Brake replacement
 

Hi all.

I’ve had my XC90 almost a year now so it’s coming up for MOT :( I have a few issues that will need sorting in advance and looking for any advice/tips. It’s a 2011 200 D5 Exec.

To complicate matters I work away in the week so can only do any work at the weekend, which limits my options on obtaining replacement parts. As in I would have to strip everything down, decide what I need then order, wait a week or 2 and start the job again. Or I prepare for the worst and just replace everything. I’d rather not go down the expensive route but time is against me.

1. Handbrake just doesn’t work at all. The cable has been adjusted to no effect, so looking to strip down the back disks check the pads and fit adjusters. The disks themselves appear ok from the outside but unknown what the hubs are like. So question one, plan to replace disks, pads and shoes or just shoes and add adjuster? I realise no-one has a crystal ball and certainly don’t know how my car has been driven for past 8 years but is it common to have issues with the disks from the handbrake shoes?

2. Front disks and pads were changed when I had the car, but the is now a bad vibration from the front when I brake. I’m thinking that for the MOT that will need sorting so wondering if I have a warped disk? I have stripped down the front brakes and everything seems fine. So swap disks and pads?

3. Have the issue with the alarm going off for no reason. Doing my research this seems likely due to age of the car the leaking battery pack in the siren. I pullled the fuse for the siren to stop annoying my neighbors and now have the alarm fault alert on the dash. So while stripping down the breaks time to sort. I have seen the option to replace the battery pack, but my concern is that if I strip it down and can’t repair it then I need to get a replacement. A 2nd hand one may develop the same fault in 6 months so do I fork out £170 for a new replacement (shudder) or does anyone know where I can get a modified pre used one?

A long read and thanks if you are still here! :teeth_smile: Any advice greatly received.

Very common.
The primary issue is that if the handbrake is not used often, the drums rust up so much that the brake shoes no longer can grip the drum.
You will see this when you remove the discs (the drum is part of the disc)
If not rusted too bad, you can try cleaning with a wirebrush on a drill.
But if rusted badly, as mine were, then replacement of the disc is the only solution.
And generally, if fitting new discs, you fit new pads (foot brake) and shoes (hand brake) and of course the mounting hardware, all at the same time.
And then you can fit the adjusters.

But before you throw these parts at it, remove a wheel and remove the disc and inspect the drum. If you have anything like a seized brake cable, then you need more parts.

I would tend to agree with your diagnosis and solution.

Don't assume the battery pack first off.
(In fact. never make assumptions with these cars - always confirm your theory BEFORE buying new parts)
The most common reason for false alarms is the front bonnet switch becoming dirty and corroded and making bad contact.
Check how well the bonnet switch works first (on front left hand bonnet latch).
You can unplug the connector and then measure the switch contacts with a multi-meter easily. Anything showing any sign of a bad connection, and you should replace the latch+switch assembly with a new one.

And you can also monitor the alarm in VIDA and read out the last reason for alarm activation.
If VIDA shows bonnet switch, then you have a positive confirmation of the root cause of the issue.

Otherwise, if bonnet switch is OK, and VIDA shows no reason for last activation, then you can assume battery leakage inside the siren.
You then need to remove the siren and disassemble it to determine if the siren can be repaired, or must be replaced.
You cannot avoid visual confirmation here.
Don't buy a battery without having seen the insides of your siren.
The siren could possibly be beyond repair.

I would agree with Swiss on the parking break. I got away with changing just the pads on mine when they delaminates due to sitting around for about 10 weeks, including in the snow last year. I have just had to adjust them up a bit due to wear and settling in but mine is. A manual so gets lots of use. I have the adjusters in the drums as well as the one behind the carpet on the passengers side.
To adjust the adjuster in the cabin I found it much easier to remove the passengers seat or at least I unbolted it and folded it up to give myself more room at the adjuster.

It's all been said except if you do have to replace the front discs and pads - use genuine Volvo parts only. You can buy a kit of discs and pads from Volvo dealers who sell on e-bay for around £160-£170.

The 2.25T XC90 is very heavy on brakes and suspension and we frequently see new members on here frustrated at constantly warping discs - usually cured by fitting genuine parts.

The parking brake can be very tricky to get working and adjust correctly - again genuine parts (or at least genuine parking brake shoes) are the key.

When adjusting the in-drum adjusters - my preferred method is to tighten them up as much as you can and then start to slacken off until you can just turn the wheel by hand. Then apply and release the parking brake a few times and keep slackening off by small amounts until the first point at which you cannot hear a knock when you rock the wheel between clockwise/counter clockwise rotation. There is a small amount of clearance between the shoes and the stop and if you rock the wheel and the shoes are in contact - they will rotate slightly and knock on and off the stop.

