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]

A week ago I met the man (on-line) who amazed me with his video (in Spanish) tutorial about taking apart Celica dashboards. If you haven't seen it, you really ought to spend a little time watching him disassemble his Celica dash completely. You can learn a lot about Toyota secrets of interior parts disassembly. To me, this man is a genius for taking things apart and getting them back together. He has done over 15 dashboards to date, and he paints them. Plus he truly likes to help people solve problems. His Spanish video is at YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ9yYj_0l3U

He did it again in English, which is also good, but the best is the Spanish version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ3A1N4kOHY

Anyway, he said he would help anyone with problems, and I had a real problem with my drum brakes, so I zipped off a request and damn if he didn't spend more than a day helping me figure out what to do with my brake problem. To make the long story short, he recommended that I set the adjuster such that the threaded portion (exposed space = adjuster length extension) was a little less than a quarter of an inch as an initial starting point. And then work from there (trial and error) to home in on the proper initial adjustment. It wasn't long before I had satisfied myself that I had a good initial adjustment set for the clearance between the shoes and the drums on both rear wheels. Actually, the Drum Brake Readjustment Tool from AmPro had come in and I was able to use it to set in the proper clearance so easily with that tool (plus you don't need to buy a 12" vernier caliper to take measurements in order to get a proper clearance of 0.024"), I discovered that it put me in an initial condition for the clearance that produced a little less than one quarter of an inch thread exposed in the adjusters, just like Luis had said and I believe either approach gives the same result. So, I declared victory and moved on to work on the right front disc problem.

Well, according to this gentleman, Luis, what I was dealing with was the difference between OEM and aftermarket parts, and frequently one must make accommodations for this or that deficiency in form, fit or function of a bastard part. When the FSM said to begin with the adjusters tightened to their shortest possible length, it brought out a tolerance problem within the component assembly, but when I started at the quarter inch point, the brakes worked reasonably close to properly.

So, I left the rear, with its tires mounted, on jack-stands. When I last was dealing with them, I could spin the left tire and it would revolve 20 times before stopping, and the right 13 times. They spun freely, with very little drag.

Yesterday, I tried to spin one of them and found it locked, stuck, could not turn it at all. Checked the PB, it was lowered. Tried the other rear tire, and found the same result. Before I tear into them to find out for myself, I want to ask you a question and give you a little time to think about it.

QUESTION: What is my problem?