Back brake pedal not springing up after use

[Korona45]

Hi, does anyone know of anything I can check to try remedy this before I have to take a trip to the local garage?

Its a drum brake on the rear that I'm having the issue with

when I push down on the rear brake pedal, the brake works fine and everything is as it should be... but when I take my foot off the brake, it doesn't spring back up again and the brake stays on until i put my foot underneath the pedal and flick it back up.

I've tried turning the bolt around a few times in each direction on the rod thing that seems to be attached to it (Yes i have no knowledge of bikes) but it seemed to do no good, cant seem to see anything else obvious to mess around with to see if its connected to the brake or not

Thanks for any replies, mocking my ignorance or otherwise

[mealexme]

I've tried turning the bolt around a few times in each direction on the rod thing that seems to be attached to it (Yes i have no knowledge of bikes) but it seemed to do no good, cant seem to see anything else obvious to mess around with to see if its connected to the brake or not

 

well if its anything like mine, thats the thing that makes it spring back. Is there a spring by the rod?

It should look vaguely similar to this

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/W800_drum_brake.jpg/800px-W800_drum_brake.jpg

You should just tighten the bolt/rod (bottom left of the pic) up and it should spring back up again. It may take quite a bit of screwing up though as a single turn doesnt do much

Has it happened suddenly or over time?

And is the spring still... springy? lol (there must be a more technical term for "springy", but you know what I mean)

[Korona45]

hi, thanks for the reply

there is a spring there yeah, although when i tighten that nut it seems to just make the brake lever tighter and not go down as far, but still doesnt spring back up

[MonsterMunch]

There should be a fairly strong spring attached at some point to the brake lever, is it there and is it effective, that is, not stretched? The pivot that the lever turns on may have partially seized, disconnect the brake rod between the pedal and the rear brake, and see if it turns freely. If all this checks out OK, you probably need to take a look at the brake itself.

[Korona45]

Ah right, ive loosened it alot and the pedal has started springing back. But now when i press the pedal I have to push my foot quite a long way down and the brakes not very effective at all, I guess I need to try and find a sweet spot between effectiveness and the pedal working?

Could this be because my chain was starting to get stretched and I've moved the wheel back quite alot to tighten the chain a bit?

[mealexme]

ah sorry, i was thinking tightening would help, but yes loosening it works haha. and yes, tightening the chain will effect the brake in the way you described. when tightening or loosening your brake, just make sure you know when the brake light comes on

[megawatt]

Disconnect brake rod from rear brake lever on wheel. Try lever, does it return by itself? If not, strip brake mechanism, clean and rebuild. Does foot brake lever return? If not, you guessed it. Refit rod and adjust until brake bites at correct depression of foot lever.