[marks152]

Ive got a bit of a head wrecker with my corsa c at the minute. The passenger side rear drums getting hot after say 20 miles on the motorway with no or little brakes being used. Ive jacked it up and the wheel spins fine and doesnt seem to be dragging.

Its had new drums, shoes, bearings, handbrake cables, cable guides.

Ive stripped them down and nothings sticking that i can see The handbrake lever is returning on the shoes to the stop every time its operated with the drum off. Ive evened backed the adjuster off inside the drum half a turn but its still getting excessively hot.

If i jack the car up and use the handbrake or footbrake then release it, both rear wheels spin freely so dont think its holding on.

Am i missing something obvious here.

Im thing of removing both rear drums and resetting the adjusters back, loosen handbrake right off and then refit the drums and let the auto adjusters do their thing.

Anyone know if the auto adjuster works when you brake while moving in reverse/forward or is it done by the hand brake lever.

 

[marks152]

Ive just jacked it up and there was a slight bind albeit very slight. The wheel still span a good 10 times by itself before stopping.

So ive reset the auto adjuster and checked it works which it does. Ive taken it for a run and the adjusters working as when i got back it had moved about 2 threads on the adjuster. Its not binding at all now. Ill monitor it as i suspect theres still plenty of adjustment to take up. Both the handbrake and the footbrake cause the auto adjuster to adjust itself so in theory it should get better. Lets hope it dont start binding. Personally the bind ive found was absolutely nothing. Just ever so slightly touching. Nothing id normally worry about but this side is defo getting excessively hot and i can find nothing wrong at all. The other sides got no bind at all.

Only time will tell. Ill update the thread once i get to the bottom of it. Id normally suspect handbrake cables but its had full brand new genuine guides and cables from lever into the drums a few months ago and when operated the lever on the shoe returns to the stop point so defo not sticking.

Dont you just hate silly issues like this.

 

[andy-v]

am sure the adjuster works on the foot brake, or if it dont i always thought the did 🤷‍♂️and ya mentioned everything and changed what could cause it to get hot.

 

[zxdragon777]

Don't use the handbrake park it in gear

 

[marks152]

am sure the adjuster works on the foot brake, or if it dont i always thought the did 🤷‍♂️and ya mentioned everything and changed what could cause it to get hot.

It works on the hand brake and footbrake. I checked yesterday when i had the drum off. It literally does 1 click each time so may take a while to adjust. Time will tell.

On the plus side, i dont even remove the wheel from the drum now. Just take the 27mm nut off and take the lot off in one. Takes seconds to check

 

[jewels]

At least in the Spanish manual it says that after adjusting the handbrake, pull one or two points and drive a small distance with it, I imagine that it will be to file the shoes a little and avoid this, if not all loosen it half a turn the handbrake and see how it evolves

 

[marks152]

Seems ok today. Both were perfectly cool after 50 mile today. Ive had to adjust the cable inside for the handbrake and it seems to hold fine on moderate hills without issue. The car also squats evenly on both sides if you apply the handbrake just before you stop at the traffic lights. Footbrake seems fine with no excess travel. I might pop into my local mot place and put it on the rollers when im passing next just for piece of mind.

 

[marks152]

I got back tonight and its hot and binding again. WTF . Its covered 100 mile today. I removed the drum and theres 5 threads showing on the adjustment rod compared to 2 last night. I checked the ratchet is stopping it turning with vibration and the ratchets working perfectly.

Ive adjusted it again manually and stopped it from auto adjusting for the time being until i can look at it at the weekend.

Its testing me this one. What would cause it to over adjust and bind? I cant think of any scenario that may cause that. Ill gonna strip it down at the weekend and check everything is as it should be. Failing that. If it adjusts again on the auto adjuster it will be getting disabled. I have never seen this scenario before. Im more suprised the adjuster actually works on a 18 year old car lol.

Watch this space!

 

[ozsubrosa]

I'll be reading the updates. As I often moan, my h/brake doesn't grip satisfactorily much (no footbrake issues), so it's not instantly relevant to me but I always try to log these things in my head in case it happens to me (or comes up much later in another thread) and I have my Malaga run coming very soon now.

