greenleg88 Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 97 legacy L sedan 158k miles How do I tighten the parking brake? The screw and nut on the lever holding the cable on is pretty much at the end. How do I do it from under the car? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Legacy L - that should be rear drum brakes right? Not that it matters - but just in case i'm forgetting something. Most likely you'll need to get the car off the ground, but I actually haven't tried to do it yet, maybe there's room just crawling around. On the smaller Legacy L probably need to get it off the ground. On the bottom of the hub assembly, looking from the inside out is a tiny rubber plug over an access hole. there's toothed "gear" in there that you can rotate to tighten the e-brake. i need to do this on two of my vehicles and haven't yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNY_Dave Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 97 legacy L sedan 158k milesHow do I tighten the parking brake? The screw and nut on the lever holding the cable on is pretty much at the end. How do I do it from under the car? Thanks. Drum rears should be self-adjusting enough so that you don't need to adjust the star wheel as grossgary describes. (rear disk with the little internal drum are not self adjusting). Most likely, you either never back up and come to a full stop with the brakes, the adjuster is sticking (and manually adjusting it may free it up) or the brakes are just about worn out. The auto adjust works when you roll backwards with the brakes on and come to a stop, either backing up or stopping on an uphill and getting that little bit of 'rollback'. Does the brake pedal seem to engage a bit low? That's a sign the rears are out of adjustment or worn out. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenleg88 Posted June 5, 2009 Author Share Posted June 5, 2009 Well first it's got rear discs. They're a little worn but have some life left. Do rear discs have a star wheel to adjust? I've nvr seen how it all works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 yes, rear discs definitely have the little star/gear shaped adjusment wheel i was speaking of. i've seen them when taking apart the brakes for wheel bearing work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNY_Dave Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Drum rears should be self-adjusting enough so that you don't need to adjust the star wheel as grossgary describes. (rear disk with the little internal drum are not self adjusting). Most likely, you either never back up and come to a full stop with the brakes, the adjuster is sticking (and manually adjusting it may free it up) or the brakes are just about worn out. The auto adjust works when you roll backwards with the brakes on and come to a stop, either backing up or stopping on an uphill and getting that little bit of 'rollback'. Does the brake pedal seem to engage a bit low? That's a sign the rears are out of adjustment or worn out. Dave </Gilda> Nevermind... <Gilda/> Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 I just did this today to my 2002 OBW which is the same as my 1996 Legacy LSi. It was extremely simple. You can do it without removing the wheels - nice hit!! Rubber plug is just under the rear axle, it's about an inch long and 1/4" wide, just pull it/pry it out. I already had the car up off the ground for doing the rear brakes, so I don't know if you can do it with the car on the ground. Mine being an OBW I bet you could, there's tons of room under it. My LSI and similar lower cars probably would be tight getting to it. The hub on the drivers side of mine had an arrow pointing "up". I assume that was the proper direction to turn the star wheel, and it was. Not sure if they all have that, but "up" will be the right way for them all. Make sure the emergency brake is "off" while you're adjusting it. Use a screw driver to push the gears on the wheel "up". Have a flash light handy to look in there and see what I'm talking about. It was really simple. I just did mine by feel. I kept rotating one side until it started to get harder, there was a point where it did. It doesn't need to be very tight at all, since the e-brake handle in the car is going to pull the slack out. Then i stopped once it got harder to push the teeth. Did the same to the other side so hopefully they're about the same. Might be a good idea to count the number of teeth you push if you want to keep both sides identical. You can of course check by putting on the brake with the wheel off the ground and making sure it doesn't turn. With the car already off the ground it only took a minute or two per side, very easy. But i had also seen the bits and wheel before when doing other work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenleg88 Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 awesome. thanks for the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainman19154 Posted June 9, 2010 Share Posted June 9, 2010 '95 Lego AWD wagon, 4 wheel disc I just replaced my Parking Brake shoes and have endeavored to do the star wheel adjustment. ... what a PITA. Very simple in concept but i wasn't able to get an angle on the star wheel because of the ??drag link?? that hangs right in line with the plug. Is a stubby screwdriver adequate for gettng in there for the adjustment? Right now, I've used the adjusting nut at the handle end of the cable and that's gotten the brake working. However, I took up enough slack there that I know I'd be better off using the star wheel. BTW the rotor/drums were new about 3000 miles ago... I didn't know about the parking brake system when buying my parts. When I pulled the rotors off and saw the wornout shoes inside, I just made a mental note to get back later to doing them. I never use the parking brake and the inside of the drums are still virtually new. Now with new shoes, I want it all to be correct. I've worked on the older American cars with drum brakes. There was the adjuster that had to pushed aside while the star wheel was turned but the hole was larger and it was mostly a straight shot through the opening to get the adjuster mechanism. On this Legacy, that suspension peice hanging there makes it really difficult. Does anyone have an insight as to what I'm not doing right? Thx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 YOu need a brake spoon. It is made specifically for this as it is S shaped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-3-2-4 Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 Yep what nipper said you need a brake spoon.. it's one of those tools that's helpful but will hardly ever get used when your done with it. Speaking of that I just went to look for mine and it's not in my tool box. I was going to post a picture but you can check on google. