2005 TD4 rear brake clicking and scraping - Solved

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kernowsvenski

kernowsvenski

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Recently my left rear brake drum has been making a sort of light scraping noise and I can hear clicking when coming to a stop. The handbrake performance is also poor. New shoes and drums were the order of the day I thought, followed by cable adjustment.

I made the necessary purchase including a new spring kit. Anyway, on removing the drum I found plenty of friction material left (nearly as much as on the new shoes) and all the springs are in good nick. There were some metal filings in the drum that appear to have come from the adjuster ratchet, but that too looks in good nick. Other than that there was a large amount of dust. Can anyone spot anything amiss in the pic or offer any thoughts?

20190331_103105.jpg
 
kernowsvenski said:
Can anyone spot anything amiss in the pic or offer any thoughts?
Click to expand...

The drum is worn. But everything is assembled correctly.

Normally the cause of the scraping sound is due to the back plate splash shield being rusted. When they rust though, they fall off and get trapped between the drum and back plate. So check the splash guards are complete and pull off any loose or crumbling sections.
 
Nodge68 said:
The drum is worn. But everything is assembled correctly.

Normally the cause of the scraping sound is due to the back plate splash shield being rusted. When they rust though, they fall off and get trapped between the drum and back plate. So check the splash guards are complete and pull off any loose or crumbling sections.
Click to expand...
Ideal. A thorough clean and scrape off any rust and I'll pop the new drums on. Is it worth me winding back the adjuster?
 
kernowsvenski said:
Is it worth me winding back the adjuster?
Click to expand...

I'd actually take the whole assembly apart for cleaning/ de-rusting. The raised shoe stands (The flat top humps with dimples) need to be shiny and lubricated with a smear of copper grease. I'd also clean the adjuster and lubricate that with copper grease too.
 
Nodge68 said:
I'd actually take the whole assembly apart for cleaning/ de-rusting. The raised shoe stands (The flat top humps with dimples) need to be shiny and lubricated with a smear of copper grease. I'd also clean the adjuster and lubricate that with copper grease too.
Click to expand...
I'm going to have to do that I think. Before I started the near side was getting a bit warm so something was not quite right.Today I just gave everything a good clean, degrease and scrub - but with the shoes in place. I put the new drums on and adjusted the handbrake but the near side drum is still getting a bit too warm.
 
Did you clean the back plate where the shoe sits? If that's corroded, then the shoes can't retract correctly. Did you fit new shoes to go with the new drum?
 
Nodge68 said:
Did you clean the back plate where the shoe sits? If that's corroded, then the shoes can't retract correctly. Did you fit new shoes to go with the new drum?
Click to expand...
No to both of those. The existing shoes had virtually as much friction material on them as the new ones so I left them on. I'll definitely need to take them off and clean and lube everything up as you've said
 
kernowsvenski said:
The existing shoes had virtually as much friction material on them as the new ones so I left them on.
Click to expand...

The problem with doing that, is the old shoes have worn to the profile of the old drum. If you look at the picture of your shoes, there's less material in the middle of the shoe, then at the ends. This is due to the shoes wearing to larger diameter of the worn drum. If you fit just a new drum, the old shoes will only touch the drum on the ends, leaving the centre off the drum completely. This will make the brakes less effective, then if the old drum was still fitted. It'll also overheat the drum and shoes, as there's less material in contact, increasing the heat in localised spots.

So definitely fit new shoes and clean/ lube the contact points.

I did a full rebuild of mine for the last MOT. The tester said he's never seen such high brake readings on his Tapley brake gauge.
 
Nodge68 said:
The problem with doing that, is the old shoes have worn to the profile of the old drum. If you look at the picture of your shoes, there's less material in the middle of the shoe, then at the ends. This is due to the shoes wearing to larger diameter of the worn drum. If you fit just a new drum, the old shoes will only touch the drum on the ends, leaving the centre off the drum completely. This will make the brakes less effective, then if the old drum was still fitted. It'll also overheat the drum and shoes, as there's less material in contact, increasing the heat in localised spots.

So definitely fit new shoes and clean/ lube the contact points.

I did a full rebuild of mine for the last MOT. The tester said he's never seen such high brake readings on his Tapley brake gauge.
Click to expand...
That'll be the job next weekend then! ;)
 
Did mine last week, including a cylinder replacement. Copperslip, or Mintex (my preference) as others recommend. My input is check the auto adjuster teeth are clean so the spring loaded cam has something to work on. Make sure the auto adjusters are on the correct wheel; they are handed. Also make sure the cam engages well with the teeth of the adjuster; one of mine needed a bit of judicious bending to get it to engage properly.
I balanced left and right brakes using the slot at the back of the hub and a screwdriver to turn the adjuster manually. With 3 clicks on the handbrake I adjusted them until the brakes just started to touch. Went for a test drive and nothing got too hot and the handbrake worked fine.
 
All sorted. New drums off this eve. A really thorough de-rust and clean. New shoes and spring set fitted after a coating of lube in all the right locations. Adjusted up lovely and no heating up of either drum. If a job is worth doing...

I hate doing shoes though. Getting the bottom spring on is a bit fiddly
 
If you don't need to replace the cylinders, which results in the need to bleed the system, I found replacing the rear brakes a very enjoyable task. You can squat or sit on your bum and everything is right in front of you. You don't need to clamber under the thing, there's no fluids going to run down your arm and only 1 screw that will refuse to budge! There are challenges to overcome, like pulling the shoes into place without losing your finger tips and getting those clips on the pins without exhausting your complete vocabulary of naughty words, so its not seen as a 'simple job', but one anyone should be able to do.

Much prefer doing them than the fronts! The fronts 'should' be a simple job 10 minute job - pull the old pads out pop the new ones in and you're away. But there always seems to be problems with them along the way, getting bolts undone, getting the calipers open enough to get them back on, stuff seized and something else new every time!
 
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