Brake Shoes Expand too much causing Wheel Cylinder to come apart

99 Neon
replaced rear brake lines, wheel cylinder and shoes.
while driving lost pressure in pedal. noticed brake fluid loss from
rear passenger tire. Took off drum and saw that the wheel cylinder had
come apart causing the fluid leak.

I cant figure out why the shoes are expanding too much.

If the drum needs to be replaced why didnt it happen before? New shoes
would mean less space between drum and shoe, right? is there a way to
tell if the adjuster lever is correctly installed?

when pumping brake, with the drum off, the shoes expand and the wheel
cylinder will come apart-- because the drum is not on right? or did I
mess up the adjuster level position?

I'll go get the drums measured and see if there is the problem.
Thanks.
-Matt

furthermore does it matter if the adjuster lever is above or below the
star?

"Stinger" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> furthermore does it matter if the adjuster lever is above or below the
> star?

You bet it does.

You could hardly wear a drum enough to cause the cylinder to fall apart.
Cylinders can leak due to corrosion, but if you have a drum at all, the
cylinder will not normally pump out far enough to give you a problem.

I believe you got something together incorrectly.

well I went and got the manual and what I didnt do was adjust the shoes
after assembly.

It said to use a screw driver and adjust the shoes so the drum does not
move --then back off the shoes so it does.
I did it on both sides and it seems allright.
thanks.

All due respect here, brake work performed by a novice is dangerous at
best!!
"Stinger" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> well I went and got the manual and what I didnt do was adjust the shoes
> after assembly.
>
> It said to use a screw driver and adjust the shoes so the drum does not
> move --then back off the shoes so it does.
> I did it on both sides and it seems allright.
> thanks.
>
>



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Stinger wrote:
> well I went and got the manual and what I didnt do was adjust the shoes
> after assembly.
>
> It said to use a screw driver and adjust the shoes so the drum does not
> move --then back off the shoes so it does.
> I did it on both sides and it seems allright.
> thanks.
>

Adjust the shoes UNTIL YOU CANNOT MOVE THE STAR WHEEL ANY MORE and then
back off until there's a faint drag. Not completely centering the shoes
can cause the brakes to be under-adjusted.

If you had wheel cylinders come apart, I hope that you THOROUGHLY soaked
the shoes in brakleen to get all brake fluid residue off, otherwise you
will have sticky, grabby brakes.

good luck,

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

On 3 Aug 2005 13:33:50 -0700, "Stinger" > wrote:

>99 Neon
>replaced rear brake lines, wheel cylinder and shoes.
>while driving lost pressure in pedal. noticed brake fluid loss from
>rear passenger tire. Took off drum and saw that the wheel cylinder had
>come apart causing the fluid leak.
>
>I cant figure out why the shoes are expanding too much.
>
> If the drum needs to be replaced why didnt it happen before? New shoes
>would mean less space between drum and shoe, right? is there a way to
>tell if the adjuster lever is correctly installed?
>
>when pumping brake, with the drum off, the shoes expand and the wheel
>cylinder will come apart-- because the drum is not on right? or did I
>mess up the adjuster level position?
>
>I'll go get the drums measured and see if there is the problem.
>Thanks.
>-Matt

Sounds like they aren't put back together right from here. The
adjuster should be adjusted to the point that the rear brakes drag and
then backed off just enough to stop the drag.

Steve B.

If they don't hold and you notice the pedal dropping quickly, you could
have the star wheels on the wrong sides. There is a right and a left
adjuster.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Stinger wrote:
>
> well I went and got the manual and what I didnt do was adjust the shoes
> after assembly.
>
> It said to use a screw driver and adjust the shoes so the drum does not
> move --then back off the shoes so it does.
> I did it on both sides and it seems allright.
> thanks.