I replaced the rotors and pads on my car a week ago, and didn't pay much attention to the parking brake. My bad. I did notice on reassembly that I has shoes dragging on the left, but didn't think anything of it, resolving "it will adjust itself". Not sure where that thought came from - ignorance I guess.

Anyway, the disc brakes have been working well, but I had scraping sounds at low speed. I noted the rotor hat was warmer on the left than right, and thought I had to dog in. I knew that there is no star wheel on the 2005 V70, but forgot about the adjustment nut on the handle.

So, I get the rotor off, and note there is uniform wear on the new rotor hat - the shoes are dragging that much. The actuating lever operated by the cable was not retracting fully, and I thought this may be the problem. I could see a noticeable gap where the ears of the shoes contact the stop block. My first thought was this compound lever, or the brake cable itself was binding. I found how the spiral springs are supposed to come out, and wrestled with this for 20 minutes until I finally got them off. By this time I needed a stiff drink, and possibly one new spiral spring. Next came the main spring, which is an unparalleled delight to remove as well.

The compound lever has a paw that engages the fitting on the end of the cable. This comes out relatively easy, and as I found a half hour later, is not reversible. Time for another drink. The lever assembly was not binding, and I found that the cable does not appear to be binding either. Using pliers it was easy to pull the cable end fitting outward.

One thing I did not find was my shoes in pieces, which turns out to be a common issue on these cars. The friction material delaminates, and everything - rotor, hub, etc is lost when the rotor seizes. Nice!

Anyway, now I had two mysteries - why this brake was not fully retracting, and how to get the compound lever reinstalled (the cable end is barely accessible).

Onto the right side, to verify how the lever paw engages the cable end, see how much wear there is in the rotor hat, and to properly lubricate the slide pins, etc which I didn't do when the brakes were done. The first thing I see is the compound lever was fully retracted. The rotor hat showed the shoes have been dragging, not at bad as the left side.

I went through the same disassembly procedure, and needed two more drinks. Now I have two compound paws to reinstall, when I get replacement parts. The shoes were worn somewhat, and the ears corroded a bit. I decided to order shoes and replacement springs, and in the interim, leave the parking brake parts out. I have a 500 mile trip to make on Friday.

The parking brake cable on this car is in three parts. The front cable has a single adjustment nut, and at the back end, has two ears that engage the end of each cable going to a wheel. I am wondering if the rear cables have an adjustment here - or if they are supposed to "equalize". I am also wondering what my main mistake was, other than not having someone do this and saving me some alcohol. Was it not adjusting the front nut? I am confused, because the parking brake lever was travelling 4 or 5 clicks after the brake job - it's not like it was way too tight, causing the brakes to stay on.

I should mention that during removal of the rotors last week, it was very difficult due to corrosion. The old left rotor cocked at a bit of an angle and jammed the shoes when I struck it to get it off. I don't see why this should matter, because I don't see any bending of the ears of the shoes.

I have to go get another bottle, but don't worry, the discs aren't back on yet. Some jobs should be left to professionals - including designing brake systems.

I love your write up, that obviously took more time to do than the brakes,
but that's OK since you were sitting there with a dethirstifyer...
I understand.
Volvo says adjust the rear brake shoes until the wheel wont turn,
then loosen 4-6 clicks. That's a Loosey Goosey spec eh?
You can use an IR non contact thermometer to measure wheel temp after some highway driving (Don't use the brakes if possible) That will tell you if one side is bad- (Too hot = a problem) probably the brake shoe adjustment.

Cheers, Bill

After replacing shoes and springs and cleaning the other parts, I backed off the adjusting nut, installed the rotors, and I used your advice of 4-5 clicks. It came out perfectly.

I am thinking something was bound up somewhere due to corrosion/binding. After the brake pad/rotor job, the handle pulled up 5 notches, and I assumed the cable was not too tight. But the parking brake was dragging.

I did pads on this car previously, but not the rotors or parking brake. First time can be a challenge. I should print my step by step (the real one) and save it for next time.

Bill, I could also use an IR thermometer on my forehead to measure my anger. I am guessing there may be a correlation. That is an excellent tip, though.

Thanks for the kudos on the "writeup", but I am sure you realize I have mostly written up my failure thus far. The only smart thing I did was decide not to put the junk back together. My dad would call this design a "Chinese auction". He died in 1984, and there was no "PC" language at that time - lol. I am second guessing buying new parts, but my thought is, do it right and it will mean not doing this ridiculous job again for several years - when I will have forgotten how to do it.

I was joking about the drinking - which you may realize as well. I did put my dog in the house, so she wouldn't think I was angry at her.

I do need to review the adjustment procedure. I have a feeling a B-A hammer wouldn't be appropriate after I have succeeded in getting that far.

You really need to watch this to the end, what a great sense of humor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK7kDYrxKU4

A wise mechanic showed me how to use brake cleaner. Clean the inside of the rotor first, including the parking brake drum. Clean the outside of the rotor after it is on the car.
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My back feels better when I sit in a Volvo seat

I had watched this video, Klaus, but not the part where he puts (what I call) the compound lever back in. I had revisited the video last night, after posting, and saw where he did it and *what* he did. He used a very clever little trick, where he inserted a screwdriver to wedge the lever against as he rotated it. Given the failures I experienced, which were cut short when I decided to order parts and not reinstall the parking brake for several days.

Then to my surprise, I see you posted this link. He is kind of fun to watch.

I laughed several times, especially when he was putting the 'compound lever' back in. The video was edited and he mentioned that it took him more than 10 tries before it easily slipped back in!

But no mention of how to adjust the brakes? Can they only be adjusted at the cabin end of the cable?

With the 1993-2000 cars, I always loosen the cabin end completely. But then there is a star adjuster in the drum to get it close.

EDIT: There is another video where a European actually puts a star adjuster between the shoes. He cuts off about 1/4 inch of the long part to make it fit.

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My back feels better when I sit in a Volvo seat