cause the shoe assembly to flex.. it is the flex that causes the blade to click the adjusting star one click... Do this three or four times and it will expand your shoes.. you can not over tighten thes shoes... if it needs two clicks to get to max... and you do four clicks.. it will only adjust the star two clicks.. Also remember to use loctite on the brackets and caliper bolts..If you have any questions on this repair .. feel free to e mail me or instant message me.. Good Luck.. Many people have emailed me with their positive results from this fix... Bill
Parking brake fix
Date Published: 2002-05-01
Submitter's Name: Bill Matera
Email Address: wmatera@snip.net
Corvetteforum.com Member Alias: Evil-Twin
I posted this fix several years ago, but it was lost in the software upgrade... When My C5 was new the e brake barely worked,, I took it to the dealer, and was told that brakes are a wear item and that I would have to pay for new shoes.. the car had less than 1000 miles on it .. the e brake only engages when the car is stopped so how could they be worn.. Any way I decided to take a look ans see if i could do anything..I was not crazy about the dealer touching my car anyway.. OK.. here we go.. the e brake works similar to the e brake on most cars with rear drum brakes.. with that in mind... jack up the rear of the car...remove the wheels...then remove the bolts for the calipers...then the calipers and pads...you will see the caliper bracket.. it has two bolts that hold this to the brake backing plate.. they are very very tight... but they will come off ( They are 125 ft pounds with loctite)... Once the bracket is off you can remove the rotor ( make sure the e brake is not engaged ).....Next.. you will see how the system works.. it has a set of shoe brakes .. and the rotor has an internal drum... In the last few years I have found that many many C5 come from the factory with poorly adjusted e brakes... Now locate the star adjuster.... turn it out to make the shoes grow in diameter...( Mine were out 33 clicks)... I did ten clicks at a time and the slid the rotor back on.. I did three sets of ten before I could feel any drag... I then clicked five more and could not get the rotor on...I then backed off two clicks and got the rotor on.. it was tight when I started it on the shoes but when i finally seated it it was perfect.. I then did the other side.. it was out exactly the same amount.... I then put everything back...Now for the test...When I engaged the e brake.. it locked up the brakes at a point about 45 degrees.... 90 degrees being straight up.. the lock up was so positive...I knew I did it right..next .. to check the release .. I took the car to a hill... set the e brake .. car in neutral and it stayed there ... then to check on the release.. I slowly disengaged the ebrake...and found that the shoes where totally retracted after only an inch of lever release...after this fix I could stop the car using only the ebrake with the car doing ten miles an hour...The ebrake also has an auto adjust feature.. but it will only work if your e brake lever is between 45 degrees and 55 degrees..if your ebrake is out further than that the e beake will not auto adjust..... ( AUTOADJUST feature ) roll the car backwards on a hill.. or in reverse @ 5 mph..pull up on the e brake lever... this will slam your car to an abrupt stop.. the engagement of the shoes to the drum while the car is moving backwards will cause the shoe assembly to flex.. it is the flex that causes the blade to click the adjusting star one click... Do this three or four times and it will expand your shoes.. you can not over tighten thes shoes... if it needs two clicks to get to max... and you do four clicks.. it will only adjust the star two clicks.. Also remember to use loctite on the brackets and caliper bolts..If you have any questions on this repair .. feel free to e mail me or instant message me.. Good Luck.. Many people have emailed me with their positive results from this fix... Bill
My C5 handbrake also gave up early in the car's life and a dealer fix lightened my wallet by £150. The handbrake in my 'other' car uses the same system with separate drums and is just as susceptible to seizing. Between them these cars have taught me to apply the handbrake from time to time in an automatic.
If it's anything like the C4's arrangement (early C4, later did away with the drum and used the disk if I remember correctly), then adjustment is much easier than quoted. Take the wheel off, there is a small hole (about 10mm dia) in the disk that gives access to the star adjsuter, then use a small-ish (about 4-5mm blade) sltohead screwdriver to move the star up and down (with the handbrake off). You will get it to stick at somepoint (keep trialling turnign the disk by hand), then just back off a little until it frees off.
I've always used a bent Meccano screwdriver for this - perfect drum adjuster tool - I created it when I had a Beetle Based Nova kitcar....
Also, while you;re there, spray some oil up the cable, these particularly like becoming stiff on autos.
I've always used a bent Meccano screwdriver for this - perfect drum adjuster tool - I created it when I had a Beetle Based Nova kitcar....
Also, while you;re there, spray some oil up the cable, these particularly like becoming stiff on autos.
Cheers Franv8, ironically I too am an ex VW owner (Baja/Buggies) and also have the the same bent srew driver tool!! as well as large allen key with tape round it for aligning the clutch
The vette passed the MOT today, and although the hand brake has improved with the reversing trick it still needs some work done.....
The vette passed the MOT today, and although the hand brake has improved with the reversing trick it still needs some work done.....
ecossestang said:
Cheers Franv8, ironically I too am an ex VW owner (Baja/Buggies) and also have the the same bent srew driver tool!! as well as large allen key with tape round it for aligning the clutch
The vette passed the MOT today, and although the hand brake has improved with the reversing trick it still needs some work done.....
The vette passed the MOT today, and although the hand brake has improved with the reversing trick it still needs some work done.....
Glad you got the MOT okay, the Nova was the most amusing car to get through an MOT, one garage stoped the test halfway through and said I could take it away no charge - they were dumfounded by its construction!
If I got the clutch alignment/splines lined up properly, could probably get the engine in and out 20 minutes each way, alas on the C4 it took me 6 weekends!
Hi guys, I have just had my C5 serviced & they checked the handbrake! However when I got home I sat on the drive, put the hand brake on & suck the thing into reverse, hand brake gripped fine. Then put the car into drive & the thing ran forwards with on resistance worth mentioning, I reckon this would probably be a MOT fail. Anyone know why it would grip when the car is put into reverse & not grip when its put into drive?
Its something to do with the way the shoes move when the handbrake is applied. Basically it lifts on one end of the shoe so consequently if not adjusted correctly grips better in one direction compared to the other. It is nothing unusual and will be overcome if adjusted correctly (I know because mine was the same until I adjusted it myself, 10 mins work)If you paid someone to do it, take it back and tell them to do it properly, otherwise do it yourself and know its been done properly.
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