Drum Brakes I work on it for hours!

Comments

• SiWagon Council Member

  May 2010

  THe best way to work on drums is to take a pic of it b4 disassembly 'cuz even the springs must be in the exact direction.The prob you have is probably you did NOT unscrew the star adjustor bolt under the brake cylinder under the springs.Its a long part with a star adjustor in the middle.It touches both shoes.I think it comes apart into 3 pcs.
• jpciii familEE

  June 2010

  here's a good tutorial that might help:
  
  http://www.hondatuningmagazine.com/tech ... index.html
• KllrWagon Band Wagon

  June 2010

  Ok I changed the cylinders and i changed the drum shoes. but the brakes are still suppper squishy. I might not be bleeding the brakes right. Do I HAVE to use a brake bleeder or is here another way to bleed the brakes?
• ogwagon Wagonist

  June 2010

  You can manually bleed the brakes by pumping the brake pedal(firm not hard) about 4-5 times and then having a buddy crack open the bleeder screw and allowing the old brake fluid/air to be purged out. Make sure you keep pressure on the pedal until it hits the floor board and don't lift off the pedal until your buddy closes off the bleeder screw(if not you will draw air back into the system). Repeat this about 3-4 times per wheel or more until no more air bubbles come out. There is a specific sequence in which to do the bleeding. The general rule is right rear, left rear, right front and then left front. Make sure you keep an eye on the brake fluid level in the reservoir between bleeding. If the fluid goes too low you may draw air back into the system.
  
  Also, if you have the brake shoes adjusted too loose then your pedal will feel low. Make sure you are using the correct brake shoes as the wagons use slightly larger versions than other 88-91 civics.
• KllrWagon Band Wagon

  June 2010

  Yeah that helped alot. I like how just as I read it I remembered how to bleed it from class hahah and yeah I also needed to adjust the rear right adjuster it was just toooo pulled in. I got brakes again I missed my wagon....no to fix my front lip again.
• Jaker familEE

  June 2010

  Be very careful about allowing the pedal to go right ot the floor in a car that has an old master cylinder. The piston and piston bore in the MC will have worn together in the area of normal travel, and if you go beyond that, there is a very real possibility that you will score or tear the o-ring on the piston which will lead to a leaky MC that won't hold pressure.