Hi guys.

I need to adjust the handbrake on my TE since when it is all the way on, it is almost vertical and is actually only just on. When I park on a hill the car is only stopped by the park brake which is obviously not so good. Can anyone tell me how to do it/what to adjust? Also, would it be right to adjust it? Would it be the drum (it is a drum right?) that has worn or is it that the cable has stretched? I mean is it safe and would it be better to purchase a new cable assuming it has stretched?

I need to adjust the handbrake


PM TbuTcher if he wants to talk to you. We had a big info session from him on the last BP Coomera Cruz. He uses his quite a lot and knows the best way to do it. Don't just adjust the bit under your floor console as this just tugs on the cables. You need to reset the stops on the brake so that is both rear rims off and a bit of black hand work. Ask him for details.

If it is that serious, the nut to adjust the cables will probably do nothing, but to adjust the cable by tightening the nut can be accessed by lifting up the plastic container/ and you can access the nut then. (in your centre console)

Good luck, DO NO OVER TIGHTEN.

PM TbuTcher if he wants to talk to you. We had a big info session from him on the last BP Coomera Cruz. He uses his quite a lot and knows the best way to do it. Don't just adjust the bit under your floor console as this just tugs on the cables. You need to reset the stops on the brake so that is both rear rims off and a bit of black hand work. Ask him for details.
All Paw is correct in that it is a bit invoved and requires getting your hands dirty. I just had a quick look at my Gregoreys manual and it is explained pretty throughly. My tip is spend the measley 50 bucks and get the manual. it will pay for itself many times over in the long run.

Cheers
Nigel

Chock front wheels and release handbrake
open centre console
remove tray
using a 10mm spanner loosen off the cable a few turns... I did mine around 3-5 full turns.
Jack up rear
remove both wheels
remove the two main bolts that hold on the caliper to the rear hub. (14mm from mem)
try and pull of the rotor (if you cannot get it off with some pushing and pulling and groaning.. then you will have to get a 12mm bolt and screw it into the two holes you can see in the centre of the disc... (between the studs) this will force the disc off the hub.
once the rotor is removed you will see at the top of the inside of the assemble, where the two brake drum pads meet there is a little ridged threded disc.. this will force the pads apart if you rotate it one way and it will pull them closer if rotated in the other direction.
Simply turn this with a flat blade screwdriver to seperate the pads (making them tighter on the inside of the drum..
Refit the rotor and try and get a nice snug fit..
Once you have the snug fit, loosen it off one click and refit the rotor the caliper and teh wheels
tighten up the inside cable until the handbrake lever is nice and firm...
refit the console box.

Thats what I did and now I have a nice firm handbrake that can lock up the wheels at around 100km/h no probs :D
Goodluck
Haydn

Hey, I did this on the Vienta when we first got it in 1997. It also has drums in the rear discs for the handbrake. What you should find is that there is a hole in the drum part of the disc that will line up with the adjuster for the handbrake shoes, when you rotate the hub. There should be no need to take the disc off, as adjusting drum brakes with the drum off can make it extremely hard to put it back on, then you have to back off the adjuster again.

Adjust it until the hub will not turn, then click it back one or two notches until it spins freely again. You may then find you have to adjust the cable inside to get the handle right too.

Use a long thin flat blade screwdriver to click the wheel over.

Hey, I did this on the Vienta when we first got it in 1997........
Thats great for THAT car.. But the Magna Does NOT have a hole in the back of the hub.. it has instead a strut and a suspension Arm.
Thanks anyway.
Haydn

Thats great for THAT car.. But the Magna Does NOT have a hole in the back of the hub.. it has instead a strut and a suspension Arm.
Thanks anyway.
Haydn

My TF does, thats how I got mine adjusted, there was a small gromet looking rubber peice that covers the hole on the hub :D

My TF does, thats how I got mine adjusted, there was a small gromet looking rubber peice that covers the hole on the hub :D
On the backside of the hub?
I looked back there pretty hard....
Mine is a TE.. but Id expect it to be the same..
I was supprised that there wasnt one... so maybe mine was fully caked over with crap..
I stand corrected if it is there.. (it makes sence to have one) If someone has a picture of this area it would be great.

Haydn

No, not the back of the brake backing plate, on the front, when you take the wheel off. Sorry if I intended the wrong thing. My old Morris minor with 4xdrum brakes had an adjusting hole on the front of the drum too. Same principle applied for the Vienta. I know it's not a Magna, but I had hoped to reduce the work involved in removing a caliper and disc. It's worth looking for.

