V70 Brakes: Handbrake Woes!

[pierremcalpine]

Quick handbrake question before I dive in and inspect.

I have a safety inspection coming up and the handbrake simply does not work. I'm able to raise it 4-5 clicks with great difficulty (almost like I'm really just stretching the cable) but there is no hold whatsoever on the rear wheels.

Can anyone comment on what I should be on the lookout for when I start pulling stuff off?

[Thassos]

Hi Pierre,

What car are you doing the handbrake on?, if its the S60 read on..

Try pulling the handbrake lever up when the car is rolling at 5-10mph, and see if you get any kind of noise or response from the back brakes, you should hear some brake noise and some slow braking if you put some pressure on the handbrake.. if nothing maybe you have a broken or failing cable, there is a
bar linking the 2 cables i believe from memory in the centre console rear,

Have attached some pictures of inside the rear brakes (S60, 06 year), which might help, the way the cable end attaches onto the mechanism makes for some confusion (did for me anyway..) and there is a possibility to get it back in the wrong place, see pics, of even better take some as you disasemble it.

The metal block (left side in right/wrong pics) that the shoe end stops against is where the rollback comes from, the block can wear which adds to the rollback movement..

Using the adjusters in place of the bar will help but first i would suggest replacing shoes and or disc to see what difference you get.

Anyway hope that helps... and please post what you find out its interesting to hear..

[pierremcalpine]

Originally Posted by Thassos

Hi Pierre,

What car are you doing the handbrake on?, if its the S60 read on..

Try pulling the handbrake lever up when the car is rolling at 5-10mph, and see if you get any kind of noise or response from the back brakes, you should hear some brake noise and some slow braking if you put some pressure on the handbrake.. if nothing maybe you have a broken or failing cable, there is a
bar linking the 2 cables i believe from memory in the centre console rear,

Have attached some pictures of inside the rear brakes (S60, 06 year), which might help, the way the cable end attaches onto the mechanism makes for some confusion (did for me anyway..) and there is a possibility to get it back in the wrong place, see pics, of even better take some as you disasemble it.

The metal block (left side in right/wrong pics) that the shoe end stops against is where the rollback comes from, the block can wear which adds to the rollback movement..

Using the adjusters in place of the bar will help but first i would suggest replacing shoes and or disc to see what difference you get.

Anyway hope that helps... and please post what you find out its interesting to hear..

Thank you. Will definitely post results. Yes, it is on the S60. I get no brake action whatsoever at any speed even if I use herculean strength to get a fourth click on the lever. Something is definitely up...

[pierremcalpine]

Update:
I pulled the rear brakes off and one side was worn right down to the metal. The other side looked decent. In addition one of the adjusters was totally seized and the other was very rough. The brake cable ends appeared to have been yanked right into the end of the sheath and was totally stuck hence my not being able to pull cable at all even with the cable disconnected from both sides of brake. Interestingly I was able to twist the handbrake cable and I was able to confirm that it was also twisting at its other end in the centre console. But still it would not move lengthwise within the sheath (on either side). So I took some vice grips and yanked repeatedly on the cable ends until I finally got them to give. Sprayed a bunch of penetrant down the sheath and I think they are good to go. Just need to replace the shoes. Based on the feedback in this forum I stated clear from bargain shoes and went with the pricier Ate package. Just waiting for package to arrive in the mail for final install. That and a brake bleed and this puppy will finally be road worthy!

[Thassos]

Hi Pierre,

Good to hear your getting to the bottom of your handbrake issues, dont know if you can feed some oil or lubricant down the handbrake cables easily, sometimes you can get one end high enough to let gravity help you but often not so easy to manouver the cables like that. Have you changed the brake fluid before ? it might be worth flushing through some new fluid, you can get some fluid tester tool for a few dollars (or quid as we would say over here) on places like the bay, which can show you the water percentage in the fluid, maybe test some when you bleed the rear brakes and see what its condition is like?, i did mine a few years ago using a pressure tool that sealey make it screws direct to the fluid reservoir top, i think it was a vs820, certainly made the job very straighforward and quick..

[pierremcalpine]

Hi Thassos,
Yep, did my best to spray some lube down both ends of both cables. A bit tricky but I think I got some to stay in there.

Funny that you mention bleeding brakes as that was the next job I tackled. The fluid that came out of the rear calipers was terrible AND it was filled with little black specs (not good!). I tapped away gently at the calipers with a hammer as the fluid ran out until no more black specs emerged. I had previously transformed a 5gallon garden sprayer into a self bleeder gadget which I have rigged with a connection to a compressor (to build pressure) and to a hose connected to a fluid reservoir cap at the other end. Works like a charm. You can also manually pump pressure into the garden sprayer using the handle if no compressor is available.

Interestingly even with new fluid and new front brake lines the braking quality still feels spongy. I’m guessing that the previously fitted pads and rotors were not of high quality. I guess I will live with them until they are in need of replacement.

[Tom Mills]

I have seen many cases of e-brake shoes falling apart on Volvos and others. It seems to be an issue with the bonding and rivets failing over time. Often the friction material is perfectly good and unworn. is it a problem of lack of exercise? Just a thought.

[AndyV7o]

Hi everybody, just joined due to recently becoming the owner of a lovely V70 D5 late '04, doing a bit of reading up as I like to have a knowledge base for any car that I own.
My shoes are supposed to have been done recently along with cable, though the rear discs need replacing thus Ill be checking em out!
Anyway, my point of posting is one of curiosity, people keep saying Genuine Volvo, which generally makes sense, however, as the genuine shoes keep delaminating that doesn't indicate that they actually are the best! To me it seems worthwhile trying some from another top-end brake manufacturer, such as TRW, Ferodo, ATE, Textar, etc as you know they'll be good quality and perhaps, due to different manufacturing process/materials/etc they might not suffer quite he same fate (corrosion notwithstanding, though some may resist it better still)??

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by AndyV7o

people keep saying Genuine Volvo, which generally makes sense, however, as the genuine shoes keep delaminating that doesn't indicate that they actually are the best!

People recommend genuine or in my case, ATE for the fit and perfect handbrake operation.

With the right conditions and length of time, delamination can happen with any make.

[AndyV7o]

Could, but shouldnt! (Again, serious corrosion aside.) It isnt commonplace.
I was just posing the question as to if anyone had tried something other and not had the problem, and other things related