brake problems

[Edd]

I've been trying all day to get the brakes to feel decent on the nova all day :(

Main problem is that the pedal travels down about half way before the brakes start working

I have the self adjusting rear shoes set up, in the Haynes its say press the pedal a few times so that the rears adjust themselves

With new pads should the adjuster bit have moved at all?

Is there any way to manually adjust the rears?

Its been years since I've rebuilt a nova brake system so I could be not doing something right

How do I sort the pedal travel out?

Is the travel all down to the rear shoe adjustment?

Any ideas would be awesome

Edd



I've bled them 3 times so there's deffo no air in the system

[Southie]

Edd, how many clicks on your handbrake?

What condition is the master cylinder in?

Are your discs and pads new? May just need bedding in.

[autoworksnovasport]

take your rear drum off and between the shoes at the top will be a bar with a toothed adjuster on it get a flat blade screw driver and push on these teeth so it adjusts outwards do it a little at a time put drum back on push pedal / work handbrake check again ect untill you get it right

[Edd]

Handbrake not connected

Master cylinder and the bias things are unknown quality, got them second hand with servo

All the rest of the system is brand new

I have also thought that it all might need bedding in, but atm I don't have confidence of them stopping me coming out the garage let alond down the road lol

[autoworksnovasport]

May just need bedding in.

only got half a pedal gotta be rear shoe adjustment

[Edd]

take your rear drum off and between the shoes at the top will be a bar with a toothed adjuster on it get a flat blade screw driver and push on these teeth so it adjusts outwards do it a little at a time put drum back on push pedal / work handbrake check again ect untill you get it right

Cheers for that, I did think of doing this, I'm a little concerned after doing this will the rear adjuster bit continue to work? As it dont seem to be doing much atm

[Southie]

lol get the handbrake fitted, are the rears even releasing?

You sure there's not still air in the system? Remember it's best to do opposite corners rather than side to side when bleeding. Do you have a easy bleed kit, if not there very handy ;)

[autoworksnovasport]

yeah will work fine they have to be adjusted proply first though and as the shoes were they will move tiny amounts to compensate

[simonm]

Make sure all is bled out and you hand brake cable is slack then adjust your rears through one of the stud holes till it's just brushing slightly then hit it a few smacks of a hammer that will settle every thing in then readjust when that's done adjust hand brake cable and recheck after a bit of driving

[Southie]

only got half a pedal gotta be rear shoe adjustment

Possibly but also worth checking other avenues ;)

Edd what condition is the servo vacuum pipe in? I had one on a old SR that the valve was knackered and gave the same lack of braking.

[Edd]

Vacumm pipe and one way valve are new mate

Think ill try manually adjusting the rear as Mr autoworks says, cheers dude

[Edd]

.

[Royston]

I have the self adjusting rear shoes set up, in the Haynes its say press the pedal a few times so that the rears adjust themselves


Did you hear the adjusters click up, when you pressed the pedal?

I always set them up manually, as mentioned above, remove the drum, then you can either....

use a screw driver and move the adjusters up a couple of clicks, refit drum/bearing to centralise and see how it feels, until the shoes are just dragging.

or CAREFULLY, and I mean CAREFULLY depress the pedal until you can hear the adjuster click up, refit drum as above.

This may sound very stupid....., but have you fitted the pin from the pedal crossbar to the servo/master cylinder? I had a great deal of trouble bleeding/getting a pedal on the SR guess what............:tard:

[autoworksnovasport]

if servo wasnt working (no vacume) pedal would be rock hard with not alot brake effort

[Royston]

The retaining plate on the adjuster is contacting the toothed wheel? and therefore wouldn't click and could also wind off, I have experienced this too

[Edd]

The toothed wheel is in contact with the adjuster bit

Pin is in as well, I did miss it at first tho lol

But I havnt heard it click from pressing the pedal tho

[simonm]

You prob won't hear it clicking much your best to adjust through a stud hole as you won't get it close enough with the drum off if there is a lip in the inside it won't slip over if it's too tight and when you do it'll feel tight untill the drum is completely on and the self adjuster wont get them as tight as manually