When I first got my 96 TE you really had to wrench the handbrake up to get it to stop (so much so that the cable was getting caught on something so it wouldn't release if you tried to reverse). Anyway, my Dad and I followed the instructions in the Greogory's service manual to adjust it, and a couple of months later I performed the same thing on a friend's 97 TE. Here's what the Service Manual says to do:

1. With the centre console tray removed and the handbrake released, make sure the cables are slack. If necessary, loosen the cable using the adjusting nut until there is no tension on the cables.
2. Raise the rear of the vehicle on chassis stands. Remove rear wheels.
3. Remove the adjustment hole plug in the disc and align the hole with the adjuster nut. The nut is at the top for sedans and at the bottom for station wagons.
4. Using a flat-bladed screwdriver, turn the adjuster nut in increments until the disc will not rotate. Turn the adjuster nut in the opposite direction 5 notches, ensuring that the disc rotates without binding. (Repeat this for the wheel on the other side of the car, obviously)
5. Apply the handbrake to centralise the shoes and check the adjustment. If necessary, turn the cable adjustment nut (in the console) until the handbrake lever travel is 3-5 notches.
6. Check that with the handbrake released both rear wheels are free to rotate.
7. Check the handbrake operation with the vehicle parked on an incline. If unsatisfactory, remove the rear disc as described later in this chapter and check the handbrake shoes and actuators (which my Dad and I did actually have to do when we realised that the handbrake kept loosening itself off, even once we'd adjusted it).

If you need to go this far, then buy the Service Manual. In fact, if you intend to do anything mechanical to your car by yourself, then go and get a Service Manual. I know guys who have two or more different versions of the service manual (both Gregory's and Haynes). It's worth the $30 or so dollars.

Someone do mine for me.

Someone do mine for me.
Its easy man here is teh brake assembly and then there is the spindle.

Hey thanks guys. The threads a bit longer than last time I saw it.. I'd have replied sooner but I've been really busy with work.

It doesn't seem too complicated for someone like myself but I'll need some chassis stands and some spare time.. heck I think I'll just give in and buy the manual too.

I'll reply here when I've got it all done :)

Its easy man here is teh brake assembly and then there is the spindle.
I still cannot see this serviceing hole that is being refered to all the time?
Since My rotor does not have a hole in it other thatn the 2 thread holes used to get the rotor off.
Still reckon that the rotor ha to come off...
If the rubber bung is on the inside of the wheel then I can maybe think I missed it...
But if it is supposed to be on the front of the rotor... then I dont think so :(

Haydn

edit...
OK IM EATING MY WORDS!!!!!!!
I have just found the pics I have been looking all 10 min for (well it felt like a long time :D)
here is a couple of pics I took of me trying out some new rotors :D
in both case I have circled the rubber plug as discussed in the above posts...
The only problem I see with my plugs ... is that they have been pushed from the inside out not outside in...
It looks like if I tride to remove them from the outside I might end up forcing them into the centre of the drum...
Unless you can maybe pullthem out with needle nose.. grabbing the edge of the rubber and then into the centre of the plug..

Anyway hope this helps

Goodluck
Haydn

PSS
NO Im not telling you what the new rotors are/where... ther is no point.. they wont fit anyway! :P

It doesn't seem too complicated for someone like myself but I'll need some chassis stands and some spare time..
While it is safer to use chassis stands, and while they are a great investment (and not too expensive either), you can do this procedure without them. Both of the times I was involved in adjusting a Magna's handbrake I just used my jack and did it one side at a time.

Spare time however is very rare and comes at a price. lol

Hey guys, I know that this is like.....6 years after this thread was last posted on, but i had the same problem as Imitation. I have a service manual, and me and my stepdad pulled the drums all apart, and adjusted the handbrake as you usually would etc., but with absolutely no result. In fact, the car is even worse than when we started. When adjusting the shoe spindles, we would turn them to an appropriate extent, but we found that when we tightened up the adjuster cable under the console, either one wheel would lock up, or the other would. And when I mean lock up, I just mean resist turning. There is no way it would hold. It's a 97 KF Ei Verada. The current plan, is to, when i get some money, get some new shoes for the drums. Does anyone know roughly what they would cost by the way? Whilst I'm here?
But any help would be appreciated, because I can't see any stretch in the cables, or any other reason for this system not to work. I have rego in a few months, and it won't look good if I don't have a handbrake haha.
Cheers