 

[corsaz22se]

I have seen something like this before on other Vauxhalls not the Corsa. It was down to the traction control applying the brake on one rear wheel as it thought wheel speed was to high. One car had wrong size wheel fitted the other had a flat tyre. Both cases the rolling radius was reduced so wheel speed went up.
I have also seen the ABS units fail to release pressure fully on one circuit on other makes causing brakes to bind.
By removing the auto adjuster you will see if it is that adjusting to much or another fault.

 

[marks152]

Ive checked the tyres and they are the correct size with the same amount of tread as the other side.

Good call on abs/tc issue. Mines only got abs but can say ive noticed any issue relating to the abs unit or wheels locking. Ill check it out with opcom and record a few days driving which should be able to determine if its a faulty abs unit/module.

 

[marks152]

I'll be reading the updates. As I often moan, my h/brake doesn't grip satisfactorily much (no footbrake issues), so it's not instantly relevant to me but I always try to log these things in my head in case it happens to me (or comes up much later in another thread) and I have my Malaga run coming very soon now.

My handbrake was the same. Would hardly hold on a multi story car park ramp. You needed to be jeff capes to get it to hold. On my car it was the cables and guides. It will actually lock the rear wheels up now at low speed with a good tug of the handbrake.

 

[marks152]

Ive done about 70 miles today with the adjuster disabled and drums the sane temp as the other side. So looking good so far although this is a temporary fix until the weekend when i can strip it all off again and see if i can find the issue.

Took some live data from the abs module and all wheel speeds are the same in a straight line and within 2mph when cornering which is to be expected.

I hate it when a problem gets one over on me.

 

[neroking]

You have of course checked that each piston is free to move in the wheel cylinders?

 

[ozsubrosa]

My handbrake was the same. Would hardly hold on a multi story car park ramp. You needed to be jeff capes to get it to hold. On my car it was the cables and guides

That summarizes mine. Gorilla pull to the 7th ratch. I'm probably going to have to live with it for the imminent trip, but I'll put in for replacement cables and guides once in Malaga, thanks.

 

[corsaz22se]

Sounds like the fault is with the auto adjuster then.
Hope you get to the bottom of it.

 

[marks152]

You have of course checked that each piston is free to move in the wheel cylinders?

Yes they are free to move. Ive disabled the auto adjust and have covered 170 miles in 2 days and its perfect now but thats a temporary fix. Ill get to the bottom of it at the weekend.

 

[marks152]

Just a update. I never got time to look at the brake but the last 3 days its started getting hot again.

I pulled the drum off in work last night for a quick look and the adjuster rod is in the same place as i set it which was massively under adjusted. The wheel did have a slight bind when spun by hand.

So im thinking its not the adjuster causing the issue. I noticed excessive wear on the tops of both shoes so im thinking maybe the wheel cylinders at fault and its holding the shoes out slightly causing the heat. I also noticed the wheel cylinder isnt fitting flush against the backing plate so i need 5o investigate this. Im gonna fit a new cylinder as they are only cheap and i can investigate the issue with seating it against the backing plate. Could just be rust. Maybe its meant to be like that but i see no reason for it so im gonna assume its not normal. Fitting a new cylinder will also give me the chance to make sure its not the flexi acting like a 1 way valve which ive seen before on a astra. Its a easy check.

Ill update once ive got to the bottom of the misaligned wheel cylinder.

 

[ozsubrosa]

Are your brake cables sitting exactly where they should? I'm a bit hazy on the detail, but many years back Delta Romeo wrote that he'd replaced his and got it wrong, causing the rears to bind. Not that you'd fit them wrong, but I just wondered if they'd jumped or kinked out somewhere.

Long shot, but I'd hate it if that did turn out to be it and I'd stayed silent for fear of looking foolish. You know me: zero practical use but I do have a long memory for previous threads.

 

[marks152]

The cables are perfect. No issues as they are brand new genuine ones right from the front into the drums. Routing is fine too.

I stripped them down today and i reckon the cause was the wheel cylinder. There was a build up of rust/dust behind the cylinder causing it to sit funny. Think this was causing the shoe to sit at a funny angle holding against the drum slightly.

This is the after cleaning and new cylinder

It must have been getting hot as the drum is discoloured with the heat. ive checked it and its not oval so looks like i got away with it.

I'll confirm this was the cause in a week or so once ive done 500 mile but im confident it was just the rust causing it. Just needed a quick wire brush and treating. I fitted a new cylinder for good measure.