Forgotton Hand Brake!

[rssh 59]

What happens to the drum brakes when one forgets to remove handbrake apart for engine strain .Will the drum brake be changed if we don't get good braking later on.

[anjan_c2007 1]

Oh God! that reminds me of my little Maruti 800 that when new was driven for about 5 kms with the handbrake engaged. The engine overheated but nowhere as compared to the old Jeeps (including a Mahindra pickup FC 160 ), Ambassadors and Fiats that I've faced with heated engines. The Mahindra's (this was the FC 160 - petrol driven, they also had a FC 260 D diesel option)engine was in the drivers cabin and as i was new I opened  the radiator cap and steaming water splashed and hit the cardboard roof inner lining and burnt my hand. I was saved as a splash on the body or face would have been deadly.

Compared to all this the Maruti 800 other than showing a heated meter on the dash felt nothing like these very very angry and heated up older automobiles.

But very soon I had to replace the two rear drum brake pads as sometimes these would  engage and disengage at their whims.

[sgiitk 0]

You will wear out the lining. Unless something drastic has happeded, you have added wear to the typres, and brake linings.

[pryas 0]

Incase this has happened to you , there is no much of a harm , but its always better to visit your maruti Dealer , he will be having better ideas

 

Regards,

Priya

[sgiitk 0]

Incase this has happened to you ' date=' there is no much of a harm , but its always better to visit your maruti Dealer , he will be having better ideas [/quote']

I would not bother since it is only a very short distance. If it were >100km I would get the linings checked.

[rssh 59]

Well would wheel alignment be recommanded and brake pad changed if the brake makes squeeking noise.

[sgiitk 0]

Alignment should not be disturbed. The brake squeal coule be due to the linings getting glazed, and this should clear in time. One common practice is also to lightly emery/sand the linings. This is not strictly recommended since any emery particles embedded in the linings can scratch the drums. However, if the linings are worn out then they have to be replaced. On a drum brake you can normally get a 'dekko' after just removing the wheels as there are small openings in the drum periphery.

[rssh 59]

Hey even after checking the brake pads they aren't worn but the braking power has become less what might be the reason.

[sgiitk 0]

Glazing of the pads. See my previous post about mildly abrading the surface. I am not 100% sure whether in a few days the glaze will wear off, it should at least reduce. In any case over 70% of the braking comes from the front (discs) which are undisturbed since the handbrake does not apply on these. So may be you are imagining the effect to be worse than it actually is.

[rssh 59]

Not really the brakes are not as effective now.

[sgiitk 0]

In that case either changing or abrading the rear linings is the only option. Even though abrading is discouraged it is a fairly common practice (see that he uses a file or emery rather than sand paper). Before I knew better in once  the mechanic lightly filed the linings before putting in newly lined shoes (that was when these were riveted on).