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Tried to remove brake drum w/ e-brake engage

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by T.S. Elliot, Aug 8, 2017.

  1. T.S. Elliot

    T.S. Elliot Junior Member

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    I was rotating the tires on my Gen 2 this weekend so I decided to pop the drums and inspect/clean. First one goes fine. As I'm tightening the wheel back on, my friend asks to set the ebrake. I thought nothing of it and said sure. Go try to remove the next one now with the ebrake on. Fought for a bit and tried to get it off with the bolts. F*&^. So pissed off. Now the car is making a slight grumbling/groaning noise that sounds almost like a bad wheel bearing. The brakes seem to work fine. The only thing I have noticed is that the brakes squeak when stopping from reverse. Not sure if that is normal or not. Any ideas on what could have been damaged? Car still pulls straight and doesn't shimmy, but the groaning noise has me worried. I can also feel a slight vibration in the floor of the car at highway speed. These are slight so I am worried that a mechanic may not notice them enough to diagnose, but I am certain that they were not there before. Any ideas? Do Toyota dealers charge to diagnose?
     
    #1 T.S. Elliot, Aug 8, 2017
  2. WilDavis

    WilDavis Senior Member

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    Why did your friend ask to set the e-brake? (just curious o_O) The e-brake engages a pawl against a gear in the transmission which really has nothing to do with the rear brake-drums.

    For safety, I would have used chocks on the front wheels, a floor-jack, and two axle-stands positioned in front of the rear wheels close to the jacking points normally used by the jack supplied with the car. Wheels off, drums off, no problems! (…just sayin' ;))
     
    #2 WilDavis, Aug 8, 2017
  3. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    I would ask the same question. However I would also ask why the OP tried to remove the brake drum knowing that the parking brake was set.

    No. The P range in the gear selector sets the parking pawl in the transaxle. When the small foot pedal to the far left of the driver's side footwell is depressed, that sets the emergency brake which expands the brake shoes to hold the rear wheels stationary.

    It is possible that alignment of the brake shoes was disrupted by the effort to remove the brake drum while the shoes were in contact with the drum, thus resulting in unusual noise perceived by the OP. Each brake shoe contacts the circular backing plate at three spots. Perhaps it would help to remove the shoes, clean them, lubricate the points where the metal frame of the shoes contact the backing plate, then reassemble.
     
    #3 Patrick Wong, Aug 8, 2017
    Last edited: Aug 8, 2017
    ih8spm, Raytheeagle and WilDavis like this.
  4. WilDavis

    WilDavis Senior Member

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    Ooooops! (brain fart!) ;) If my brain had not been so gaseous, I'd have realized my error! Sorry! (I only use the parking brake when the car is parked on a slope! Most of the time, I rely on the "P" pawl! Thanks for spotting my boob! :eek: ;)
     
    #4 WilDavis, Aug 8, 2017
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  5. T.S. Elliot

    T.S. Elliot Junior Member

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    Thanks for the reply. My friend set the e-brake because the tire was spinning a bit when I was putting the lug nuts back on. I did not realize that the e-brake was on. Had I done so, I never would have tried to remove the drum. I will take the drum off, and inspect again. Do you know of a guide online to do what you described? Never messed with shoes before. I remember this thread was great, but the pics are gone now :( Rear Brake Clean and Adjust | PriusChat

    When the drum removal was attempted, it pulled the shoes out quite a bit. Could it be possible that the edge of the shoes are contacting the rotating brake drum?
     
    #5 T.S. Elliot, Aug 9, 2017
  6. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Factory repair manual at techinfo.toyota.com
     
    #6 Patrick Wong, Aug 9, 2017
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