hi i have a Skoda fabia 1.4 2005 petrol I changed the break shoes one side is perfect and the problem is the driver side turns easily but when i put the little t30 screw on its really hard to turn the drum but when i loosen it. it starts to turn fine so i loosen the t30 screw and put the wheel back on same thing its hard to turn and took it for a drive and the drum gets hot I opened it 10 times and cleaned it few times and checked the adjustment tab thing its fine. can someone help please Thank you 

Got a feeling it might be the drum that is bent but dont want to buy it if its not that 

Is it possible you need to remove tension from the handbrake cable after change of shoes?

yes i released the handbrake tension before i started changing the brakes. When i put the drum on its ok just when i put the t30 screw it stops turning i left the t30 screw off and just put the lug nuts on same thing 

Did you make sure the auto adjuster wedge was backed right off (up) before you put the drum on?

 

Edited 22 September, 20205 yr by TMB

yes i done that. I have done drum brake job lots of times before but never come across this problem. I have done the other side with no problem at all and it only gets stuck when i put the t30 screw on when i loosen the screw its ok but when i put the lug nuts on it gets stuck again and i drove it and the drum gets really hot after 5min drive I take some photos tomorrow to see if you can spot something i might have missed

2 hours ago, Mobear said:

yes i done that. I have done drum brake job lots of times before but never come across this problem. I have done the other side with no problem at all and it only gets stuck when i put the t30 screw on when i loosen the screw its ok but when i put the lug nuts on it gets stuck again and i drove it and the drum gets really hot after 5min drive I take some photos tomorrow to see if you can spot something i might have missed

 

Sounds like a fitment issue.

You might want to compare your new brake hardware to the old hardware.

i checked it they the same and don't think that is the issue as one side is perfect been watching some videos and think its the handbrake lever on the drum brake side not all the way back will have a look in the morning and report back 

If you have had drums/discs off you need to make sure that the hub surface is clean as is the same area on both sides of the drum/discs, also, I have a few large nuts and washers that I can fit over the wheel fixing bolts to simulate the "thickness" of the road wheels and tighten all 5 wheel bolts up - by doing that you know that the drum/disc is "sitting" down as it will be once the road wheel is back on - then you will probably find that the drum is not rubbing when you turn it - as well as tapping it with a soft headed mallet to assist in centralising the shoes.

 

Maybe a big/long story, but it does seem that you will not be happy until you can turn this drum-hub freely after you have been working on it.

Did you remove the hubs in order to replace the shoes?

Maybe try swapping the drums side to side and see if the fault follows the drum or stays on the same side?

What I would probably do.....

 

First thing to check is both sides of the slave cylinder move freely in/out and one side is not stuck/seized.

 

The shoes may not be sitting centrally.  The shoes can be slid up/down on the slave cylinder/bottom pivot. Release the adjustment wedge and make sure the handbrake lever at the shoe end is in the fully released position. I suggest you measure carefully from the edge of the hub to top and bottom outer edge of the linings. Push the shoe set up or down until these measurements are equal. 

After replacing the drum and T30 screw, the first thing I do is to very firmly stand on the brake pedal several times, releasing quickly, do not apply handbrake. This should help centralise the shoes and set the aduster. Check you can spin the drum. If it still binds, release the adjuster by pushing ot up through one of the bolt holes using a screwdriver. Spin the drum and again firmly the brake pedel to reset the adjuster and position the shoes.

 

Finally apply the handbrake firmly several times, keep an eye on the T bar at cable ends at the handbrake end. Check they are more or less equal cable lengths  side to side when applied.

 

If this doesnt work, it could be the slave cylinder is faulty, sticking or something, you assembled something wrong, or the shoe kit has a faulty dimensioned part on that side (unlikely).

Edited 23 September, 20205 yr by xman

i have checked all the parts they look fine and the only problem i can see is the T bar near the handbrake adjustment the side with the problem the cable looks a bit longer so looks like the handbrake mechanism on the drum is not all the way back or stuck will take it all off and put it back on with the handbrake mechanism pushed back think its stuck on some thing or the cable is stretched 

The problem that you have usually points to the hold down springs & retainers not being fitted, I am talking about the two shiny silver round things shown in the stock photo at 3 and 9 'O' clock.

