Hi,
I just finished installing new brake shoes and springs on the rear wheels of a 97 altima. I did everything according to the Chilton manual. But when I got to the part about adjusting the brakes by accessing the star wheel adjuster via a removable plug in the backing plate (the drums and wheels have been put back on), there’s no plug even close to the star wheel. THere are two rubber plugs both pretty far from it. The manual says you just need to adjust the brakes manually after changing shoes. What do I do? Thanks for any info,
Dan W.
I don’t know much about the Altima, but the way that I do it is by adjusting the shoes enough so that I can slip the drums on and be able to turn the drum without the shoes touching. When the car is on the ground, I start backing up and jamming on the breaks, this will adjust them enough. You may have to back up like that 3 or four times until you can feel a pretty good break. All rear wheel drum breaks are self adjusting and this is how they do it.
Thanks a lot. It took quite a number of back-ups because following the directions I backed the starwheel down as far as it went. But eventually it settled in and is fine now. Thanks again
-Dan W.
A lot of modern cars are using the parking brake mechanism to adjust the rear brakes. This adjuster mechanism usually does not use the cable from the anchor to the pawl of American autos. Also the parking brake actuated adjusters are usually on the upper part of the brake shoes. Try cycling the parking brake handle and see if the clearance diminishes.
Hope that helps.