Brake System - Rear Brake Adjustment

SOURCE: Kia Technician Times

TITLE: Rear Brake Adjustment

APPLIES TO: 98-99 Sephia

SERVICE TIP:






Some technicians are manually adjusting the rear drum brakes on 1998 and 1999 Sephias thinking it will improve the life of the front brake pads. All Sephia rear drum brakes are equipped with self adjusters (see photo).

The adjusters are activated by normal application of the brake pedal. It is not necessary to back-up, or apply the hand brake to adjust the rear brakes. The adjusters are designed to adjust the rear brake shoes not to contact the drums until the brake pedal is depressed. The amount of shoe to drum clearance is determined by the size of the teeth on the adjuster and cannot be altered. The adjuster will only ratchet to the next position when the shoe to drum clearance allows enough shoe travel for the adjuster to reach the next tooth.

Adjusting the shoes until they contact the drum, and cause drag, is not advisable. It will not improve brake performance, or front brake pad life. It will raise the point at which the brake pedal starts to apply the brakes, and decrease the number of "clicks" to apply the hand brake, but the system pressure and brake effectiveness does not change.