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Ford Focus 1.6 2007 - Rear brake drum binding - argybargy

Hi all

Discovered this evening that the shoes on my offside rear drum are binding.

Coincidentally (or maybe not) I'd booked the car into a local garage next week to have the handbrake cable adjusted because it only holds the car satisfactorily on a steep hill on the final notch, but this evening after a journey of about 3 miles I got out of the car and noticed the tell tale smell of burning brake linings.

One drum was cool but the other was red hot, and so was the alloy. I took the relevant drum off and gave everything a good blast with brake cleaner, but as soon as I put it all back together, applied the handbrake and then released it, it was obvious that the solution was nothing so simple because the brakes stubbornly refused to release.

Made sense in a way because for a few days I'd felt that the car was "dragging" on the way up the steep hill that leads to our house, though it wasn't till tonight that I noticed the burning smell.

Question. Is this likely to be just about adjustment of the cable or could there be another reason? Don't want to drive the car too far till I get it sorted lest I end up paying for wheel bearings etc.

Cheers.

Edited by argybargy on 21/09/2016 at 21:30

Ford Focus 1.6 2007 - Rear brake drum binding - Galaxy

Sounds like your car needs a complete rear brake overhaul, not just the handbrake cable adjusting. I'm sure the garage will point this out when they examine the car more thoroughly when you take it in.

Ford Focus 1.6 2007 - Rear brake drum binding - argybargy

Possibly. Judging by the condition of the visible portion of the handbrake cable, my own uninformed guess is that the cable is beyond further adjustment and will need replacing.

No doubt, as you say, the garage will advise accordingly.