Park brake on the Cavalier...

"BaconSandwich is tasty." (baconsandwich) 09/28/2013 at 19:44 • Filed to: None

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I know, I know... it's a Cavalier. It's my wife's. It's really been quite reliable in the time she's had it, so I have no complaints about it. Also, at least it's got a manual (unlike my Civic)...

Anyway, my wife's 2001 Cavalier is having park/e-brake issues. A few months ago it really petered out, and definitely isn't capable of holding the car in place (on a hill or otherwise). As it happened, the reverse gear sensor that tells the back up lights to turn on also failed, so I figured I'd better get out there and fix it. While I was poking around, I thought I'd have a look at the rear drums/shoes. The shoes look ok. The drums look like they could probably be replaced. I'm not sure what the specs are for replacement, but they looked pretty old, and were getting relatively thin (compared to the brand new drums on the Civic).

Here's what's got me stumped though: usually on the back side of the drum brake assembly is a small, rubber covered hole. Remove the rubber, and it allows access to the star wheel adjuster for the park brake. The Cavalier has no such thing - there's no way of manually ratcheting up the tension. I find this particularly odd, as there is a rubber cover that can be pulled back to check the shoe thickness, but nothing for the star wheel adjuster (like what the Civic of the same year has). There also appears to be no way of adjusting the park brake tension at the back end on any of the cables.

So, this makes me think the following could be the problem:
1. Drums and shoes are worn, and should be replaced
2. The cable has slowly stretched, and somehow cable tension needs to be re-adjusted (not sure how this could be done, or if it is possible at all)
3. The star-wheel mechanism that is supposed to be self adjusting has plugged up, and is no longer doing it's job. This is a possibility, as there was quite a bit of dust in the area.

So... thoughts?

(If it does turn out to be the drums/shoes, I'm tempted to let someone else deal with it. After doing the ones on the Civic I swore off drum brakes on my next vehicle, as it was quite possibly one of the most miserable automotive/mechanical escapades I've ever involved myself in).

Slave2anMG > BaconSandwich is tasty. 09/28/2013 at 20:06

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I recall that Olde Skool GM cars would adjust the rear drums automatically by applying the brakes when backing up...I recall us having a 1970 Pontiac whose owner's manual suggested that if needed to back the car up for some distance in a parking lot and apply the brakes repeatedly. Dunno if that's on the Cavalier but being GM...who knows?

rabbitman > BaconSandwich is tasty. 09/28/2013 at 20:10

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Mt jetta the cables just plain rotted and failed but got them replaced on under warranty, have you tried the old put it in reverses get up to about 5mph and slam on them I know that was one way of readjusting drums. googled to double check but unsure if newer cars can do this

On some cars of yesteryear at least, slamming on the brakes while backing up tightens the shoes against the drums. There is a little geared-wheel-like mechanism that ratchets the brake shoes down so they are closer to the drums, activated by the backing up and stopping action. True, it doesn't seem like tighter brakes would affect squeaks, but maybe it would help in some conditions. - See more at: http://community.cartalk.com/discussion/227…

TheOnelectronic > BaconSandwich is tasty. 09/28/2013 at 20:49

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My guess would be cable stretch, but after that, probably... I don't really know. Could the shoes have degraded over time, so even though they have thickness left, they've lost friction?

BaconSandwich is tasty. > TheOnelectronic 09/28/2013 at 23:14

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I suppose that could be a possibility, but I'd think something like that would be pretty rare.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > rabbitman 09/30/2013 at 09:56

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Squeaking isn't an issue, but I'm thinking wear might be. If the star wheel adjuster was gummed up bad enough, I'm thinking they weren't auto-adjusting like they should. Given that the brakes faded gradually (over the course of more than one month), I'm guessing it was either cable stretch, that the star wheel adjuster is gummed and has stopped working (on both sides?!), or that the drums are finally wearing to the point where they need to be replaced. Either way, I think I'll end up taking it in to get someone to take a look at it, as it seems a bit beyond me, and I'd rather not have to mess with drums again (at least on a daily driver).