Hi I picked up a 95 3.4 that had been sitting for about 10 years. Apparently changing the fuel pump was to much work. Any way put in a pump and filter and it started right up. No warning lights on dash.Any way I thought after sitting for so long I should at least change the pads and shoes. By the way the car just had turned 80k miles. Started at the rear. The first thing I noticed was the retaining clips the factory puts on two of the studs to hold the drums on at the factory were still in place. I thought well the drums have never been off so I expect the shoes ware going to be pretty much gone.So after to resorting to using a puller to remove a very stuck drum imagine my surprise when the brakes looked brand new. the shoes had no wear at all. You could see the delco writing on the sides of the lining. The the hold down springs had the dabs of white paint you see on factory assembled parts. There was no brake dust. All the parts such as return springs,self adjuster lever and so forth showed no signs of heat or rust.The drums had no signs of wear at all. It looks to me as if the rear brakes have never worked ever. Before I try to solve this mystery it seems to me that this cant be the only car that has had this issue. I'm hoping that someone else has seen this before and can help. Thanks, Lew

 

I wouldn't assume the brakes aren't working. I would suggest putting the drums back on and having someone apply the brakes while you check to see if the drums can be rotated. I just finished helping a friend get the brakes working on a corvette that had sat for 21 years. The car was placed on jack stands and the when the brakes were applied, the fronts worked and the rears did not. It turned out the master cylinder was not pushing fluid to the rear calipers. The master cylinder was replaced and the system was bled, problem solved. In your case, something like the shoes not being adjusted properly could also be an explanation why the rear brakes were so clean. Bottom line, don't assume, always check to be sure.

 

like pete says make sure they are not working. if not it could be the proportion valve has been set and is not letting fluid to get to the rear brakes. to reset push on the brake peddle really hard.

 

Just a FYI, I bought my project 96 with 135K on the clock and I sold it with 230K on it and I never touched the back brakes. These cars are nose heavy and all the weight shift to the front even under light braking. Back brakes really don't see a lot of wear unless the car is pushed in a road course environment on a regular basis. Grandma driving to church will get 200k on them unless the wheel cylinders start leaking or hardware starts rusting up.

It is a little scary that the brakes where not routinely inspected. Here in PA one rear wheel is pulled every year and they switch which side from year to year. The big one is to make sure the wheel cylinder has not started leaking.