[Royston]

You prob won't hear it clicking much your best to adjust through a stud hole as you won't get it close enough with the drum off if there is a lip in the inside it won't slip over if it's too tight and when you do it'll feel tight untill the drum is completely on and the self adjuster wont get them as tight as manually

True, but I always remove the lip, to eliminate the problem you mention;)

I am expecting that there are new drums on the Sport as well......Edd? lol

[autoworksnovasport]

if theres a lip best to either replace drum or grind lip off

[mowgli]

now for an old school trick a mechanic taught me about 25 years ago. he was having tons of trouble with the brakes on his works astramax (sticking tractor engines in the back etc...) so as it was becoming apparent, the gm self adjusters simply don't work..... so he drilled a 12mm hole in the drum faces that lined up with the adjuster, then using a small allen key to pull the thin metal plate away from the ratchet, he would spin the ratchet piece with a small screwdriver till he was happy with the adjustment.

i did it on my first nova & it worked a treat, my current one simply hasn't done enough miles to need it yet, but when it does, i'll put a how to on here.

[simonm]

You don't need to on a nova the stud holes are close enough to adjust it with a screw driver astras and similar have bigger drums so the adjuster is further out and harder to locate

[stevenf]

now for an old school trick a mechanic taught me about 25 years ago. he was having tons of trouble with the brakes on his works astramax (sticking tractor engines in the back etc...) so as it was becoming apparent, the gm self adjusters simply don't work..... so he drilled a 12mm hole in the drum faces that lined up with the adjuster, then using a small allen key to pull the thin metal plate away from the ratchet, he would spin the ratchet piece with a small screwdriver till he was happy with the adjustment.

i did it on my first nova & it worked a treat, my current one simply hasn't done enough miles to need it yet, but when it does, i'll put a how to on here.

think i will give this a try as i am needing to re adjust my rear shoes before next weks auto test. i can take some picture for you if your wanting to do the how to sooner :D

[mowgli]

just whip the drum off, and measure the distance you need the hole to be, if you do want to put some pics up, feel free to do it, cos my camera skills are somewhat lacking.....if you post it in mechanical, the admins will move it over

[stevenf]

i can do the pictures if you want to do the write up lol. am no good at them

[Benn]

Do the drums not have the hole to adjust them? Been ages since i've looked at them. My rear discs have the hole.

ED, have you tryed adjusting the travel under the dash? On the pedal bar?

[simonm]

think i will give this a try as i am needing to re adjust my rear shoes before next weks auto test. i can take some picture for you if your wanting to do the how to sooner :D

You really don't have to in all my years at brakes and adjusting them I've never had to drill holes especially in customers cars its not really the done thing

[mowgli]

sounds good to me. but i demand that you get the credit...

ps. 'drilling a hole to access the adjuster, it is 12mm dia & it is xxxx mm from the centre' is pretty much all the words you need.

[Edd]

Do the drums not have the hole to adjust them? Been ages since i've looked at them. My rear discs have the hole.

ED, have you tryed adjusting the travel under the dash? On the pedal bar?
I havnt tried this yet Benn, never tiuched that bit on any of my novas will look into

Royston, don't worry they're new lol

[stevenf]

sounds good to me. but i demand that you get the credit...

ps. 'drilling a hole to access the adjuster, it is 12mm dia & it is xxxx mm from the centre' is pretty much all the words you need.

thats fair enough lol. will take a few pictures as i do it

[Benn]

I hadn't till i was having just what you are, lots of travel, bit spoonge. I did a turn and a half and now they are much better. Very little travel.

[craig green]

Messing with the pedal bar travel is a last resort IMO.

Edd clearly has issues with adjustment of the shoes, wrong handbrake cables etc. Best to rectify all of that 1st.

[mowgli]

too true... the number of times i've seen where someone has tweaked the handbrake cables to tighten up the back brakes......

[Edd]

Thanks very much for all the replies, very helpful

Ill sort the handbrake then try again, reason the handbrake ain't conected is that I can't seem to find the right lenght one left hand side

Might be another thread about it lol