Break experts ? rear drum breaks on a 91 mazda 323

corolla-love, Aug 8, 2:49am
Rear breaks on my 91 mazda familia failed warrent for not being equal and handbreak, pulled drum appart pads still have plenty of life, cleaned and put back together. Is there any way of adjusting them ! cant see anyway i could .

Thanks
unbeatabull, Aug 8, 2:52am
Hard to describe without pictures, but there will be either an adjuster wheel that you turn on the wheel cylinders or a lever connected to both shoes that you adjust
morrisman1, Aug 8, 3:01am
are the hydraulic brakes working fine! If one side is not then the adjuster may not auto adjust.
corolla-love, Aug 8, 3:05am
both sides work but one better than other have looked real hard and cant see any thing too adjust with so far
kamitchell, Aug 8, 3:25am
Just a few things to look at that I have found in the past on different cars.
1. Hand brake cable sticky, binding on one side.
2. Shoe return springs check, one could be stretched
3. Hydraulics, blocked hose,seized piston
4. Rust / binding of mechanical parts
Some other people would probably have other ideas that could help.
msigg, Aug 8, 3:32am
make sure you heat them up plenty before going for your warant.
andy61, Aug 8, 3:41am
Breaks! do you mean BRAKES!. Familia brakes always fail WOFs.New wheel cylinders help,bleed brakes,loosen off handbrake cable and adjustthe brake shoe adjuster until almost binding on drums,then tighten slack out of handbrake cable.
steve312, Aug 8, 3:31pm
Since the problem with the "BRAKES" apply to both service and park brakes on the same wheel, the most likely problem is going to be the linings.It is possible but unlikely to be a seized cable and faulty hydraulics on one side only.No idea what year car it is but some of these things have a hydraulic proportioning valve mounted on the firewall that gives a lot of trouble.
You can try swapping the shoes from one side to the other to see if the problem moves with the shoes. Otherwise take it to someone who knows what they are doing.You are likely to waste hours on trying to unsucessfully remedy the issue and still end up paying a specialist to sort it out for you anyway if you are just grasping at straws.
steve312, Aug 8, 3:31pm
Since the problem with the "BRAKES" apply to both service and park brakes on the same wheel, the most likely problem is going to be the linings.It is possible but unlikely to be a seized cable and faulty hydraulics on one side only.Can't remember when they started using them but some of these things have a hydraulic proportioning valve mounted on the firewall that gives a lot of trouble.
You can try swapping the shoes from one side to the other to see if the problem moves with the shoes. Otherwise take it to someone who knows what they are doing.You are likely to waste hours on trying to unsucessfully remedy the issue and still end up paying a specialist to sort it out for you anyway if you are just grasping at straws.
panicky, Aug 8, 8:53pm
These have a crappy toothed ratchet style auto adjuster and the minute teeth wear of them and they were a shite design from new.