Handbrake not working

After replacing everything at the rear I'm left with non working hand brake.

I reassembled all new components in the rear, bearing,pumps, shoes, drums and handbrake cable.

All went well, but the handbrake won't hold the car standing. There is a little brake, put you can push the car forward if you want to.

 I can pull the lever up for 4 clicks, 5 if i pull really hard. So that feels good, but it won't hold the car.

Could be something wrong with the wedges maybe?
As it is on both sides, I guess i must have made an error in reassembling and not a faulty component.

There is still a margin of about 1cm on the handbrake cables adjustment on the inside. But pulling it harder won't make it brake, so tightening this up won't make any sense.

I thought doing a test drive might loosen up everything but no winner. Did 25km yesterday with some hard breaking. No help from that.

Any advice anyone?
Btw it's a '85 cabby

Did you replace the hand brake cables?

Is there slack in the Cable ends on the hand brake as you can wiggle the bar left or right? Cables will stretch a bit when new because the strand windings are not taught under tension..  You may have to re-adjust the cables on the e-brake lever a wee bit more.

Here is the Adjuster for the brakes that activates when the brakes wear by being pulled down


When you connected the rear of the shoes to the brake cable was it way easy, or a struggle?

Lastly rolled the car about 10 feet, then Stomp on the brakes?  Do this about 5 times and see if your e-brake doesn't hold a wee bit better.  If no then tighten the cables a turn or 2. GO EASY.

If Briano1234's tip doesn't work (hitting the brake pedal hard a few times), I wonder whether you inserted the self-adjuster wedge back to front, with the pip on the wrong side (from memory it should face the back plate)

typ_53b said

If Briano1234's tip doesn't work (hitting the brake pedal hard a few times), I wonder whether you inserted the self-adjuster wedge back to front, with the pip on the wrong side (from memory it should face the back plate)

You are correct the pip goes towards the backing plate.

Thanks for you advice. I'm going to try to have a look today otherwise it will be later next week :/

The handbrake cables are new also, before closing things up finally i took pictures of both sides. Visually all seems good to me though.
Don't know if you guys see anything wrong?

The handbrake cable on the left hand side is routed above rather than below its guide, which might create a slight imbalance side to side, but everything else looks fine.

Are the cable outers fully seated in both backplates? Do the cables pull the same amount when you apply the handbrake, so the yoke stays aligned? If the drums were new, did you degrease them? If the old drums were refitted, the new shoes will need to bed in. The friction material will in any case need to be run in for up to 100 miles to achieve full braking performance

typ_53b said

The handbrake cable on the left hand side is routed above rather than below its guide, which might create a slight imbalance side to side, but everything else looks fine.

Are the cable outers fully seated in both backplates? Do the cables pull the same amount when you apply the handbrake, so the yoke stays aligned? If the drums were new, did you degrease them? If the old drums were refitted, the new shoes will need to bed in. The friction material will in any case need to be run in for up to 100 miles to achieve full braking performance

Wow sharp eye! 👌
Indeed there's a slight imbalance side by side, that could be solved by routing the cable underneath it's guide. And maybe this will solve the rest too because now the cable has free play and pulls all the force towards that side without pushing the shoes outwards.
Btw everything was degreased indeed, you can see the brake cleaner spray bottle on the second photo. Haha ;-)

Will keep you posted!

What is going on here??

Ok, so apparently I corrected the handbrake cable previously last time it was open. It was already under the bracket.

I opened the 2 sides all seems good. The wedges both dropped in. The pin on the wedges is on the correct side. Facing back plate.
The breaking shoes had already a bit of wear on them (so they work).
On the right side there was all little play where the cable should seat in the backing plate (about 2mill) resolved that.

Degreased everything. Went on a ride stomping the brakes really hard (where front brakes lockup).

But no difference at all in the handbrake dept…

Prior to mounting the cables when new I know I kept them side by side with the original ones to be sure the length etc was the same, and that was the case.

I now have the set screws over half way. At 4 clicks the handbrake feels good and firm (as normal). But they won't brake or hold the car.

I must be doing something wrong (though not the first time) but I'm kind a desperate… I've really no idea what's going on here…

Here are pictures before reassembling this morning:

Briano1234 said

Did you replace the hand brake cables?

Is there slack in the Cable ends on the hand brake as you can wiggle the bar left or right? Cables will stretch a bit when new because the strand windings are not taught under tension..  You may have to re-adjust the cables on the e-brake lever a wee bit more.

Here is the Adjuster for the brakes that activates when the brakes wear by being pulled down


When you connected the rear of the shoes to the brake cable was it way easy, or a struggle?

Lastly rolled the car about 10 feet, then Stomp on the brakes?  Do this about 5 times and see if your e-brake doesn't hold a wee bit better.  If no then tighten the cables a turn or 2. GO EASY.

What I notice when comparing the images, mine against the one of Briano. I see that the lever where the handbrake cable is connected too is much further away to the right underneath the brake shoe.
On mine it is pointing straight down, so less travel to make for leverage. And it's the same on both sides. Could this be the issue?

The lower spring on the left hand side is attached to the wrong hole in the rear shoe, so is not under tension. That will create a significant imbalance, but I'm not sure whether that helps explain the handbrake issue.

The correct method of adjusting the handbrake, based on VW's workshop manual for running gear (for models with self-adjusting rear brake shoes), is as follows:

0. Slacken the handbrake cables
1. Assemble brakes and seat the shoes by hitting the brake pedal several times and fit the road wheels
2. Pull the handbrake up to the second click
3. Tighten the handbrake cable adjuster nuts until the rear wheels can't be turned by hand
4. Release handbrake and check the rear wheels rotate freely
5. Tighten the handbrake cable lock nuts

Maybe after sorting out the lower left spring attachment try this method and see how far you get. My thought was the cables look too long, but I'm guessing this is not the case, but the issue is with the levers on the brake shoes. I wonder whether the brake shoes are faulty or maybe the wrong ones

Your springs are on wrong it isn't the lower springs but the upper.

I can't see anything wrong with the upper springs - as far as I can see they are exactly as in Briano1234's photos. The lower spring on the left side of the car is definitely hooked into the wrong hole of the rear shoe, so not under any significant tension when installed

Could you get an assitant to gently pull thebrake with the drum removed (do not touch the brake pedal!!) so you can see if it moving as you'd expect?
Where did you get the lovely new springs from? Springs on my drums look like they've been in the sea (still work though!)

If you are still having trouble with this just try going through the list typ-53b posted from the handbook and most importantly the first step, slacken off the cables.

Problem resolved!

I just pulled down the wedges a bit more myself. And now all works just fine.
Although they where installed correctly the world not drop automatically by hard breaking etc

I also put the bottom spring correct on the left hand side.

All seems good now, thanks for your persistent assistance!

.

paceman said

Could you get an assitant to gently pull thebrake with the drum removed (do not touch the brake pedal!!) so you can see if it moving as you'd expect?
Where did you get the lovely new springs from? Springs on my drums look like they've been in the sea (still work though!)

I buy almost all my things at werk34.de , that's where I also bought this replacement set. You can buy all brake spare parts there. Didn't cost a lot.
Most of the time they have good parts in my experience.
Good luck!