QuestionDear Mr. Van,
Did not replace any wheel cylinders. Took everything apart and had the drums turned for good measure. Checked for ridges on shoes and drums after turning and everything looked good. Checked adjustment on brakes once I put them back together and everything was good to go. Bled entire brake system. Put it all back together and test drove it. Son of a gun locked up on me. No kidding. Freeway speeds she does fine, but stop and go or first thing in the morning with low engine RPMs and she starts locking up. I have found it is the drivers side back wheel ONLY that is doing this. I looked in my Chevy book and it said something about a "combination valve" but that doesn't seem to make alot of sense as the other tire is not locking up. What do you think it could be? Brake pedal feels tight, much tighter than it feels it should be. thanks for your paitence I appreciate it.
Barton
-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
1989 Chevy S-10, 4.3 litre V-6, 2WD, Auto Tranny, Ext. Cab, NO CONVERSIONS ALL STOCK.
Dear Mr. Van,
Recently I changed the rear brake shoes on my 89 S-10 and am having problems with them locking up first thing when the vehicle is started. When I first start out in the morning the slightest pressure causes one of the back tires to lock up immediately. However, when I run it at 15-30mph through the parking lot where I live for about 1/4 mile they work perfectly fine. I have taken the rear tires off three times and triple checked my work with all the parts in the rear brake assembly and had my Father in Law check them as well. We are both stumped. Have even taken the shoes off and put them back on to double check the work. It seems to be leaning towards enging compression (I am JUST guessing here), my Chevy idles for crud first thing in the AM but it also has 204,000 miles on it. Once it has been driven and the engine has been running at that speed for that short amount of time going at LEAST 15mph the problems stops. Anything slower than 15 mph, like just ideling through the parking lot it continues to do that locking up stunt with the rear wheel. I don't know if enough pressure is being built up in the master cylinder or what. Checked all vacuum lines and there are no leaks, replaced them all anyways just to be on the safe side. I set the emergency brake whenever I park it also. I am truly at a loss and the mechanic wanted 250.00 just to look at it. I thought that was a little steep just to look at it hence the reason I am writing to you. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Stumped in South Carolina,
Barton
Answer -
Hello Barton,
You didn't say if you replaced any wheel cylinders, but air in the system comes to mind, so bleeding might be needed.
Also, adjusting the shoes up tighter may help, assuming they are not already adjusted up close. You should barely feel some drag when adjusting and rotating the wheel. Apply the brake, release, and check adjustment again.
And did you have the drums turned, or could there be a ridge contacting the brake shoes?
Van
AnswerHi Barton,
Did the brake shoes have one with a longer section of lining than the other.
Actually, since i am asking that question, I assume you know about a primary and secondary shoe?
Is it possible that you installed both primary shoes on one wheel and both secondary shoes on the other? The lining on a primary, which is the front shoe, is shorter than the lining on the secondary.
This is a stab in the dark, since I have no idea how much you know about brakes.
Other than that, I have seen a vehicle lock up due to the axle bearing veing worn out, but it should have done that with the old shoes.
Van