When adjusting the in-car cable adjuster, if you don't have the correct tool use a 10mm and 11mm open ended spanner to force it open. When you have forced it open enough - shove a 12mm spanner in betwwen the 10mm and 11mm and go again. Count carefully the number of clicks you hear as you open it - keep checking the wheels rotate back and forth without the knocking noise, if it comes back then you may have gone too far, in which reset the adjuster and open it again but one less "click".

When complete, drive the car approx 100 yards with the parking brake on, then let it cool and repeat once or twice to bed the shoes it. You may need to check the adjustment again after than.

I done a few XC90's and for some reason some cars are easy and you get a good parking brake effort that almost locks the rear wheels - other cars you struggle to get it good enough to pass the MOT (which isn't a a particularly high bar) so I do wonder if the pedal mechanism wears (I always check the cables).

Check also that the pedal is not fouling the carpet - on some cars the pedal release cable from the dashboard catch pulls the carpet into the footwell and fouls the pedal as you press it.

It can take 2 or 3 goes to get it working the best if you haven't done it before.

Guess what I was doing most of Saturday morning :-)

The handbrake cables have a small rubber seal where they enter the drums. This seal usually cracks/fails allowing water to sip inside the cable jacket causing corrosion and wear inside. This would weaken sensibly the cable pulling strength.

As already mentioned, it may be tricky to remove the drums if they are old, I prefer releasing as much as I can the adjusting screw at the handbrake lever (undo the small trim underneath to expose). If the drum still doesn't want to slide out, it's because it has build a lip of rust that prevent the shoes to slide sideways to allow the drum to come out. What keeps the shoes in place are two springs (top and bottom) not too big, so it may become a matter of gorilla force to have these springs fail and free the shoes/drum - notice the shoes are still attached to the cable but should move out enough to be able to free the drum at that point. Of course new springs are needed - come with the shoes kit. I used a piece of wood inserted between the suspension and the drum lip to punch the drum out this way. Remember to replace the springs any way when forcing to remove the drums. These springs are very funny to remove from their socket, the way they hook in there: they need be pressed down while rotating them.

I would persevere with slackening the cables as much as possible and rotating and pulling the disc to get it off rather than forcing it to snap the springs. The reason I say that is I tried to do the same thing myself once and rather than the spring failing it pulled the spring locating plate off the brake back plate. Fortunately I was able to weld it back on to effect a good repair - in the absence of a small welder you would have to replace the backplate itself.

Note also that to remove the spings, you need to compress them and rotate them until the small amount of metal at the top which attaches the centre rod to the spring is horizontal - then slide the spring on the horizontal in the direction of that small piece of metal - i.e. if it's at 9 o'clock then to the left, if it's at 3 o'clock then to the right.

You will see what I mean when you look at them : https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Volvo-30645...3707089&chn=ps

You may also want to order the spring clip on the brake cable adjuster, if it pings off you usually loose it under the carpet and you wont be able to retrieve it.
Also only use genuine volvo rear brake shoes, the others just don't seem to be the right diameter.
John

Thanks for all the input guys, really appreciate it.

I’ve been looking on eBay and for genuine Volvo parts I’m looking at around £350 for new everything on all 4 corners so I think I’ll go with that option and do it right, do it once approach.

Thanks for all the tips too, hopefully I’ll be able to keep the swearing down to a minimum :tounge_smile:

There will be lots of swearing! I had the problem where one of the rear hand brake cables parted from the yoke under the centre console - lots posts about this one; just one of the problems you will likely experience but as always when you finally get it all working the satisfaction will be immense!

I recently did the cambelt - took a lot longer and was a lot harder than I expected - just turning the engine over was hard as the compression of the 200HP diesel is huge. Top tip when doing the cambelt: order spare plastic rivets as the wheel arch liner is riveted so had to work with it bent back as did not have any rivets to put it back which limited the working space I had.

Thanks for all your help guys, sailed through the MOT today with no advisories, so I'm a happy bunny.

In case anyone is looking to do the same in the future:

Genuine front discs and pads ordered from a Volvo dealer via eBay. £170 delivered. Apart from one stubborn bolt on a calliper bracket was a straightforward swap out and probably took an hour or so each side (plus an additional hour for the damn bolt).

This guide https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=106029 from @BestGear was a great help. Now no vibration on breaking.

For the backs, again genuine discs, pads & shoes and I also added in the brake adjusters for good measure (£140 all in). Again a fairly straightforward swap out. Adjusted the shoes right up with the adjusters once the discs were on. Once everything was put back together the handbrake didn't go past 3 clicks rather than the 10 clicks previously.

It took a few days of constantly putting the handbrake on every time I stopped to scuff them up and they hold quite well now. Not enough to stop my car rolling off the drive in neutral but hey It passed the MOT so I'm happy.

As for the alarm, I replaced the fuse to clear the error and so far......

Will have to wait and see on that one.

So thanks again to everyone for their help and advice.