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 I need to get one too as it has been ages since I have done drum brakes, or is it a brake spork now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-3-2-4 Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 lol I picked up one way back in 2007 For when I had my impreza only to find out that it had rear drum brakes which are self adjusting... I only used it for the first time on my Legacy... speaking of that my parking brake does not hold if it's not in gear I did adjust the star wheel.. but the reason why it wont hold is the passenger rear with the parking brake on you can still get the wheel to move (jacked up) I mean I can't turn it but I can slightly move it.. anyways Since I'm about to buy all new rotors I figure I would do the parking brakes... I mean who knows if the last 3 owners drove around with the parking brake on... only thing is I can't find the post here where it lists the part number on rockauto for the right brake shoe.. looking now for it which is how I also ran into this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 lol I picked up one way back in 2007 For when I had my impreza only to find out that it had rear drum brakes which are self adjusting... I only used it for the first time on my Legacy... speaking of that my parking brake does not hold if it's not in gear I did adjust the star wheel.. but the reason why it wont hold is the passenger rear with the parking brake on you can still get the wheel to move (jacked up) I mean I can't turn it but I can slightly move it.. anyways Since I'm about to buy all new rotors I figure I would do the parking brakes... I mean who knows if the last 3 owners drove around with the parking brake on... only thing is I can't find the post here where it lists the part number on rockauto for the right brake shoe.. looking now for it which is how I also ran into this thread. would wait till you take a look at it, it may be as simple as a frozen adjuster. I cant adjust mine till I get my rear wheel bearing fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-3-2-4 Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 Yeah I was going to wait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainman19154 Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 On the Legacy with four wheel discs, the rear rotors include a drum in the casting. The drums are only for the parking/emergency brakes. THERE IS NO AUTO ADJUSTING MECHANISM. Cars with drum brakes have an adjuster that will tighten the setting as you apply the brakes in reverse. These parking brakes on the Legacys do not have the auto adjuster. You must do it manually through the backing plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-3-2-4 Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 I know that I've already done it twice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-3-2-4 Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 Crap I need help, myself did my rear rotors but adjusting the star wheel does not make contact inside the rotor hub im pushing the star wheel upwards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnW Posted September 1, 2010 Share Posted September 1, 2010 Sometimes its just a matter of turning it a lot of times. It may help to remove the rotor and look inside to make sure all the pieces are still clipped in and such as well. I do the adjustment this way: Jack car up as high as I can. Jackstands. Set cable to 6 clicks on handle end. Check that wheels still spin with brake engaged. Release handle. Adjust star wheel until wheel will not turn anymore with handle down. Then back it off until the wheel will turn plus one more star push down. Do other side. Check handle make sure still holds car at 6 clicks or less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Injulen Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Do the threads on the drawbridge adjuster change from side to side? If on the driver side hub you turn the wheel up to tighten, wouldn't it be on the passenger side you turn the wheel down to tighten? This would not be the case if the part is side specific and the passenger side adjuster has reverse threads. I ask because I am doing this right now and am confused on this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 What I have done in the past is remove rotor and inspect everything and clean the adjusters. If you do that it does make life easier to adjust the brake shoes. You get a visual on what is going on too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNY_Dave Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Do the threads on the drawbridge adjuster change from side to side? If on the driver side hub you turn the wheel up to tighten, wouldn't it be on the passenger side you turn the wheel down to tighten? This would not be the case if the part is side specific and the passenger side adjuster has reverse threads. I ask because I am doing this right now and am confused on this point. I am 99% sure if on one side the wheel goes 'up' to tighten it, the other side is the same. They could use the same part and just swap which end points forwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wirelessenabled Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Just did my daughter's 2002 Legacy. Both sides go up. It is stamped right there on the backing plate and turning both star wheels up tightened up the parking brake nicely, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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