How to Adjust the Rear Brakes on a Mercury Mystique

The rear drum brakes on your Mercury Mystique are a non-servo design. This design uses a wedge-shaped anchor plate, located at the bottom of the backing plate, and the rotation of the wheel to force the brake shoes into the drum friction surface to slow the vehicle. A quadrant is built into the parking brake strut to keep the brake shoes adjusted when the parking brake is applied. When the brake shoes are replaced they should be adjusted manually before driving the car.

Instructions

1

Release the parking brake and block the front wheels with wheel chocks. Lift one side of the rear of the car using a floor jack positioned on the lifting point located on the rocker panel pinch weld a few inches in front of the wheel opening. Slide a jack stand under the rear cross-member for added safety. Remove the wheel using the lug wrench.

2

Slide the drum off the brake shoe assembly. If the drum is stuck to the hub, a few taps with a hammer around the outer edge of the drum will loosen it so it can be removed. Lay the drum on the ground with the friction surface facing up.

3

Loosen the thumb-screw in the center of the brake shoe adjusting gauge and push the two halves of the gauge together. Insert the small side of the gauge into the drum and expand it against the friction surface of the drum. Move the gauge around inside the drum to find the largest diameter of the drum and tighten the thumb-screw of the gauge.

4

Slip the large side of the brake shoe adjusting gauge over the brake shoes. Expand the brake shoes by using a small screw driver to push the knurled adjuster quadrant in towards the backing plate. Expand the shoes until the shoes drag on the brake shoe adjusting gauge as the gauge is slid over the shoes.

5

Reinstall the drum and wheel. Remove the jack stand and lower the car to the ground. Repeat the process for the remaining side of the rear brakes. Apply the parking brake a few times and press the brake pedal a few times before test driving the car.