Rear Brakes and adjustment

Hobbit has a great article on how the self-adjusting brakes work. You're right in that there's no manual adjustment. I suppose your dealer is going to suggest changing the power steering fluid next.

 

I am presuming you have a North American Prius with drum brakes in the rear. If so....
The rear brakes are auto-adjusting, but you -can- manually adjust them as well. If you do, the auto-adjusters will eventually set them the way it was designed to. The manual adjusters are to get it out of trouble if the auto-adjusters mess up (usually happens due to corrosion or dirt).

If you have rear disk brakes (European car) they are not adjustable. Disk brakes are automatically advanced as they wear, and are automatically pulled back from the rotor by the seals when you release the hydraulic pressure.

 

If they are out of adjustment, it should be covered under warranty. I have 121,000 on my 05 prius and have never adjusted the brakes, in fact the fronts are still original and from the looks of them will go to at least 250,000 or beyond!

 

I have over 25,000 miles on my '06. The parking brake seemed very low to me. The dealer adjusted the rear brakes to raise the parking brake. I don't know if that is part of the same rear break system. If it is, in my case, manual adjustment was necessar.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(The Package @ Oct 17 2007, 08:24 PM) [snapback]527143[/snapback]</div>

Yes, it's part of the rear brake system. The parking brake pulls on the adjuster mechanism to set the rear brakes, but plays no part in adjusting them. The rear brakes (in the U.S.) adjust every time you press on the brakes, as needed. There is no need for manual adjustment, unless repairs are needed.

Tom

 

the self-adjust isn't necessarily perfect. sometimes they do require adjustment. ours is checked every time the rear wheels are off- on one occasion one side was in perfect adjustment and the other was totally out of whack.

 

If you live in an area where road salt is liberally sprinkled all winter long, your "self adjusting" rear drum brakes *will* stop working. As Hobbitt mentioned, it's a good idea to take apart the brake, clean, and lube everything.

So far no problems with my Prius.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ Oct 17 2007, 08:33 PM) [snapback]527150[/snapback]</div>

Please correct me if I'm wrong but don't the automatic adjusters only work when you are in going in reverse and step on the brake.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BuddyL @ Oct 19 2007, 06:10 PM) [snapback]528027[/snapback]</div>

Okay, I will. Hobbit's article which is referenced above clearly says that he demonstrates that moving forward
and braking activates the self adjustment mechanism in the Prius. There are cars which have the self adjustment mechanism as you suggest.

 

Disc brakes self adjust forward and backward, oh sorry I forgot that in the US you only get discs on the rear of the touring model. (I think)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Oct 20 2007, 02:05 AM) [snapback]528125[/snapback]</div>

No rear disk brakes in the U.S. and Canada, even on the Touring model.

 

Sitting still and activating the regular brakes invokes self-adjust
too, which is why I'm in that silly position in one of the pix to
hear the click as the tang jumps a tooth.
.
But if your adjuster screws are rusted to a standstill, all bets
are off.
.
_H*

 

Don't wait too long. If the dealer tech noticed the rear wheels dragging the brakes you could end up cooking them. Just jack up each rear wheel with the e-brake released (front wheels well chocked on level ground) and see if the wheel turns easily. If so, you can wait until you have time to disassemble to clean and lube the brake components.