Yet another parking brake thread!
 

Hi folks. My parking brake was causing some impressive squealing noises while driving along with it supposedly off. Both rear discs were very hot at the time too. Surprisingly, it didn't seem to be causing any drag as nudging into neutral and coasting didn't result in the speed bleeding off much at all.
Stripped the rear brakes down this morning to find;
1. Drivers side disc did not want to let go of the parking brake shoes. Slight lip inside disc but nowhere near enough to cause that.
2. The 'actuator' on the wheel end of the cable was fairly well seized.
3. After stripping, cleaning and rebuilding that side it was still very squeeky/squeely so I stripped it again and on the second attempt there was only a slight high point at a certain rotation of the disc.
4. Stripped the other side and the disc came off easily. Quite a lot of old looking corrosion on the parking brake contact surface indicating that it was doing nothing, but the disc was hot when I discovered the issue. Stripped and rebuilt with minimal hassle.
5. The shoes don't touch the block adjacent to the actuator and I'm tending to think that they should. There's a gap of around 2 or 3mm on each shoe.

Suggestions anyone? I've been for a run and, without using the parking brake, all is well with no noise or excess heat. Starting to think that the issue was the brake binding/not releasing. I'm a bit loath to use it at the moment! Had a look at backing off the tension due to the shoes not sitting on the block but I really can't be bothered removing the passenger seat to get enough access to the adjuster! Oh by the way, this is an '11 plate model. Thanks all.

You don't need to remove the passenger seat to get to the adjuster on my XC90. You just push the seat back as far as possible, remove the side trim in between seat and tunnel, and the adjuster is there. You have to remove a circlip to operate the adjuster. Put a large rag behind the adjuster so you don't loose the circlip under the carpet when you remove/refit it. You can use a couple of spanners and a screwdriver in between to force the adjuster apart and set it.
I've dealt with the hand brake twice on my 2004 XC90. You obviously have a problem with the expander mechanism (actuator as you call it) at the wheel. If I were you I'd immediately replace it - and the other side if it looks the same age. Binding cables can also cause sticking handbrakes so you may want to change them.
You may also want to buy the manual adjusters for the drum. They are off some other Volvo vehicles but not fitted as standard on the XC90. They really do improve the handbrake- they are adjustable via the hole after you remove one wheel bolt. There are some good threads on here about it. They are £15/pair and replace the existing 'H' spacers with no other changes. See https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOLVO-XC9...pxdZ:rk:2:pf:0
Finally, the genuine Volvo brake shoes have a flat halfway round the circumference. This stops that area of the shoes making contact with the drum and causing the 2 adjacent areas of the shoes to contact the drum- effectively doubling the handbrake efficiency. A senior member on here 'Clan' often preaches the genuine shoes' advantages- I never realised how right he was until I fitted them and the MOT examiner told me my car was the best Volvo handbrake he'd ever tested - that was when the car was 15 years old.
Good luck and keep us posted.

Thanks for the reply. The cable adjuster sits right tight to the passenger seat base and there's no way I'm getting at it with spanners. Might try seeing if it can be pulled forward a bit though. The expanders are now good as new, I'm happy they're not the issue as they're pivoting lovely and freely now after some TLC. Almost suspecting a binding cable but dubious as both sides played up at the same time - maybe the 'main' cable though. I'll probably try using the handbrake a few times anything I know I've got time to strip it all beck out again. Once I get to the bottom of this I may go for the manual adjusters.