Hi folks, working on replacing brake pads on my 98 V70 this weekend. The hand brake was loose; it would go all the way up while its effectiveness stayed at minimal when applied. It has been like this for quite some time. So I thought I would fix it now while I am replacing the brake pads. So this is what I tried:

- took both the rear brake disc/rotors off
- asked someone to apply and release the hand brake few times while I watched the brake shoes; they made little movement when the hand brake was applied.
- I tightened the torx screw and now the hand brake moved up only a few clicks. I could feel the resistance in the hand brake now. I again had the hand brake applied and released a few times while I watched the brake shoes. Did not see much improvement in the movement of the shoes.
- So I decided and took the shoes off of one rear side, cleaned the dust/rust off, flexed the springs and cleaned the adjuster wheel. I refitted the shoes back. I tried this on one rear side only.
- Now when I tried to apply the hand brake (the torx screw is still tight), instead of moving only few clicks with resistance, the lever just went up with absolutely zero resistance.

It had full resistance in step 3. After removing and refitting the shoes, the resistance was completely lost. What could have possibly gone wrong? If removing and refitting the shoes had somehow caused the cable to go loose, then the other cable should atleast provide some resistance. Any ideas?

Thanx!

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