05 Camry, 2.4L, 47K. Vehicle parking brake barely holds while in Drive. How is this adjusted? On my 91 Corolla, the brake adjusts itself by pulling up on the handle. The Camry does not have this feature so does this have an adjustable cable? If so, where did they hide this adjuster?
You Really Should Have A Service Manual If You’re Doing Maintenance/Repairs And Don’t Know What You’re Doing. I Buy Them For Every One Of My Cars (For That Same Reason).
I Believe Helm Incorporated Has The Toyota Factory Manuals For Your Vehicle.
They’re quite pricey, but if you’re planning on keeping the car they’re well worth having. They will pay for themselves in savings.
www.helminc.com
My sources tell me that if you remove a rear portion of the console (where the brake lever is) you’ll find the cable adjusters. Loosen the lock nut and turn the adjusting nut.
CSA
Have You Ever Replaced Or Inspected The Rear Brake Shoes ?
I Wonder How Worn They Are.
CSA
Helm does not make the Toyota service manuals. You buy them right from the dealer (and they have gotten WAY more pricey in the last 10 years).
If your 05 Camry has rear disc brakes then there is probably a rubber plug on the face of the rotor. Rotate the plug to the six o’clock position and remove it. Access to the star adjuster for the small brake shoes inside the rotor should be right there.
If you have drum brakes in the rear then the plug is on the rear of the backing plate. Access is more difficult but the principal is the same.
I am guessing that the OP has disc brakes in the rear, based on his/her post. On either kind of brakes the adjuster is still in the parking brake and the key is to use it on a regular basis or it will go out of adjustment.
" Helm does not make the Toyota service manuals. You buy them right from the dealer (and they have gotten WAY more pricey in the last 10 years). "
I didn’t say Helm makes the manuals. I said Helm has the manuals. I checked and they do sell all 3 volumes to the Factory Toyota Camry Service Manuals.
You are right. They are expensive and I indicated that when I said, " They’re quite pricey . . . " in my original post.
I spend about 200 bucks on factory manuals (from Helm) for every vehicle in my family fleet and I’ve never been sorry. They more than pay for themselves in maintenance information. That probably comes from my pilot training days.
Casper asked, " . . . so does this have an adjustable cable? If so, where did they hide this adjuster? "and I explained that it does and explained where it is located.
I guess we still need to find out from Casper whether he/she is running out of travel in the handle (goes all the way up to the stop) before the brakes hold or whether the handle still has some travel left to it, but the brakes won’t hold.
The brake shoes/pads and drums/discs have to be within wear limits and operating correctly, of course. That’s why I posted another question for Casper, “Have You Ever Replaced Or Inspected The Rear Brake Shoes ?”
CSA
Both rear disc and drum brakes on the Camry have the adjuster plugs in the drum not the backing plate. Makes it a pain to have to remove the wheels to adjust. Before adjusting the cable make sure the rear shoes are adjusted correctly. If this does not correct the problem then try adjusting the cable. You have to take out the console storage box (couple screw and 2 bolts under the bottom felt like thing) Only make small adjustments checking often so you don’t accidentally end up with the rear brakes dragging.
@CSA - Good points.
Usually the drum brake shoes need replacing when the parking brake loosens up. Disc brakes in the rear have different parking brake systems so the answer gets complicated.
@pleasedodgevan2 OP’s Camry has rear drum brakes, because it is a 4 banger. Rear discs were reserved for V6 models on that body style. As far as I know. I have a 2005 V6 Camry with rear discs. All the 2002-2006 4 banger Camrys I’ve seen had rear drums.
The self adjustment procedure should be in the owners manual in your glove box. It should adjust by pulling up on the hand brake, but it is possible that the star wheel is stuck and it won’t self adjust. You may have to take off the rear wheels and drums, then manually move the star wheel a few notches, put everything back together and after that, the brakes should self adjust with the brake handle.
@CSA You Really Should Have A Service Manual If You’re Doing Maintenance/Repairs And Don’t Know What You’re Doing. I Buy Them For Every One Of My Cars (For That Same Reason).
I Believe Helm Incorporated Has The Toyota Factory Manuals For Your Vehicle.
Not everybody has the immediate “funds” to take care of everything evey time…
I only asked the question about adjusting the brakes because I figured one of the regulars here might have run into this and know off the top of their head what I was trying to accomplish.
I realize that this is more difficult to take care of vs. the portable gas chromatograph mass spectrometer units I build but thank you anyway…
The Camry has drum brakes on the rear. After removing the drums, I cleaned the brakes and inspected the drums & shoes. All is whithin spec and for anybody else who may be working on a Camry of this same generation, there is a rubber plug on the face of the drums that is removeable and gives access to the adjuster wheel. If you’re in there, might as well pull the drum off and spray it down and clean it all up.
BTW The parking brake is operating properly after the adjustment.
@casper Congratulations!
" Not everybody has the immediate “funds” to take care of everything evey time… "
I hear you. That’s part of the reason I just plan on purchasing them with each car purchase. What’s one more slice off an alreday cut loaf ?
While I’m shelling out thousands for a car, a couple more hundred is chicken feed (like heated seats or Weather Tech floor mats). Later on it does seem unaffordable, other more important things come to mind. I just consider them part of the car.
Many folks on this site who use E-Bay claim to find things like this at very reduced prices.
CSA
@commonsenseanswer I personally have bought several sets of factory service manuals on ebay for very reasonable prices.
@db4690 I picked up the FSM for the 91 Corolla on ebay for $30.00
Haven’t had time to pick a manual for the Camry (yet) but still have to make sure all is operating properly with the vehicle.
@casper unfortunately the 2005 Camry factory service manuals are still relatively “new” so the ebay price probably won’t be dirt cheap for awhile yet.