I have a couple of cars where I put on new parking brake shoes and no matter how i adjust it at the handle, and how far or hard I pull up on the handle, the parking brakes will not hold the car even when I give it a little bit of gas.
One is a 2005 xc70 and the other a 2003 s60.

Both the rotors are not worn where the shoes make contact and are clean.

I have tried 3 different types or brands of shoes.
I have not tried volvo ones yet.

any ideas?

 

Well it isn't designed to hold a car in drive giving it gas...

Are the cables and expanders working?

 

When you installed the park brake shoes did you adjust them so that they are just shy of touching the drum part of the rotor? If not then you will not be able to adjust the park brake handle to get the park brake to grab.

 

There is no adjustment at the shoes, just at the handle.

 

under the parking brake handle boot there is an adjuster for the parking brake.

 

I have yet to see a parking brake (park brake inside disc rotor) set up that does not have an adjuster for the parking brake shoes.

Parking Brake Hardware Kit - P2 S60 V70 XC70 XC90 S80

Volvo Brake Cable Adjuster Link - Genuine Volvo 30793437 | FCP Euro

The first link is for a hardware kit from IPD. Take note of the adjusters for the shoes. The second link is the adjuster from FCP Euro.

 

why go though all the trouble of adjusting it at the brake shoes when you have a 10mm nut under the handle?

 

There is only so much movement/pull you have with the park brake handle. It can only pull the cable X amount. Even if you adjust the cable adjuster at the park brake handle all of the way if the shoes are not adjusted properly the cable will not move them so that they can contact the drum part of the rotor.

 

Well then you've never worked on a parking brake on a P2.

The first link is an aftermarket kit

The second link is for the 850/S70/early C70 and V70.

 

there is no adjustment screw at the rotor, none of the generation 2 cars have one that I have seen. I have the 10mm nut adjust almost all the way and when I pull the handle, it only goes like 5-6 clicks and cant go up anymore because it is so tight.

so is there an after market kit that has an adjustment screw?
I do have adjustment screws from the 850's, maybe I should install on of those and see h ow they work.

 

Sounds like the cables are stretched but again, they aren't designed to hold the car in drive while giving it gas.

 

Will someone please pass me a plate? I need to eat a bit of crow. Did some looking and finally found this diagram.




Seeing the parts in the links that I first gave I made the assumption that the parts were replacement ones for OEM, not improvements to what really is a very bad OEM design. As a licenced Automotive Technician I have never come across this.

To ES6T: I have replaced the pads and rotors on my wives S60 but I never really looked (that I can recall) at the park brakes as they were adjusted to the drums properly.

My apologies to all.

 

ES6T, Have you ever replaced the cables due to stretching, I do not want to go through all of that and still have the same problem. It does make sense that that could be the problem.

The car should stop while giving it gas. remember it is a fwd, so giving it a little gas it the same as pushing it, or putting it on a hill. When doing a safety check thats the only way to verify the parking brakes are working. I dont mean steeping on the gas either.

 

I have replaced cables due to stretching, but it isn't common. I've seen it twice I think and the other cables I've replaced was due to damage or sticking.

 

i have never seen stretched cables on the 2 gen cars. lots of cables on the 1 gen cars.
I just looked at autocamping and they have adjustable spacers available for the 2 gen cars. i ordered 2 and will see how that works.

 

Have you removed the rotor and watched to make sure the shoes are expanding when the lever is pulled? If they are, cables is really the only possibility.