Pyrophilus

Help,

My wife took our '92 GXE to a shop, and they did a "complimentary brake check" w/o even asking her. The driver's rear drum brake made sounds, so I checked and it turns out, the Brake shoe retaining "washer" popped off inside the drum. I tried to remove the drum, and the shoe, now being NOT pinned down, is tilting out with the drum, and it gets all bound up. Is there anyway to compress the brake piston to make the shoes come off the surface of the drum?

I've attempted to turn the adjusting pin via the "service hole", but for the life of me, I cannot get it to turn.

The shop that did this of course denies everything, and other shops are giving me the runaround, and I suspect that they will milk us for all we got if they do this. I would truly appreciate any advice.

-Sage

Pearl93VE

iTrader: (14)

Hmm, Sounds like you just may have to pry the drum off, if the shoes are getting stuck to it inside the brake it's apparent they're not doing anything as it is, so you'll probably just have to pry it off and replace the shoes. Just wear some protective eye gear ?
________
Toys Cams

Greeny

iTrader: (43)

There should be 2 threaded service holes in each brake drum. If the drum will not come off, fit two M8x1.25mm bolts in the service holes and screw them in: this will force the drum away from the axle.



I found that the front brake caliper bolts fit perfectly in the holes..

maximagician

[QUOTE=Pyrophilus]Help,



I've attempted to turn the adjusting pin via the "service hole", but for the life of me, I cannot get it to turn. quote..

it has a locking "finger" you can push away and turn the pin

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

since one pin is already out you can you probably tilt the entire assembly (drum with shoe attached) pretty far out to get to the one on the other side. get two needle nose pliers and try to hold the washer/spring and twist the other retaining pin out. you'll probably need to man handle it at this point. prepare to buy new washers and pin and perhaps a new drum. once you get that part out the entire shoe/drum assembly should just fall off with the ebrake cable still attached. at that point you should be able to rotate the star wheel and adjust that and redo the brakes.

also if you're going to buy a new pin it might be easier to cut the old one off (from the backing plate) to save you some headaches. a dremel would come in handy....cut it very very carefully.

the reason why it's stuck is because the drum shoes wore an indentation into the actual drum and left you with a lip on the outter edge. that edge is getting caught on the pads....that's a guess but it's usually the case.

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

Since I see no update I'm guessin you havent taken the drums off yet. So I'm gonna ask, Have you tried banging the crap out of the drums with a hammer until they break loose?

Pyrophilus

I tried to use bolts in the service holes and there weren't bolts long enough in the world to "pull" the drum far out enough to make the loose shoe "tilt" out enough (apparently, the lip it created was too deep).

I tried to bang the crap out of it with a hammer, mallet, hammer+mallet, etc... no go.

I then tried to pry it off after making it pull out with the longest bolts I had though the little "holes".

As for the service hole, on the passenger side, the clip was clearly visible so I could use two flathead screwdrivers, one to pull away the adjusting bolt locking pin and use the other to turn it, but one the DRIVER'S side, the same pin was used as the passenger side, which meant that the locking pin was facing AWAY, on the OTHERSIDE of the adjusting bolt... Couldn't turn it.

I then took my dremmel and decided to grind off the back of the shoe retaining pin of the other shoe, hoping that would "unanchor" the other shoe (as DanNY) said, but I was sooooooooo angry at the Gooodyear dealer, so I took the car back and flipped out. They pulled off the brake shoe, replaced the pin with the new ones that I BROUGHT (they did not have any in stock!?!?!?!). I came home, took off the drum and then replaced the drum (which was scratched to hell with the loose retaining washer being sandwiched between the shoe and drumb surface. Of course Goodyear never said anything about having to replace the drum because of course I would have chucked a fit and made them pay for a new one.

Anyway, I replaced the rear drums and shoes, and put in ANOTHER new set of retaining pins because I noticed that the turkey at the goodyear re-used the spring for the retining pin instead of using the new one in the kit that I GAVE THEM. No offense to car mechanics, but I guess when you have highschool dropouts become half-*** trained mechanics, you have some that become amazing mechanics, but most end up half-assed...

Incidentally, the goodyear dealer was able to remove the drumb by using an L-shaped tool to unlock the adjusting bolt locking pin that was facing away from the service hole. I tried to fashion one before I took it to goodyear and couldn't find anything strong enough to use as one. Also, after this trip, the goodyear dealer LOST the rubber plug for the service hole... I hate them...

Now the same car has been sitting in the back of my house due to a ruptured something in the power steering/pump... Last time i put the car back there, the power steering fluid was leaking out like there was no bottom. The car did have torn powersteering rack boots.

Now, I am going to HAVE to fix the rack (remove/replace) and I am guessing that the power steering pump is also dead from being run w/o fluid (it was smoking)??

Anyone have a good how to that I can follow? I have the 3gen Nissan FSM, and Chilton and Haynes manuals, and all I know is that the steering rack replacement, albeit not impossible, it a PITA. I have a 4-day weekend next weekend, and I am hoping to get all the parts before then.

I also need to do the timing belt, and although I am pretty sure that the rack pulls out from the driver's side fender (and timing belt is on the passenger side of the engine), I am thinking of doing everything at once.

It's an old car, but it's been in my family since new, it's fully loaded GXE (auto climate, leather (put in heats myself), moonroof) minus the HUD. The transmission shifted as smooth as my '01 VQ35 Pathfinder LE, and I would like to keep the car. Any advice help will be appreciated.

Thanks!

-Sage

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

update two years later?!?

well you have all the documentation you need....so the rest is just getting in there and doing the job. get new rack mounts (rubber pieces) while you're at it.

Pyrophilus

Yeah, I'm still around. Been busy (with two kids)... Anyway, thanks for the info. Forgot about the rack mount bushings. Thanks!

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

+100

i replaced mine and the steering response was SOOO much better. before i could turn the steering wheel back and forth 20 deg each way and the car went NOWHERE.