Parking brake issues
09-24-18, 06:25 AM
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Parking brake issues
I needed to put new pads on my 2000 RX300 with 223k miles, so I decided to do the parking brakes while I was in there. I got new Centric pads, rotors, shoes, and hardware from Rockauto. FWIW, I still had plenty of surface on the shoes, but some of the hardware was pretty corroded.
1) I didn't notice that the star wheel adjusters were different until I was reassembling the 2nd wheel. Then I realized I had already put the wrong one on the first wheel. Does it matter if the wheel adjusts up-to-loosen or down-to-loosen? Does it help that they are both the same? Does it matter whether the threaded side is rear or forward (they were both rear on my old brakes so they are both rear now)?
2) I rebuilt one wheel at a time: put a chock behind the far side front wheel, jacked up the wheel, used a jackstand, released the parking brake, and put the transmission in neutral. I could turn the jacked wheel only very slowly, using a breaker bar jammed between the lugs and a lot of force. There was no way I could "spin" the wheel to adjust the parking brake. What was I doing wrong? Or is something else wrong?
3) I put sil-glyde on the threads of the starwheel adjuster and on the caliper pins. Couldn't see anyplace else to grease. Did I miss something?
4) Out of the four caliper pins, one of them was jammed pretty good - I had to drive it out with a hammer. Turns out it had some kind of grease on it that was badly gummed up. I pulled off the little rubber boots too, and used brakleen to clean them and the pin. Then I used a wire bottle brush to clean the seats for the boots. There was a little bit of corrosion on the middle section of the pin but it didn't look like that area actually has to slide on anything. Worked very smooth after re-lubing. Is this acceptable or do I need to replace the pin, the boots, or the whole caliper?
5) The brake reservoir was very full when I started, well up into the throat. I opened the lid a bit and swaddled around the whole reservoir with a clean rag. Used a C-clamp to compress each caliper. The level didn't seem to change at all, and if it did it sure never got near the top of the throat and nothing spilled out. Does that seem unusual or is it just me?
Thanks,
Owen
1) I didn't notice that the star wheel adjusters were different until I was reassembling the 2nd wheel. Then I realized I had already put the wrong one on the first wheel. Does it matter if the wheel adjusts up-to-loosen or down-to-loosen? Does it help that they are both the same? Does it matter whether the threaded side is rear or forward (they were both rear on my old brakes so they are both rear now)?
2) I rebuilt one wheel at a time: put a chock behind the far side front wheel, jacked up the wheel, used a jackstand, released the parking brake, and put the transmission in neutral. I could turn the jacked wheel only very slowly, using a breaker bar jammed between the lugs and a lot of force. There was no way I could "spin" the wheel to adjust the parking brake. What was I doing wrong? Or is something else wrong?
3) I put sil-glyde on the threads of the starwheel adjuster and on the caliper pins. Couldn't see anyplace else to grease. Did I miss something?
4) Out of the four caliper pins, one of them was jammed pretty good - I had to drive it out with a hammer. Turns out it had some kind of grease on it that was badly gummed up. I pulled off the little rubber boots too, and used brakleen to clean them and the pin. Then I used a wire bottle brush to clean the seats for the boots. There was a little bit of corrosion on the middle section of the pin but it didn't look like that area actually has to slide on anything. Worked very smooth after re-lubing. Is this acceptable or do I need to replace the pin, the boots, or the whole caliper?
5) The brake reservoir was very full when I started, well up into the throat. I opened the lid a bit and swaddled around the whole reservoir with a clean rag. Used a C-clamp to compress each caliper. The level didn't seem to change at all, and if it did it sure never got near the top of the throat and nothing spilled out. Does that seem unusual or is it just me?
Thanks,
Owen
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