All Corsa Forum banner

Corsa B Drum Removal/Handbrake adjustment

8K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  Vegas 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey all,

Ok... so my brother's Corsa recently failed its MOT on the rear brakes. Brakes were nowhere near good enough at 10% efficiency and it had been sat around for about a year.

When they (testers) were under the car, checking it out, they lubricated a grommet where the cable travels through. They also did the same with the rear load-bearing valve as they said it was sticking and seizing up the brakes.

But it wasn't enough in the end. They suspected that when I drove down for the test, I may have glazed the shoes...

Now, I'm not much of a mechanic... but I busted out the Haynes manual and thought I'd have a go for drums, but I'm struggling to get them off...

I also looked here
http://www.allcorsa.co.uk/forums/showthread.php/replace-rear-brake-43573.html

Great tutorial, but I haven't been able to withdraw the drum by hand, the drum spins, but then catches after maybe half a rotation or so (I'll get a video up) and in the manual it says to slacken the adjuster that sits just above/in front of the rear axle. I tried this but it's now where I'm stuck.

I hold the cable guide bracket (where the rubber-sleeved handbrake cable goes) with mole grips and turn the 11mm nut, but what happens is that the threaded section behind the nut also turns and I was expecting the nut to move along this... :confused:

Anyone more experienced (almost everyone) with any advice I could try please? Or is the cable done?

NB. This is a Corsa 1.7d with 185k+ miles on...
 
See less See more
#3 · (Edited)
Hi.
Chrome doesnt work for me either.

You normally need to hold the threaded section steady to stop it turning. There are usually a couple of flats on the un-threaded section next to where it becomes cable which can take an open ended spanner.If not hold it on the unthreaded section using mole grips.

Wear eye protection when removing the old shoes. things can spring out. New brake shoes can take a while to bed in so might still struggle on the mot.If an improvement is not immediately obvious you can help bed them in by driving a short distance with the handbrake slightly on.
 
#4 ·
That adjuster nut and thread looks like it needs cleaning off with a wire brush and then give a good soaking with plus gas or wd40,then hold the end of the threaded part with grips and the locking nut should turn.Other than that,why not lift the gator on the handbrake lever and slacken the adjuster nut on the cable there.Once you have the nut and bearing off the drum it will give you more leave rage if you put the wheel back on with a couple of bolts,this will give you better leave rage to pull it over the shoes.
 
#7 ·
You have taken the handbrake off, when trying to remove drums?
 
#14 ·
Sorry, didn't report back, but got it all out and all the components cleaned up. Just finishing taking the lip off one of the drums and will be all good to go back on. Brake shoe adjusters were both seized, my cable's frayed on the rear-right side and my wheel cylinders are leaking lol

New wheel cylinders and cable ready to go, but I thought I may as well bleed the brakes before I change them.

I have metric sockets and spanners, but I can't seem to get the right size for the bleed nipple. Have they been awkward and just put an imperial size on it? 10mm was too big and 9mm too small :mad:
 
#15 ·
Get a brake line spanner, not a normal ones. They're notorious for rounding off, and then it turns into hassle, so make sure you squid it with some good penetration fluid first (not snotty wd40)
 
  • Like
Reactions: dariunas
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top