Need expert advice on finishing 94 Celica brake job Options

[Langing]

JULY 22 UPDATE: "BRAKE JOB" FINISHED. (See comment of today's date.)

JUNE 2 UPDATE: REAR BRAKES FINE NOW; FRONT RIGHT STEERING KNUCKLE DEFINITELY BENT (AT THE EARS); SEEKING ANOTHER KNUCKLE.

MAY 28 UPDATE: NOW WHAT? THE REAR WHEELS ARE LOCKED BUT THE PB IS DOWN! WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?

MAY 27 UPDATE: SATISFIED THAT THE REAR DRUM BRAKES ARE NOW FUNCTIONING PROPERLY; PROBLEM DEFINED DOES NOT AFFECT THE BRAKE AT ITS PROPER ADJUSTMENT OPERATING POINT; MOVING ON TO NEXT TASK

MAY 23 UPDATE: REAR DRUM BRAKE PROBLEM DEFINITION IS NARROWING SUCH THAT AN EXPERT MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP ME (SEE LAST POSTS)


This is my first experience doing such an extensive job on my Celica, and I have the Green Books (FSM). Everything looks beautiful (to me), have photos.

I have finished replacing/rebuilding all parts of the brake system -- meaning at all four wheels (including new hardware, hoses, wheel bearings, etc) and am ready to put her back on the road, but . . . with all new shoes, pads, drums and rotors, how can I know they are working properly? I’ve already discovered a couple of assembly mistakes I had to correct, which tells me there may be something else I am missing?

First known issue: because I don’t have a vernier caliper longer than 6”, an AMPRO T71558 Brake Drum Resetting Gauge will arrive on Friday so I can set the ‘clearance’ between the shoes and drums at the rear. Beyond that I have some confusion on how the parking brake works to maintain the proper clearance, given the initial setting of the rear brakes. I want to be totally clear about what I am doing so I am not making a stupid but costly mistake.

For example: the manual says to verify that the parking brake levers (on the rear shoes) turns the adjusters (they do) and then to minimize the length of the adjusters (I did), then install the drums and pull the parking brake lever (in the cabin) all the way up until a clicking sound can no longer be heard (did that as well). The very next procedure is to check shoe clearance, but the last step left the parking brake on? And I was thinking that engaging the parking brake and then releasing it was the cause of the adjuster turning, and that it turns only by just one gear tooth distance. All that said, the manual has me just setting the initial clearance, popping on the drums and tires I'm good to go. Is that really all I need to do to make sure the rear breaks are functioning properly?

Second issue: with new rotors and pads on the front disc brakes, there isn’t a lot of free space in the caliper bracket and there is a scraping sound when I turn the rotors by hand, so there is obvious interference. I don’t know whether the slide pins are not working well, since the calipers aren’t sliding in and out when hand manipulated, or are they just supposed to rub together until enough friction material wears off that they can begin to have enough space to work once the car is on the road? How do I check them BEFORE I put her on the road, so I can be certain they are working properly?

My inexperience has me ready to go, but dead in the water.

This post has been edited by Langing: Jul 22, 2014 - 11:06 AM

[Langing]

Continued. . .

When I put on the rear tires I could not tighten the lug nuts without causing the tires to rotate even though the parking brake was full on. The same was true for both of the front wheels with no brake applied, parking or otherwise (I know the parking brake doesn’t affect the front wheels), but the right front was more resistant to the torque than the left, and it made more scraping noise.

Once the wheels were on and the car was back on terra firma, my wife and I pushed against the parking brake being full on and we were able to easily push the car out of the garage and into the driveway. My wife was very concerned that the car would get away from us and roll down the (slightly inclined) driveway and go into the street since the car seemed to be picking up a little speed. We easily stopped the car, and there was no incident.

Next, we got into the car and started it up and began to drive down the driveway, stopping, driving, stopping, backing up, going forward. . . there were some scraping sounds coming from the right front wheel and elsewhere, but not bad. The stopping power seemed very much improved over the way the brakes operated prior to my doing this work. So, we moved on into the street and turned into the cul de sac.

When we had gotten about 50 feet, a loud, cyclical sound (once every tire revolution) began to be heard, which was especially loud when we turned to the left in the cul de sac and began to drive back to our driveway. It sounded to me like something was badly grabbing the rubber tire; a very unusual sound, like rubber against metal maybe, and seemed to be loudest once each tire revolution.

As we drove back into the driveway the sound had almost stopped, but there were other sounds of brakes rubbing that could still be heard. I asked my wife to drive the same circuit with me running alongside the right front wheel all the way. This time the sound was almost gone, yet there were still other scrapping sounds, so when we got back we put the car back on jack-stands and first removed the front tires. We never got the car above something like 15 mph.

I thought I discovered the problem causing the loud sound from the right front. When I was looking for what might be scrapping together to make that noise I spotted one of the four silver metal brake pad mounting slides that fit into the torque place (caliper mounting bracket) was not seated properly. It was quite out of position, but still partially inside its proper place, pretending it was holding the pad ear. I got a punch and drove it back down into its seat. When I then tried to use a breaker bar and lug nut idea to turn the rotor it was, unexpectedly, really hard to turn and made a lot more scraping noise that even before we took the short ride.

I then examined the left front and tried to move the caliper with my hand. It seemed to permit just a little movement this time, judging from watching the dust boots, unless I was fooling myself.

Oh, the parking brake. . . the brake lever seems to be very high when pulled tight, and it now counts 11 clicks to pull tight. To me it seems as if it needs to be adjusted from the cabin by loosening the lock-nut and so forth, and I will try to do that tomorrow.

After I do that I think I will take the car back out on the road again and see if more driving around might slowly get things sorted out. I don't see anything wrong, unless the slide pins on the calipers are not moving smoothly, something I believe I cannot know for certain unless I remove the caliper. I think the calipers are installed correctly. If driving around a while doesn’t help, I might try taking them out to see how they look.

With luck, the drum brake tool will arrive on Friday and I will be able to make the initial setting of the shoe/drum clearance on the rear wheels. Maybe that is when I should take up the slack in the parking brake?

All suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks to all people who have read this and offered suggestions. This is all new to me and I really need help.