My son has a bad habit of applying the handbrake way too tight -(now at end of travel). As a result the rear drum brakes are now totally shot - the auto adjusters just make the shoes stick on every time the foot brake or hand brake is operated.

Although I managed to free the shoes by randomly poking around through the bolt holes, and the posidrive retaining screw is removed, no amount of persuasion either with a large screwdriver at the edge or hitting drum with soft hammer can separate the drum from the hub.

I remember the pularva we had removing the rear alloy wheels first time (after 3 years IIRC) due to corrosion between wheel and drum. Why do Skoda refuse to paint the rear drums properly instead of using just grey primer? - a lot are heavily rusted before delivery.

I'm ashamed to say that daughter-in-laws crappy old Punto has a much better rear drum design with a large hole to release the auto adjuster and when 2 bolts removed the drums just fall off!

looks like a trip to Skodas or Kwik fit Mon morning for them to fix it - Not sure I want Kwik fit to fix as they are prone to jacking on sill edges, destroying them and I shudder to think what they may resort to, to remove those drums.....

Hi,

You need to prise the adjuster upwards to release the mechanism.

On a RH drive car looking at the drivers side brake drum, rotate the drum until one of the stud holes is at 14:00 hrs, get another person to hold the drum so as not to rotate, then put a screwdriver through the hole and lever downwards on the drum in order to move the adjuster wedge upwards.

You may be able to shine a light through the hole in order to see the wedge which is above the spring tensioner.

DB.

Hi,

You need to prise the adjuster upwards to release the mechanism.

On a RH drive car looking at the drivers side brake drum, rotate the drum until one of the stud holes is at 14:00 hrs, get another person to hold the drum so as not to rotate, then put a screwdriver through the hole and lever downwards on the drum in order to move the adjuster wedge upwards.

You may be able to shine a light through the hole in order to see the wedge which is above the spring tensioner.

DB.

Thanks for that info! - That concurs with what I found on the passenger side - however I still have the problem of how to remove the drum from the hub.......

Give a few light smacks with a hammer in a circular fashion around the outer edge of the drum.

DB.

Edited 12 December, 201015 yr by mogwye

Give a few light smacks with a hammer in a circular fashion around the outer edge of the drum.

DB.

Done that, - and some quite heavy - but still no joy!

Undo the centre 30mm nut and take the drum off with the hub, should be abe to seperate off the car.

Undo the centre 30mm nut and take the drum off with the hub, should be abe to seperate off the car.

:( Uffffff.....I think I'll phone Skoda tomorrow morning instead...

take the 30mm nut off from the centre then put the wheel back on to help you "rock" the drum outwards.

Well what was the outcome ?

DB.

Well what was the outcome ?

Tried again next morning (no luck) followed by a very expensive trip to the dealer. Losing all faith in Skoda being a cheap to maintain brand. Will post full tale once the final bill is in.

Mine will need sorting out by the next MOT as it's nearing the end of travel. Hope mine are easier to remove, eek. The amount of rust on the outside of the drums I'm thinking of getting some new, painting them up and swapping them over. Saves leaving it on axle stands while wire brushing for ages and getting the hammerite on.

Edited 15 December, 201015 yr by anewman

In the end dealer charged £290- down from the original £322

Set of new shoes - 2 new slave cylinders and one new brake cable.

They only got the job because my son needed the car back fast (but in the end it still took 2 days to get the bits) and I had a phobia that kwik fit etc would jack the car on the sill lips and tear them.

Got "Manufactures Warranty Invalid" stamped all over the invoice - don't know what that's about?

I asked about warranty and the dealer was very reluctant to say - in the end they said 1 year on the slave cylinders and no warranty on the shoes because they are "wear and tear" items. I'm sure that's illegal but as they weren't very friendly I wasn't going to argue - I do know my rights however.

There's now a funny grating when first moving the footbrake down - like a seal juddering in the servo or master cylinder - that wasn't there before - hope they haven't ****** something else up.

They were keen to point out other faults they found (e.g. OSR arm bush slightly torn and a corroded rear silencer) but at their prices I don't think I'll bite. They also said front discs and pads in poor condition? - they only changed them just over a year ago - the dealer argued that 2 years on a set of discs and pads is about what you should expect - I didn't grace him with a reply.

In the end, its the end of the road for Skoda dealer servicing as far as I'm concerned. Pity as I once thought they were better than other dealers.

Advice to all and sundry - strip down your brakes (esp Drums!) every 2 years and clean them out. Then stripping and changing should be a straightforward, quick and cheap DIY job.

ps the drums were in very good condition as I had painted them with hammerite some time ago.

Edited 15 December, 201015 yr by xman

I agree with your idea of getting the drums off every two years and stripping out and cleaning the shoes and the handbrake mechanism, your drums being repainted on the outside would not have helped here in any way.

I always clean out the front and rear disc brakes every summer - and have always tried to buy a car with rear disc brakes as they are soon easy to clean up annually, drum brakes really are "out of sight and out of mind" and will remain okay until the moment they are not - then as you have discovered, they can be a nuisance to strip down. So, if your car manufacturer does not mandate a full strip down every two year/40K miles - and most don't to keep the service costs down, then you should really do this work or get someone to do it every two years (in my mind).

By the way, my daughter used to have an early 2001 Ibiza 6K and I suppose I was thought to be the person that maintained it, well I only ever checked it over regularly and replaced things like normal service parts and exhaust bits, and that car also suffered the same fate as your Fabia, luckily she was abroad and I took the time to get the drums off and replace the shoes which now had cracked and split linings and seized handbrake linkage. She never, in normal life, was willing to have the car "off the road" - well that is my excuse for leaving the hidden drum brake bits alone!!

She never, in normal life, was willing to have the car "off the road" - well that is my excuse for leaving the hidden drum brake bits alone!!

This sounds so very familiar.......kids!!!

You now mention that the brake cylinders needed replacing also.

Well both my Fabia's suffered the same fate at about 4 years old, however I noticed brake fluid leaking from the rear brake drums and when I eventually managed to get the drums off, I found that the brake shoes had swollen having been soaked in brake fluid, and that is probably the same reason why you could not remove your drums.

I find that Skoda OEM parts are relatively cheap to buy compared with other makes of car and I certainly would not knock their name because of burst brake cylinders, they are fairly common failures on most vehicles.

DB.

I find that Skoda OEM parts are relatively cheap to buy compared with other makes of car and I certainly would not knock their name because of burst brake cylinders, they are fairly common failures on most vehicles.

Dealer prices for parts...

£73 for a set of shoes

£43 for a pair of slave cylinders

They previously quoted a mind boggling ~ £250+vat for a silencer!!! (just the part!)

It's GSF from now on for me......

Edited 16 December, 201015 yr by xman