fabricgator
FabricGATOR
One rear brake locks up
Hello All
Thank you for being here.
My girlfriends 96 CX Hatch, she has been worried because her right rear wheel would break loose at times on the highway. This car had the original tires from 96, so we changed them out two at a time as her finance permitted.
We just had the last two changed out, and like a commissioned service advisor should, he told her that she was in need of front pads. OK, put the tires on and I'll take care of the brakes.
I changed the pads with the better ceramics, broke the glaze on the rotors with my die grinder sanding disks and softened them with a final run of scotch brite disks. I changed (flushed) the entire brake system with a quart of new, unopened DOT3. Bled the brakes, then bedded them in properly by several 40 MPH hard stops with 30 minute cooling intervals. I'm trying to do it to the best of my skills and abilities.
This car is mint, got it at 36k miles from my mom's 89 year old mechanic boyfriend. Garage kept after his wife passed on. He even kept a log book of every maintenance done since new and we keep that up to date. Honda factory parts and fluids are used for most applications. Becky puts a hundred highway miles a day on it to work. Her long distance mileage machine. A very happy car.
So, while bedding in the brakes, sure enough, the right rear brake would break free during hard stops. I took it out on a dirt road and confirmed that the RR breaks first, a harder faster stop will get the three grabbing first.
Today, I just removed the rear drums, inspected, washed down with brake kleen, checked for air in the brake lines, checked for free movement in the adjusters (not stuck, dry, clean and bright, no corrosion or rust).
Then I checked the shoe adjustments for balance. I ensured I had no brake drag with the wheels off the ground. Played around with the adjustment on the left rear until it matched the right with various degrees of hand brake clicks. Mashing the brake pedal and stroking the hand brake to reset the shoes after each adjustment. Test drive, still the right rear wheel breaks free first, even before the fronts.
I noticed that the rear tires, the two new ones we just got, that the date code was a few production weeks off so I swapped them thinking that the rubber compound might not be matched. Also, I loosened the adjuster on the RR three teeth. No change.
So I ask you, the guru's that tweak these things regularly, where else should I look?
I am the best marine, automotive, aviation and subsea robotics technician that I know. I always strive to make my machines perfect, and it pays off!
Hello All
Thank you for being here.
My girlfriends 96 CX Hatch, she has been worried because her right rear wheel would break loose at times on the highway. This car had the original tires from 96, so we changed them out two at a time as her finance permitted.
We just had the last two changed out, and like a commissioned service advisor should, he told her that she was in need of front pads. OK, put the tires on and I'll take care of the brakes.
I changed the pads with the better ceramics, broke the glaze on the rotors with my die grinder sanding disks and softened them with a final run of scotch brite disks. I changed (flushed) the entire brake system with a quart of new, unopened DOT3. Bled the brakes, then bedded them in properly by several 40 MPH hard stops with 30 minute cooling intervals. I'm trying to do it to the best of my skills and abilities.
This car is mint, got it at 36k miles from my mom's 89 year old mechanic boyfriend. Garage kept after his wife passed on. He even kept a log book of every maintenance done since new and we keep that up to date. Honda factory parts and fluids are used for most applications. Becky puts a hundred highway miles a day on it to work. Her long distance mileage machine. A very happy car.
So, while bedding in the brakes, sure enough, the right rear brake would break free during hard stops. I took it out on a dirt road and confirmed that the RR breaks first, a harder faster stop will get the three grabbing first.
Today, I just removed the rear drums, inspected, washed down with brake kleen, checked for air in the brake lines, checked for free movement in the adjusters (not stuck, dry, clean and bright, no corrosion or rust).
Then I checked the shoe adjustments for balance. I ensured I had no brake drag with the wheels off the ground. Played around with the adjustment on the left rear until it matched the right with various degrees of hand brake clicks. Mashing the brake pedal and stroking the hand brake to reset the shoes after each adjustment. Test drive, still the right rear wheel breaks free first, even before the fronts.
I noticed that the rear tires, the two new ones we just got, that the date code was a few production weeks off so I swapped them thinking that the rubber compound might not be matched. Also, I loosened the adjuster on the RR three teeth. No change.
So I ask you, the guru's that tweak these things regularly, where else should I look?
I am the best marine, automotive, aviation and subsea robotics technician that I know. I always strive to make my machines perfect, and it pays off!
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