Hill-holder troubles.

[Idasho]

For some time I have been running without the hill-holder cable. The tab at the clutch fork broke, so attaching the cable is pretty impossible.

 

Im having trouble with the brakes sticking a bit when parked, and I believe it has to do with he hill holder.

 

Is there a specific position the arm on the hill holder assembly should be, when not using the hill holder? I have fiddled with it a bit, and sometimes it seems to free things up, but the dragging front left brake come back soon after.

 

Thanks for any help.

[nipper]

Fully forward (the opposit direction that the cable pulls) if i remeber correctly.

[987687]

Are you sure it doesn't have to do with the parking brake?

I've had issues with mine sticking, then I greased up the mechanism at the wheel and it's fine.

[nipper]

And it can just be an ol fashioned sticking brake.

[MilesFox]

hill holder has to do with the rear brakes. a stuck front brake has to do with misadjustment of the parking lever, or it's just a bad/seized caliper. caliper pistons will seize if the pads get so lo and hyper extend, and then the exposed piston rusts.

 

a more likely situation, which may be rectified without replacing the caliper, is a rusty slide pin.

 

remove the caliper, steel wool the slide pins and clean them well, and apply syl-glide silicone grease to the slide pins, and around the boot on the piston. this may fix your dragging caliper.

[monstaru]

spray every ************in bit of braking hardware with some pb blaster.cheers, b

[bheinen74]

Miles, you are wrong somewhat.

 

Hill-Holder: as how to keep your subaru alive words it:

 

"Some Subarus have a unique gadget called a hill-holder that allows you to stop on a hill and take your foot off the brake without rolling backwards. How does this miracle work, you ask?

There's a unit called a pressure hold valve (PHV) in the engine compartment right below the master cylinder. Inside the PHV is a cylinder and in the cylinder is a ball that is free to roll from one end to the other. When you stop on a hill with the clutch and brake pedals depressed, the ball rolls to the rear of the cylinder and seals a hole that prevents the release of hydraulic pressure in the primary brake system when you release the brake pedal. This locks the left front and right rear brakes and prevents the car from rolling backwards"

 

i can add more, but it does affect front left and right rear...

[987687]

I'm glad mine was converted from an automatic. I don't have that silly system..

[Idasho]

The caliper slides have been cleaned and greased and are moving freely, and the ebrake is not sticking. To eliminate the ebrake as a concern, I drove it for a while without using the ebrake at all (leaving it in gear when parked). The problem persisted.

 

Best i can tell, is that the front left and sometimes right rear are sticking. I can feel a drag when backing out of the garage in the morning, and can hear a slight "squeak, squeak".

 

Ill try rotating it all the way clockwise (from the top) and report back.

[94Loyale]

I noticed you said you have been changing positions on the hill holder? To get rid of it, you should have the spring back on to hold the lever all the way forward.

[MilesFox]

Miles, you are wrong somewhat.

 

Hill-Holder: as how to keep your subaru alive words it:

 

"Some Subarus have a unique gadget called a hill-holder that allows you to stop on a hill and take your foot off the brake without rolling backwards. How does this miracle work, you ask?

There's a unit called a pressure hold valve (PHV) in the engine compartment right below the master cylinder. Inside the PHV is a cylinder and in the cylinder is a ball that is free to roll from one end to the other. When you stop on a hill with the clutch and brake pedals depressed, the ball rolls to the rear of the cylinder and seals a hole that prevents the release of hydraulic pressure in the primary brake system when you release the brake pedal. This locks the left front and right rear brakes and prevents the car from rolling backwards"

 

i can add more, but it does affect front left and right rear...

 

 

of course i know how it works, and even know how to adjust it. What you mised, it that i was saying the hill holder ties to the REAR wheels, if the front brakes are sticking, this has nothing to do with the hill holder.

 

and caliper slide pins are the ost likely culprit for an dragging caliper

[MilesFox]

If the hill holder is too tight, the rear brake will stick for a moment after reversing.

 

your front brake may just be a bad piston. the woosh woosh or squeek squeek may be prelude to a bad wgheel bearing.

 

if the wheel bearing gets bad enough, the rotor sits off plane and the outer edge can rub against the caliper bracket, cause the pads to wear at a slant(which affects the ride of the piston

), and make the squeal tabs do their thing prematurely.

 

first, check the axle nut torque, second, make sure the axle nut washer is not on backward.

 

3rd, jacking up the wheel and wiggling it may prove a bad bearing. BUT i must say, with the double roller style bearing, it is possilbe to have a bad bearing, but no freeplay in the wheel.

 

I would gear up to replace the wheel bearing if i was you with your symptoms.

 

don't forget to turn the piston in when servicing the caliper. forcing it in with a c clamp will wreck the parking lever mechanism. I hope you knew this, because this could be t eh problem if the piston was forced in without turning.

[Idasho]

of course i know how it works, and even know how to adjust it. What you mised, it that i was saying the hill holder ties to the REAR wheels, if the front brakes are sticking, this has nothing to do with the hill holder.

 

and caliper slide pins are the ost likely culprit for an dragging caliper

 

Then maybe you dont know how it works. There have been a couple different styles of hill holders through the years.

 

This one most definitely effects just what he said. Front left and Right rear.

 

This is the best photo of my hill holder I could find. It was a general engine bay shot that I cropped down. Supply line from the master cylinder connects to the rear of the unit. Output on the top goes to the LEFT FRONT. This one was easy to follow. The bottom (im assuming) goes to the right rear. This one will involve putting the car on the ramps/jackstands to follow.

 

 

Regardless, the hill holder on this car DOES effect the left front.

 

Now, due to the age of the car, Im not saying it isnt wheel bearings or a sticky caliper piston. Those are both things I havnt gotten around to inspecting on this car yet since I picked it up.

 

One thing at a time. Right now it is the hill holder, because LEFT FRONT and RIGHT REAR are dragging.

[MilesFox]

the brake lines run inside of the car to under the back seat before they run under the car to the rear.

 

there is a proportioning valve at the rear brakes with 3 fittings.

 

good luck with your problem there. Although i honestly do believe the hill holder does not apply pressure to the front brake at all.

[Idasho]

Thanks.

 

Though the more I look at this photo.....

 

The more I think I want to just rip it out and replace the entire unit with a T-fitting.

 

But I dont want to break open the system and get wet just yet....

[TomRhere]

I can see the spring was on the HH when the pic was taken. Is it still there? The spring holds it in the open position for normal brake operation.

 

One can adjust the angle that the HH operates at by placing shim(s) under either of the mounting bolts. Thinking I would remove the rear bolt and bend the bracket to give it a more nose down stance, just to see if it helps any.

 

And yeah, I would definetly swap a Tee fitting in there myself. Done it to a few of mine.

[Idasho]

The spring was never removed. Just the cable.

 

Though the thing will rotate well beyond where the spring pulls it to. I have it rotated all the way clockwise to point of it stopping, and the brakes are still a bit sticky.

 

How easily should the valve rotate? I feel a good bit of resistance. Not binding, or rough, but a bit gummy.

 

Im going to give the entire system a flush today. It probably needs it anyhow. Ill also tip the hill holder forward. I had overlooked the fact that it is angle specific, and this GL is newly lifted (just the front).

 

Thanks for the help.

[TomRhere]

That,,,, may be your issue.

 

If just the front was lifted, it negated the "Factory angle setting".

 

It really doesn't take much of a change in angle to "adjust" it's operation,,, from what I've read on it anyways.

 

I would pull the rear bolt, find one a tad longer, (if needed), then stuff a couple of flat washers under the mount bracket at the rear.

One may be way more than enough though.