 

It can also happen if one of them jumps loose on fitting the drum.

they all been fitted and checked they are all brand new and its not my 1st time doing drum brakes have done them lots of times but think found the problem is the handbrake mechanism is not all the way back maybe due to getting stuck on something its raining so when it stops will have a look and report back 

The cable on that side might be binding.

how do i go about sorting that out?

New cable.

i just took the tyre off and pushed one of the piston back in and now its only rubbing a tiny bit which is normal so think the piston got stuck but going to take it for a drive and then check it again tomorrow to see if the same 

I took it for a drive for 10mins and the drum is cold so think it's sorted unlike yesterday when it was really hot threw some water on it and was steaming like a kettle lol anyway thanks for everyone's help much appreciated will update tomorrow if the problem comes back 

Updated I pushed one of the piston in as it seemed to be further out then the other one and it all seems fine now been driving all day and never got hot so think thats all it was Thanks to everyone for helping me 👍👍👍👍👍

On 23/09/2020 at 17:43, TMB said:

The cable on that side might be binding.

Could be either wrong spring fitment inside drum or cable sticking. My cable  stuck on second holder from drum .Check cable for any rust etc on the outside of the cable, and if you've got to change one side then it might be good practice to change other cable as one side wil have stretched meaning that the adjuster bracket will not sit straight and tightening the adjuster nut is a right PITA.

Car failed on one side last year and local garage put it down to cylinder.

I'd suggest that with wrong cable fitment or adjust wedge not fully up, it will be difficult to refit drum. Should be no need to adjust cable ( other than for adjusting for stretch ,and I've never had to with original cables in over 100k, or on any of my previous cars ).

According to workshop manual correct adjustment is when wheel is tight with handbrake on first notch. I'd suggest to check that both sides are balanced ,that you check in this position using a lever type torque wrench on the nuts but I've no idea of what would balance torque to meet MOT standards.

Post on another site from MOT tester who says playing needlessly with cable adjustment can  adversely affect the efficiency of the handbrake .

Edited 24 September, 20205 yr by VWD

11 hours ago, VWD said:

Could be either wrong spring fitment inside drum or cable sticking. My cable  stuck on second holder from drum .Check cable for any rust etc on the outside of the cable, and if you've got to change one side then it might be good practice to change other cable as one side wil have stretched meaning that the adjuster bracket will not sit straight and tightening the adjuster nut is a right PITA.

Car failed on one side last year and local garage put it down to cylinder.

I'd suggest that with wrong cable fitment or adjust wedge not fully up, it will be difficult to refit drum. Should be no need to adjust cable ( other than for adjusting for stretch ,and I've never had to with original cables in over 100k, or on any of my previous cars ).

According to workshop manual correct adjustment is when wheel is tight with handbrake on first notch. I'd suggest to check that both sides are balanced ,that you check in this position using a lever type torque wrench on the nuts but I've no idea of what would balance torque to meet MOT standards.

Post on another site from MOT tester who says playing needlessly with cable adjustment can  adversely affect the efficiency of the handbrake 

I pushed one of the pistons back in as it got stuck and its working fine now i took it for a drive now the drum is cold and it stops good aswel so that was the problem 

6 hours ago, Mobear said:

I pushed one of the pistons back in as it got stuck and its working fine now i took it for a drive now the drum is cold and it stops good aswel so that was the problem 

 

If the pistons are sticking it needs a new wheel cylinder. The pistons should be very free to move and the shoe return springs are way strong enough to return healthy cylinder pistons. There should be no piston sticking at all.

The stickiness could be down to the rubber seal on the piston expanding through age or a bit of dirt in the piston. Once upon a day you could effect a short term cure by replacing the cylinder seals (rubbers) . This was useful if the problem was down to expanded or worn rubber seals. Any scoring of the bores and it was new piston time.But that option is not available.

Given how cheap cylinders are it makes little sense to chance it.

When my wifes sdi had this problem we skimmed the inside of the drum to clean the surface and make sure it was smooth.

Problem diidnt come back and the brakes worked fine,

I will be changing the wheel cylinder its cheap but so far the breaks work fine now no problems at all will open just to check the drum when the weather is better been driving it for a few days now and its fine but will let you know when i open it up