Dismantled the parking brake to get to the rear hub/bearing last week and found that the parking brake shoes where very tight. The rotor would not move for over an hour. I finally got it off and now you can guess getting it back on isn't happening. Here is what I've figured out so far.

Comparing the rotor's inside wear from the parking brake shoes I've determined that they have been riding the caliper a bit. Maybe the reason why I've felt like the rear tires have a bit of a drag when picking up speed. Usually when I'm climbing in speed through 3rd and 4th gears I can feel the brake grab really quick and then let go. (I've flushed the brake lines and calipers are fine with one new on rear)

I compared the rotor to one from my parts car which came off with ease when the parking brake was off. The groove made a lip so the shoes where seated in the groove making it impossible to get the rotor off. I loosened the bolt on the e-brake handle but not all the way for fear of removing the bolt. I have since decided tonight when I make a trip to where I keep the car that I'll loosen it all the way and see what happens.

That is the strange thing too. The brake wasn't adjusted so that the handle would stop before it reached the top. I assume that means it was loose rather than over tightened. Meaning when I let it off the rotor should of let go from the brakes.

My options? File the groove in the shoe space to make the shoes outside diameter smaller. Loosen the e-brake nut all the way before attempting to remount a rotor. Replace rotor with new one to avoid the worn groove from the e-brake shoes. And the other option is what I'm hoping someone on here will share. How to avoid the e-brake shoes from dragging and wearing another groove in the rotor.

The rotor was original Volvo brand and much newer than the parts car rotor. But the parts car rotor wasn't worn with a groove. How to keep the e-brakes shoes from dragging? New rotor and proper adjustment is the only solution I can think of if proper adjustment is possible.

I couldn't get the e-brake shoes to sit small enough to get the rotor on and getting it off was a real pain. So tonight I took off the rear rotor on my 90 wagon and looked at the e-brake mechanism. I could clearly see it was closing up smaller than the 83's so I took some needle nosed pliers and stretched the cable. That finally worked well enough to get it all back together correctly. I lined up everything so it wasn't dragging at all. Of coarse with the wheel back on but off the ground I adjusted the parking brake handle just enough for it to work. I spun the wheel and sure enough it was back to dragging a bit again.

So its time for a new cable I suppose? P.I.T.A!!!

But I decided to pull the rear hub on the 90 while the rotor was off. The inner seal allowed the grease to wash out. It has timkin bearings in it so they have been replaced at some point. I repacked the bearing and put it all back together. I found the Bentley had the best way to assemble the e-brake shoes by putting the ends on the mechanism, fitting that longer spring and then putting the spacer on the other end followed by the small spring. The mechanic pick with the 45 degree hook works best to get the spring end into the hole.

In all the 240's I've worked on, I've never seen p-brakes with a star wheel, yet comments like Jorrell's abound.

One tip I've passed along before, is the importance of actuator orientation. The arrow, and word "UP" says it all, yet this seems so often to be news. Failure to observe this puts tension on the mechanism and makes it difficult to completely retract the shoes.




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Art Benstein near Baltimore

"Those who race through life finish first." (Darrel Hunsbedt)

Art,

I'll have to look through pics this weekend on the star wheel adjuster, at about the same time I did E-brakes on our 245 five years ago, I also did a brake job on a original Mercury Cougar... those memories just might have "cross-pollinated!"

jorrell

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92 245 317K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently being enjoyed!

I believe 240's did come with star wheels, although my impression is this ended in the 70's, even though the 1984 vintage green book I have on brakes still shows a starwheel adjuster. Just because I've not seen one means nothing, really.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

The taste of low quality lingers long after the satisfaction of low price.

Art,

After a bit of digging, I'm thinking this is where my bad E-brake memory came from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8498733@N02/6502610579/in/photostream.

It took me a day to fix the brakes.

It took me three weeks to correct the electrical system that had been hacked multiple times to get the ol' sequential turn signals to not drain the battery overnight. After all, once hacked, wire colors mean nothing!

Here is a sequential turn signal on a 65 T-bird: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8498733@N02/6502663345/in/photostream

It was so cool back in 65, same system the Cougar got (but with two motors and cams). Now if I could only fab new rear tail lights for a 244 to realize the same effect... never mind! Not so "cool" any more!

jorrell
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92 245 317K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently being enjoyed!

I think the star adjusters are one of those items I'm going to keep my eye peeled for in the coming year. Seems like a nice way to ensure proper adjustment of the parking brake shoes.

If the 83 E-brakes are like the later setup, there is an adjuster in between the ends of the two shoes at the bottom. You can take a screw driver through the backing plate and ratchet the adjuster up or down to shorten it and release the shoes. NOTE: Sometimes the adjusters are frozen with rust. Loosening the E-brake cable inside the car will not help out with this problem!

jorrell
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92 245 317K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently being enjoyed!

I read about the star adjuster bar in the Bentley but this one is fixed. You mention at the bottom? Your not meaning the mechanism hooked to the cable.

Art I actually took the springs off again last saturday after getting it all together the night before. I was thinking or hoping maybe I had it wrong with the cable mechanism. I tried it another way and it would only work the way I had originally installed it like in your photo.

I can pull on the cable and know the mechanism (not the proper term I know) is all the way together so the cable isn't pulling on it causing the brake pads to be out father than they should be. My other thought was maybe somehow the rotor was not to spec? But then the other rotor I had from the parts car didn't want to go on either.

I was really close to swapping rear axles but finding this problem I feel it needs to be figured out and eliminated from possible issues before going through with a rear axle swap. Who knows maybe the e-brake sticking was causing the rear axle to feel like its got problems. I will compare with the 90 the sound I'm getting while rotating the shaft.

I thought this car couldn't throw any more at me but after 5 years of everything wrong with it I'm feeling like I could run it off a cliff at this point and feel justified with me in it : )