Can the Rear parking brake be tightened by driving the car in reverse? Ie. The hand brake.
i know you can do it by turning the star wheel with a brake spoon, but i have found that difficult from the back and I don't want to open the entire brakes up again to turn it.
on some cars you can drive in reverse to adjust parking brakes.
thank you

 

If your rear brakes are disc brakes, the parking brake is a set of brake shoes operating in a small drum which is in the rear rotor. That set of shoes in not self-adjusting. If you have drum brakes at the rear, the parking brake activates the service brake shoes. Those shoes are self adjusting. I hope that's not too confusing.

 

I figured as much. I will now have to remove the tire and adjust the hand brake manually via star wheel. I rebuilt the rear caliper which had a torn rubber seal. The caliper piston is plastic so that was great. The bleed screw was hard to turn with 10mm or any open wrenches, so i could bleed the brakes, so i though i would install new bleed screws. However after going to 2 Chrysler dealers who will no longer stock that part, and 4 other local car parts stores, i could not get this simple bleed valve. I ended up ordering it at one store. I also replaced the rear rubber brake hose, but it did not look like that was necessary.
i got 180,000km on this v6, 2.7L 2006 Sebring Touring. What is the maximum mileage have you seen on these cars?
original serpentine belt and water pump. I don't want to fork out 13 to 1500 cdn $ for a new water pump on 2006 car, but runs like new so far.
Thank you for your prompt reply and feedback.

 

What is the issue you are having?

Why was the rotor initially removed? Rarely does the parking brake require any adjustment unless it has been serviced (e.g. new shoes). I have replaced rear rotors/calipers and have not needed to touch the parking brake. Granted it was a bit of a pain to slide/work the rotor off over the rust ridge on the edge of the parking brake hat.

It is not an '06, but I had an '04 over 240,000 miles (386,000 kilometers) until it was totaled in an accident.

The 2.7l has a timing chain, no replacement interval.

It is not necessary to replace the water pump unless a problem is evident. Mine was replaced at 135,000 miles when I noticed coolant stains on the oil pan and traced it back to the water pump weep hole just under the thermostat housing.

 

The rear disc brake was removed to service the defective caliper, and i cleaned and adjusted the hand brake, but it was not tight enough when i replaced the wheel, i could still turn it slightly. The parking brake held the brakes well when i tested it by rotating the disc by hand, but needs another few turns on the sproket adjustment wheel. On reflection, i should have left it alone, as it was ok. I just thought i would adjust the shoes outwards to take up the wear, but there was no wear on the shoes anyway.
Thank you for your feedback.

 

f you think about it, there shouldn't be any significant wear on the parking brake shoes since, in theory, there is never any rotation involved in their use. Unlike the service brakes, which are used for stopping a moving car, the parking brake should only be engaged when the car is stopped, and released before moving the car. So no rubbing against moving parts. (In theory, anyway.)

 

You are absolutely right. I was slow to pick that up.
My fist car when i was 16 back in the UK was a Ford Anglia, and i used to work on the front and rear brakes with my dad and if i recall, it had brake shoes on both front and rear. If i recall the rear brake show may have been used for both hand brake as well as foot brake, and maybe this was stuck in my mind.
Thanks for clarifying. Much appreciated.