Independent Renault Forums banner

Clio Rear Brakes Lock On when Reversing

46K views 42 replies 30 participants last post by  Ralph 
#1 ·
Hi All

I have a Clio 1.2 everything fine till yesterday.
Put car on drive and when I came to reverse off it wouldn't move - it tries to reverse and raises up the suspension!

If I move forwards the brakes crash off with a bang but as soon as I reverse they lock on again.

Any ideas?
 
#2 ·
It sounds like a spring or clip inside the drum has broken or come adrift and is allowing the shoes to move about. The only way to be sure is to remove the drums and check ...... and I wouldn't use the car until the prob is sorted. You REALLY don't want the brakes failing on ya :(
 
#3 ·
This is quite a common problem on Clio’s, it is normally caused by the shoes lining coming away from the shoes on the trailing edge of thr front shoe therefore when in reverse it catches on the drum and locks up completely it is normally the N/S at fault which side does the suspension raises first?
 
#5 ·
It does sound like something has come adrift in the rear shoes.

Is there any noise when this happens? any grinding?

Can you take the rear drums off yourself or would you need it to be taken to a garage, if you can take them off yourself i can help you further.

Barry.
 
#8 ·
I seem to be experiencing the mentioned problem myself at the moment...

Is there any reason why it appears to happen to the NSR and not the OSR?

A few months ago my garage replaced 2 rear brake cylinders...perhaps related to this problem? Although the problem has occurred before and after this was done!
 
#10 ·
This question was always being asked about wheel bearing failure on the caravan newsgroup. I always thought that people overlooked the most likely reason: That's the side that hits most of the potholes. It's also the one that you'll kerb if you misjudge a corner.

This kind of abuse is certainly up to destroying the odd wheel bearing here and there. I wouldn't be surprised if it was capable of detaching brake linings too.
 
#14 ·
clio 2001 rear drum brakes

please can someone help ..i also am having problems with my rear drums .......i recently changed my shoes on both sides and everything was fine for about 5 miles and then the drivers side was really hot ........so i adjusted the small screw inside the drum ...now the handbrake goes all the way up ....is there another way of adjusting the handbrake without removing the drum again ....also are the drums supposed to get a little bit warm when driving................many thanks ................oh and also are the rear drum brakes only for the purpose of the handbrake or do they also work when i use the brake pedal...
 
#15 ·
There's a adjusting nut on the handbrake under the car. You have to remove a shield to see it.

IIRC you back off the adjusters in the drums completely, then adjust the handbrake nut until the movement is right. Then using foot brake several times, the drums self-adjust.

NOTE: This is from memory and you need to double check this in a Haynes manual or similar.
 
#16 ·
I have found that method of adjustment never really works.
I let off the handbrake cable adjustment - adjust the internal drum adjusters manually. This can be abit fiddly but works best. Then adjust the handbrake cable adjuster until the rear wheels lock - then slacken off until I can get 5-7 notches on the handbrake lever.:)
 
#17 ·
hi, iv had the same fault with my 54 clio. and itwas exactly what justg has diagnosed. it was the rear brake pads were worn, and the lining were just disintigrating. i managed to remove the drums myself by taking it in to my work and using a pair of pullers, but it say unless you have access to a set of pullers then you may have to take it to your local garage!

once the drums are off its a very simple, straight forward job, just make sure that you have the correct pads, as there are various pads for the clio.

this job took me maby about a couple of hours to do, but that was due to me having to make two trips to a local parts supplier, so id say both of the rear drums could be done in around an hour.

when doing the drums for this fault, besure to give the drums a check, make sure that the drusm arent damesg, af they are slightly damaged then id say you could give them a little clean up with soem emry paper, but i fthey are badly damaged then id recommend that you get new drums aswell, as fitting new pads to on when the drums are damaged will only dramatically reduce the service life of your pads.

hope this was a bit of help to you.
 
#19 ·
In january my O/S rear brake jammed on my 53plate 1.2 16v clio. I drove it to my local garage slowly. They sent me away with an appointment as it was extremely busy. Approx 50 meters down the road of the garage a transit van ploughed into the N/S wing, writing off the car... Problem solved.
 
#24 ·
re-locking brakes, you may well take the hub off and eveything will look ok, but all is not, i have found that the car will be ok driving forward, but when you reverse using braking the car jolts to a halt, when this happens check the position of the handbrake lever, it may have changed, the problem is the handbrake lever linkage inside the drum where it is rivited on to shoe is jamming "corrosion" causing the trailing shoe to grab in reverse it can become so corroded that the return spring cant pull it back off .
Solution= take trailing shoes off, make sure you free the attached h/brake lever and put a little oil in rivet and re-fit, other posts are also correct, shoes can come off, but you can see this when you eventually get the drum off. remember to slacken the adjuster and collapse the the shoes inside the drum, reset when job done, makes life easier
 
#25 ·
Good post gto.
I've found sometimes I need to heat the pivot point with oxy acetylene to free it up before added a wee drop of oil or two.
 
#26 ·
If you cannot get the brake drums off your clio there is a procedure to collapse your brakes within the drum, it is quite simple, it entails slackening the adjuser under the car then putting a screwdriver through the wheelbolt hole in hub and push the lever off the shoe, but remember there is also a procedure to properly adjust your H/brake to auto adjusters, if you are not sure leave well alone
 
#27 ·
Also if the brakelinings have come off the shoes dont use a "bonded" lining replacement set,which i think the genuine ones are,go for a quality "riveted" replacement shoe.
Its a common fault,when mine whent on my mk2 and i had it recovered to my local main dealer he advised me to have a rivetted set fitted as he had seen them come of on cars that were of various ages,so didnt trust the bonded originals.
 
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top