Removed his brake drum and you wouldn't believe what he saw...

[north54]

I've had this van for 2 1/2 years and I wonder if I've even had rear brakes at all?! The e brake mechanism was a total write off on both wheels. It was completely seized and took a vice and vice grips to get it apart. Each of the 3 contact points on the pads were heavily corroded and didn't really move at all.

Upon removing the brake drum you can't even see the wheel cylinder with the mess inside...

photo (13).JPG (135.14 KiB) Viewed 5270 times

After removing a pad, look at the corrosion and flaking rust! Oooooohhh ahhhh...

photo (14).JPG (106.52 KiB) Viewed 5270 times

I took everything apart, sanded, oiled, brake cleaned and put back together. 5 hours later I was test driving and adjusting an ebrake I never had! Feels good and I'm even noticing a good change in acceleration, I guess everything must of been dragging for a bit. Funny thing the pads have tons of life left on them... Looking forward to seeing how this changes my gas mileage.

Are there any spring rebuild kits for Delica's? I reused all the springs but they are really corroded. I'll be redoing the wheel cylinders in the future

I love learning about this stuff by doing. Have a great weekend.

[motorang]

Holy sh**
Some kits have the springs included. And if not you should be able to get them from Mitsubishi.
I found brake parts reasonably priced at Mistubishi, even for the front brakes.

Make sure you free up and grease that L-shaped bit that transfers the handbrake power intor the system. No handbrake, no adjusting the brakes.

Andy

[FalcoColumbarius]

Wow. You might want to check your axle seals, eh?

When was the last time you checked your rear differential oil level? I'm going through this now.

The diff oil (80-90 gear oil) leaks into the drum, your shoes start absorbing the oil and expand, creating drag on the drum and adds a slight vehicle pull to the right, which erodes into oily dust, ergo your engine works harder and your fuel economy goes up in price and your shoes are finished, E brake does not work as well. You can read more about this here: http://www.delica.ca/manuals/L-400%20Ma ... R_AXLE.pdf This is actually in the L400 shop manual but some of the L400 rear axles were the same as the L300. Go to page 27-11 and read from there to start. Also go to the Delica FAQ Section/Useful Links for Vehicle Part Identification Purposes/scroll down to the partsbase.org/mitsubishi/jp/, click on that, find your vehicle, rear axle, compare exploded views with what you find in the L400 manual (should be section 27 for the rear axle).

First thing I'd do is get a 24mm spanner/socket, undo the filler bolt on the backside of the diff and see if any oil comes out, if not stick your finger in the hole and see if you can feel any oil. There is an 8mm level difference. If you can't feel any oil in the diff (it smells of sulphur, like a smelly latrine) you need to get oil in there.

Falco.

P.S.: Do you have a Limited Slip Differencial (LSD)? One way to establish this is by a square tangerine coloured decal on the inside edge of the driver's side door, that has Japanese writing on it. If you have this then you also need to buy an LSD additive to add to the 80-90 gear oil.

[north54]

Thanks motorang and Falco. I just checked the gear oil as per your precaution and its topped up. I think the rubber boot that surrounds the e-brake lever let in moisture thus corroding everything. Plus the wheel cylinders look to be weeping a bit (I'll replace those in the future)

I love my van, I love my van, I love my van....

[FalcoColumbarius]

...
I love my van, I love my van, I love my van....

Dude... I'm with you on that one.
Typically when the axle seal goes (I have been learning) some of it comes through the drum but in my case, most of the oil shows on the backing plate (behind the drum assembly) and the inside of the wheel rim, you might want to check there. There are an inner & outer seal, a bearing, a retainer and an O ring in the each of the rear axle assemblies. Over the O ring is this sealant by 3M (LDT 8663) which no one appears to know about, including 3M! Sometimes this sealant, which is a semi drying sealant, develops a leak, perhaps a crack in the O ring, sometimes it's because the bearing is worn and it affects the outer seal. Right now I'm looking for the sealant ("or equivalent") and saving up to order the bearings and retainers from Japan (I have the seals and O rings). I figure that it's time to overhaul the axle if this is happening. My wagon is my only ride and I want to assure my ducks are in the correct formation before I pull the axle.

Weeping wheel cylinder, eh? I could see that chewing up your shoes, have you checked your brake fluid level? There's info on that in group 35A-49 of the L400 shop manual that is relevant to the L300 drum brakes, including servicing the wheel cylinder(35A-47).

Falco.

[north54]

@falco Definitely check my brake fluid often. I just replaced the leaky master cylinder so my attention has been on brakes.

Know of any scrapped L300's where I can get my hands on some rear brake pad holding springs, e-brake levers, etc? I derusted my current setup as much as possible but the stuff is just too corroded and may break from rust.

Cheers

[Pntyrmvr]

Take the time to find new brake hold down springs. The steel parts inside the hot drums sees many heating/cooling cycles. They are cheap enough to avoid the risk of used parts. I found many sources on this interesting site: www.google.com


"Talk is cheap. Whiskey costs money."

[FalcoColumbarius]

@falco Definitely check my brake fluid often. I just replaced the leaky master cylinder so my attention has been on brakes.

Know of any scrapped L300's where I can get my hands on some rear brake pad holding springs, e-brake levers, etc? I derusted my current setup as much as possible but the stuff is just too corroded and may break from rust.

Cheers

Why not buy new ones? You can order them from Amayama or you could get them from Maximum Overdrive or RSI. Get the OEM number from the Delica FAQ Section/Useful Links for Vehicle Part Identification Purposes ~ JDM Online Catalogue; enter your chassis number into the Mitsubishi field, click enter and follow the directions.

Falco.