V70 Brakes: Handbrake Woes!

[Tailslide uk]

I posted a bit of this over in the "disaster" thread. It should be here as this thread is active. My Volvo is a 98 V70, but uses the same system. My parking brake shoes seperated exactly like the photos in the disaster thread, but thankfully without the assciated damage.

My mechanic is ex-volvo ML and now works at an independent. His take on this issue is that you can replace shoes until the the end of time, but you are not addressing the root cause of the problem.

The shoes are bonded to the carriers with an epoxy. The epoxy has a temperature limit. If the shoes get above this limit, the epoxy goes soft and lets go of the shoe. The brakes are designed to work only when the vehicle is stationary or in an emergency. In other words, they should not wear (much). According to him, the culprit is the cable. The rubber seals on the end fail and the inside of the cable goes dry/dirty/rusty. It seems to release when you drop the lever, but the cable either has to work its way back out of the sheath or never quite does. If the brake shoes are just lightly making contact with the inside of the drum, they generate heat and then delaminate.

According to his theory, jack up the wheel and turn it. If the shoes is making ANY contact with the drum (with the parking brake off), remove the cable from its sheath and sort it with a good cleaning and grease. If the cable does not allow the brake to completely release, the shoes will part company in a few hundred miles every time. The spring force pulling the cable out of the sheath when the parking brake is released is not very high. If the shoes are still rubbing the drum when the spring force and cable drag reach equilibrium, bye - bye shoes. The inside of this drum just has no way to get rid of the heat and it builds up until the epoxy fails.


Just my 2P. He seems to know his stuff and has saved me a pile of £££ over the last 110K since I swithced to him. Obviously this step is in addition to replacing the shoes. He also recommended (as stated above) driving a few hundred meters once a week with the parking brake lightly applied to dry everything out and knock off the rust.

Paul
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[henrycrun]

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[paul1947]

hi hunty, about two weeks ago similar thing with my 04 V70. just pulled off, hell of a bang and car ground to halt. AA job to take me home. stripped rear brake assembly on off-side, removed disc to find that friction lining on one of the handbrake shoes had come off , gone around and jammed. whole job very straight forward and quite quick. replacement handbrake shoes about £16 +vat from motor factors (for both wheels).....paul1947

[micken]

Just had the full job done on my 2002 V70 with parts from FRF after the rear OS wheel seized. Same story as others, pulling away from parked, loud clunk and no go. Reversed very gingerly back the two feet I'd travelled and called out Green Flag to get the car to a local garage. Used JRC Motors in Alnwick for repairs and they have been excellent.

[ade555]

well it looks like I'm going to be busy today again, I don't have rubbing noise or anything like that but when I pull the handbreak N/S/R wheel gets block, and only will come loss when I pull forward, yesterday had to revers out and that was different story, shoes didn't like that I'm hoping that is only the handbreak geting stuck due to dirt ect. if not more money need to be spend and I only own this car for 2 days LOL

[ade555]

well just done my rear breaks and I was shock when I pull the disk off both shoes was broken I think I just escape major break down

[Joe Harding]

Do as it says in the Heinz Beanz manual. Now and then, tug the handbrake on LIGHTLY for a few hundred yards (convert to metres for pedants), whilst travelling, to grind off the rust that will accumulate inside the drum. Otherwise you will find the handbrake sticking after a damp spell.

[andre]

Surprise!!! . I didn't know I have brake shoes as well as disc pads on the rear wheel thingies . I thought that the hand brake operated the rear pads. Wrong.. locked wheel - broken hub housing.. Volvo want £1485 to fix it. I located a second hand housing , paid my £100 , part was in wales , it was striped off the donor car posted & arrived the next day. What a service, give that man a pat on the back..With the aid of Mr Haynes fine book I will attempt to make things good, looks simples. However Mr Volvo dealer has spoken of magic that only he can perform, The act of realigning the wheels . Mr Haynes doe's not mention this in his book. So boys & girls what do you say ? Do I need Mr Volvo's magic or shall I tell him where to stick his wound.



Andre'

[Nick44]

Very old fashoined, and I dare say there are some who would throw their hands up in horror.......but, with a little care you can do this reasonably accuratley with a piece of string, or a long straight edge.
After you have replaced the broken hub, line the car up on a bit of flat ground. With an assistant run your peice of string across the rear wheel on the side you have'nt changed the string should touch the rear wheel rim on both sides, and the rear of the front rim (there is suppossed to be toe in on the front wheels, so there should be a slight gap between the string and the front edge of the front wheel).
Do the same on the other side that you have changed. If the string won't align up then you have some adjustment to make.
I'll bet it's fine though, the parts are all made to good tolerance.

[andre]

HI Nick, Thanks , Will give it a try once I have done the work.

Regards Andre'