I am having problems with the rear brake shoes dragging on my 122S. It always is on the drivers side but has also happened on the passenger side as well.. I have taken both brake drums off and everything looks fine.. I have taken the brake line off at the rear driver`s wheel and the brake fluid shoots through when I step on the brake pedal but for some reason the brakes want to drag..I took the car out for a drive a few days ago , stopped at a stop sign and then made a right turn and about half way through the turn I heard a sound like a something let loose..I don`t know if that had anything to do with it.. I drove a couple of miles and a could tell the brakes were dragging ... Got to the store and sure enough the brake drum was hot on the drivers side.. I really have not got into it too deep yet as my bother-in-laws garage is tied up right now so thought I would see if anyone on the forum has any ideas.. The wheel bearings seem fine and everything appears to look fine in the drums..The emergency brake appears to be fine... The brake pedal is stiff and right up.. Master cylinder acting up ??? Thanks in advance !!!

The new brake hose solved the problems of the rear brakes dragging , I am happy to say.. Now I have to do something about the temp. gauge that quit a couple of months ago.. I will start another thread for that...Thanks for all the help !!

Richard;

Can you send me the old hose for a post-mortem. What kind of brake fluid was in the system?

Cheers

I would if I could but I threw the old hose in the garbage container and the garbage truck took it away yesterday.. I am not sure what type of brake fluid was used , I expect DOT 3..

FYI, Volvo recommends using DOT 4 brake fluid.

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Eric
Hi Performance Automotive Service (formerly OVO or Old Volvos Only)
Torrance, CA 90502
hiperformanceautoservice.com or oldvolvosonly.com

These days you can find the brake hoses on Ebay. A few years ago when I needed some I had to have them made by a hydraulics shop.

I had a similar experience on a Chevy Suburban a few years back. Turned out to be the rubber hoses. They deteriorate on the inside & won't let the pressure off when you take your foot off the brake pedal. New hoses may cure the problem.

It's that time of age worn parts. Your rubber lines are swelled inside. Replacement and complete flush. Careful if the Master Cylinder is old and you use the pump / bleeder valve release.bleeding method. Old rubber can break loose inside the Master Cylinder once you past the normal brake pedal travel. Ridge of funk developes in it's cylinder..

Sounds like a rear brake hose could be your problem, but could also be sticking wheel cylinders.
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Eric
Hi Performance Automotive Service (formerly OVO or Old Volvos Only)
Torrance, CA 90502
hiperformanceautoservice.com or oldvolvosonly.com

Thanks for all the help !! The old rubber brake lines certainly makes sense.. Never thought about that one.. When I got the car a few years ago I replaced the front brake lines as they looked pretty ratty.. I will replace the break lines right off the bat..Is it possible to match those brake hoses at any auto supply shop or will I have to find some original 122s hoses.. I used to buy all my 122s parts from Olaf here in BC .. I hope he is still in business ...

Olaf should still be around.

I bought some used parts from him about 6 months ago.

New hoses are easy. I usually have OE Volvo, aftermarket and braided steel brake hoses in stock.
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Eric
Hi Performance Automotive Service (formerly OVO or Old Volvos Only)
Torrance, CA 90502
hiperformanceautoservice.com or oldvolvosonly.com

Thanks for everyone`s help... I found an old receipt from parts that I bought from Olaf a few years ago so I sent him a email..It hasn`t bounced back yet so he must still be in business.. If he has the brake lines I can pick them up as I will be going to Vancouver in a couple weeks.. Only about 3.5 hours away .. The bloody shipping costs almost as the parts these days.. Thanks again to everyone !!

If the receipt has a number give Olaf a call. As there is only a single hose to replace the cost isn't much of an issue. Postage should also be low.

Yes,,I gave Olaf a call and there is only one hose.. I thought there were two.. I was looking at a 1969 brake diagram and there appears to be two hoses on the 1969.. I crawled under the car just to make sure.. He had the hose and I asked him just to send it so I can get it put in and get the car put away for winter..

...since there is only one flexible link between Body and Rearend, and if that is swollen closed so that it holds pressure at the wheels, I would expect BOTH rear brakes to remain activated...maybe it really is a stuck Wheel Cylinder Piston on just that one side...and opening either Bleeding Nipple would release the friction...

Both wheel brakes have locked,,,,when I jack the car up I can barely turn the wheel so I guess not completely locked up,, but the driver`s side much more often.. I have opened the bleeding nipple but it made no difference as just a drop or so of fluid came out.. I will put the new brake hose in as it could be 50 years old so it should be done anyway and go from there... It looks like both wheel brake cylinders have been replaced at one point in time but that will be next step if the new hose does not do the trick... Thanks for your thoughts !!

In case you didn't know, there is a copper sealing washer used to seal the hose at the junction block on the rear axle.

I always like to install a new 1.
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Eric
Hi Performance Automotive Service (formerly OVO or Old Volvos Only)
Torrance, CA 90502
hiperformanceautoservice.com or oldvolvosonly.com

Thanks,,I have one coming !!

Robert;

I'm a little late to the party, and agree it's likely Brakeline swollen shut, or stuck Piston in the wheel cylinder...I've experienced the later...piston stuck in bore with some black gook...maybe from an insufficiently flushed out system when it was changed to DOT5, maybe from a deteriorated seal...cleaned everything nice and found no corrosion (thanks to the DOT5), so reassembled with a new seal, and everything was fine forever after.

I wanted to include this link with pix of swollen shut lines: http://www.sw-em.com/brake_notes.htm#swollen_brakelines

Good Hunting!

+1 to all the above but make sure that you adjust the brakes with the handbrake cables loosened of a bit. Adjust brakes to allow the wheels to spin and not drag. They often touch just a bit but put the brakes on hard a few times while adjusting them to centralise the shoes as much as possible. If you have the drums off, a good idea for checking anyway, clean out all of the dust (beware asbestos if using an airline) and use a bit of white grease on the sliding parts.
If you have been adjusting the brakes recently just slacken the adjustment by one click and see how you get on. You might have one side that still drags so try just one more click there. Always leave the handbrake cable adjustment until last. About 5 clicks on the lever is OK but you might prefer 6 if you are tall.
Grease the equaliser bar where the single front cable meets the rear ones.