Rear Brake Replacement Problem

[petrified.rabbit]

there are a few ways you are supposed to adjust brake adjusters, and for some reason i think in the aveo you need to drive backwards and the press the brake pedal firmly (within reason) to come to a stop from a decent speed. the other is typically applying the ebrake several times to pump up the system.

[rodo]

there are a few ways you are supposed to adjust brake adjusters, and for some reason i think in the aveo you need to drive backwards and the press the brake pedal firmly (within reason) to come to a stop from a decent speed. the other is typically applying the ebrake several times to pump up the system.

Yeah, I've had cars that ran the auto-adjusters off of the ebrake, but the 2004 Aveo is not one of them. The manual I have also doesn't say anything about needing to move the car in either direction, just have to pump the brake pedal and listen for adjusters:

If the clicking sound of the adjuster assembly is not audible from either brake drum, the clearance between the brake shoes and drum is adjusted.

The other requirement is that the brakes be preadjusted so that there is a slight drag when the drums are reinstalled - this is pretty typical. Some self-adjusters need resistance between the shoes and drum to operate; don't know if that is the case on the Aveo. If they're clicking, you can probably tighten them just by pumping the brakes, though it may take a lot of times. If they're not clicking, you'll have to preadjust to get them working.