A couple of MOT questions

[wehey]

Hiya all,
Took the beast in for an MOT today. All in all a good result but had a couple of small fails which i need advise on.

1. Nearside Rear brake recording little of no effort (3.7.A.4a) (3.7.A.7a)
2. Nearside Rear parking brake recording little or no effort (3.7.A.7a)
3. Parking brake efficiency below requirements (3.7.A.10)

Advisory:
Offside rear parking brake effort low

Now i know that the rear brake shoes need replacing as they are down to minimum. Do you think that replacing these will be enough to fix me up for a pass or are there other things that might need attention ie brake cylinders?

thanks in advance

 

[karlj]

change both cylinders and shoes it'll make life easier in the long run

 

[mjtm]

Adjust hand brake cable to will help with the effort side of it to

 

[sp13rsy]

check brake fluid levels as well

 

[Rob]

Cylinders are so so common on Micras.

New shoes, clean up brake drums and new cylinders with a brake fluid change will do you a treat.

Rob

 

[Rob]

PS just re-read your post.

You've failed on parking brake(handbrake) and foot brake so i'd expect maybe handbrake adjustment as already mentioned, but if you are changing shoes you'll be doing that anyway.

 

[wehey]

Thanks for all the advice guys.
Did all the work today. What a fiddly mother of a job that was!!!!!

The rear nearside cylinder was leaking and had contaminated the shoes, hence the problems.
All done now and ready for a re-test

It also gave me a chance to fit my wheels spacers

 

[Rob]

Sweet, well done matey.

 

[Rob]

Dont forget to work the handbrake a little bit when you get it back on the road, help bed the shoes in a bit.

 

[wehey]

Dont forget to work the handbrake a little bit when you get it back on the road, help bed the shoes in a bit.

Thanks mate, i will do that.
Just took it out for a spin after adjusting the handbrake and it still seems kinda crap. I guess it will need a bit of time to bed in?

 

[Rob]

The handbrake is crap? Are they holding ok on hills?

Have you adjusted the shoes correctly? Did you clean the inside of the drums?

 

[wehey]

Yeah i cleaned the drums and put it all back together correctly. I was just expecting it to be better than it is?

 

[Rob]

How bad is it? How does the handbrake feel when you pull it? Does it hold on hills?

 

[wehey]

It feels fine actually and does just about hold on hills if i really pull it up. Maybe i need to adjust it up a bit more. How many clicks should i expect before is sufficiently applied?

 

[Rob]

Leave if for a few miles and see if it improves.

I'd expect 3-4 clicks before locks the brake on matey.

 

[wehey]

Leave if for a few miles and see if it improves.

I'd expect 3-4 clicks before locks the brake on matey.

Ahhhh that could be the problem......it needs a bit more adjustment as it clicks many more than 3-4.
Thanks for all the help.....much appreciated

 

[Rob]

No worries matey.

Does the handbrake come up really high at the moment then?

 

[wehey]

Yep it does. I have adjusted it tons already but I guess it still needs more

 

[Rob]

That'll be the problem then matey. Get them adjusted up again other wise they will fail them again.

 

[wehey]

Will do. I was worried about overdoing it and causing them to drag. Gonna head out now and do it

 

[r-reg-sr]

Tighten all you want if you havent got the shoes up tight to drum it wont help, foot or hand brake