Just replaced rear drums and shoes – 2 concerns

[Jimmy]

2001 Accord LX Sedan with 128K miles. It was previously on the original drums – not sure about the shoes.

When I finally got the drums off, I expected the shoes to be much more worn considering the mileage. We have no record of a rear drum/shoe replacement, so I’m not sure if they are the originals. Most of our miles are cruising on the freeway with very little braking.

Per Eric’s suggestion in his drum brake replacement video, after the brake job I peeled back the brake cylinder boots and saw a bit of brake fluid. At first I thought it was just a bit of brake cleaner + dust, but it had that distinctive DOT 4 smell. There wasn’t much, maybe a 1/2 teaspoon total, but it got me a bit concerned. I saw this on both the left and right rear cylinders… a bit odd. The master cylinder reservoir had plenty of fluid.

1. Could both rear cylinders be leaking, causing insufficient pressure explaining the lack of wear? Is it acceptable to see a little bit of fluid, or should I be shopping for a set of replacement cylinders?

2. The parking brake – it has much more slack than before the brake job. I did pull it a few times to center the shoes to the drum. When I spun the drum to test the resistance, I could hear a tiny bit of scraping noise (I assumed the shoes touching the drum) so figured the star wheel/truss was at the correct setting, which was all the way compressed. Does the parking brake slack indicate I did not adjust the star wheel enough? The Honda service manual says to adjust using the parking brake adjusting nut.

Thanks,
Jimmy

Topic

[college man]

If your seeing some wetness when the boots were peeled
back.That is an indication of a leak is starting. It may
have happened when you did the shoes and disturbed the
pistons.I would replace both wheel cylinders.They are not
that expensive. For the slack in the e brake cable the old
shoes were worn which took more cable.new shoes have full material
which now needs the adjuster nut under the ebrake to be adjusted.
if you are hearing the slight drag when spun your good.Adjust the
e brake nut for 5-7 clicks when pulled.

[Bill]

Wheel cylinders should be dry inside the boots. Half a teaspoon is a lot. I would adjust the brakes at the wheels before adjusting the parking brake.

[Jimmy]

Thanks wysetech and college man. I’ll pick up some new cylinders, and since the brake fluid is getting dark I’ll flush out the system as well. Need to buy some 1/4″ tubing for the homemade bleeder bottle. 😆

[Tom]

When I am doing drum brakes, I just assume that it is time for new cylinders, and go ahead and change them. For most cars, it is less than $30 for the pair of them.

Be certain that the back brakes are adjusted properly before messing with the cable. Not sure of the specifics for your car, but for most drums, you manually adjust the star wheel / self adjuster until you can just get the drum in place, then back up and apply the brakes firmly several times to allow the self adjusters to finish the job for you.

Once the back brakes are properly adjusted, if the parking brake still isn’t adequate, then go ahead and adjust the cable.

[Jimmy]

Thanks Tom.. feels like less of a mistake now :cheer:

I’ll check back when everything is back in order.

[Jimmy]

Checking in… due to the amount of rust, things are never easy with this car.

I bought a pair of new wheel cylinders and tried to install them today. I got the 2 10mm bolts holding the cylinder on loose, but the 10mm brake line nut is completely rounded off. Went out and bought a set of flare wrenches and the 10mm just spins around it. As a last ditch effort, tried vice grips but those just smash the nut smaller. There not much metal left.

My next plan of attack is to replace the steel brake lines that connect the wheel cylinders to where it becomes rubber brake hoses. As you can see they are pretty badly rusted and due for a replacement. The 10mm nut at the other end isn’t in bad shape.

Attachments:

• 20131005_121845.jpg
• 20131005_124314.jpg

[EricTheCarGuy]

I’ll start by saying that a little moisture in the boots of the wheel cylinder is normal. It’s when it comes dumping out that it’s time to replace them. That said, you don’t need to replace those lines if you can at least break the line loose from the inside of the wheel cylinder. If it were me, I’d use vice grips at this point as it doesn’t look like a wrench will work at this point. If you’re able to break it loose you can pull the wheel cylinder through the backing plate and twist it off the line. More details in this video.

As for your parking brake. That’s likely your brake adjustment. You need to get the adjustment correct in order to have good brake pedal feel and to get the parking brake to work properly.

[Jimmy]

I finally got around to finishing this job. I bought some new brake pipes (part #’s 46331-S84-A00 and 46361-S84-A00) and replaced them. Breaking the brake pipe nut on the passenger side actually cracked the pipe due to all the corrosion, so it was definitely time. On the driver’s side the nut was so rusted I ended up Dremel-ing the pipe in order to get an impact on.

You can see the old pipes and cylinders here:

The driver’s side cylinder was definitely leaking brake fluid, but the passenger side was fine. I finished up the job with a brake fluid flush following Eric’s one-man brake bleeder method.

Thanks everyone!
Jimmy

Attachments:

• newbrakelinesinstalled.jpg
• oldbrakelinesandcylinders.jpg

[college man]

Thanks for the update and the fix. Great job by the way. 😉

[Author]

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