[riber3]

For thise in the know cleaning a car can be dangerous!!! Especially if it hasn't been done in a while LOL!!!

Whilst cleaning underneath the car I noticed that the Brake Compensator Valve Adjustment arm was hanging off probably due to the amount of crud that was around it.

I also noticed that the amount of adjustment was about halfway up the threaded bar but since the other end was not in its locating slot it would make any difference.

Anyhow I know very little about these and was wondering if apart from balancing out the rear braking does it have any effect on Handbrake Performance?

The reason for asking as the handbrake is pretty good but since my old man likes to drive it up a very big hill when going to his hospital appointments he says it won't hold very well. Before you ask Yes I did tell him to take a different route LOL!!!

I have just jacked up the car and checked the handbrake and I all seems ok wheels lock and I can hardly turn them by hand or by wheel brace in fact the nearside nuts started to undo. The tyres are ok but not perfect and before I start changing handrake cables etc I hope someone maybe able to tell me about the Compensator Valve etc

 

[noddy-hol]

HI...that valve just lets more or less brake fluid to the rear brakes depending on how loaded the car is...ah...405 those were the days...wish i could find mine again..

 

[riber3]

HI...that valve just lets more or less brake fluid to the rear brakes depending on how loaded the car is...ah...405 those were the days...wish i could find mine again..

Many Thanks for the info I will reconect the rod again and have a think about the handbrake

 

[noddy-hol]

my old f reg 405 had drums....has yours got discs?

 

[riber3]

I wished it had but sadly no its got Drums and shoes

 

[noddy-hol]

ah....so check the rear brake shoe wear and adjustment befoore adjusting/replacing the handbrake cables.....self adjusing means you adjust them yourself...lol

 

[WillNZ]

Take the drums and shoes off and check that the shoe's friction lining fits perfectly against the drum's inner braking surface. Check the wear pattern on the friction material and see if there is even wear across the whole width/length of the surface.

Often, folk replace the shoes without getting the shoes resized to the drum, this has the effect of lessening the braking effort as the contact surface area is reduced.

The composition of the friction material also has an effect on the braking effort.

If you find a less than perfect wear across all surfaces of the shoes, get them relined with a decent [maybe softer] friction material and make sure the shoes are correctly sized to the drums. Get the drums skimmed if necessary if they are out of round or have a wear lip on the outer edges.

As noddy says, the valve is only for the foot brake, not the hand brake.

 

[riber3]

I did follow WillNZ's advice beforehand and the shoes are in good condittion but I did notice that the offside cable was kinked and the main cable was stretched (See photo) sorry its not a great photo but you can see there is about 6 inches of damage. The offside cable also had wear so I replaced the lot and iit is now a hell of a lot better so thank you to everyone for your help and advice.

I did notice that the offside drum does need a bit more adjustment on the drum but I will recheck again in a couple of weeks when its all bedded in.