Hand Brake Problem

[Boiler Man]

Hi Guys

Can anyone help me, my S reg pre face lift estate, has had a near non existant hand brake for a while now. Travels all the way with hardly any effect. The garage were ment to fix it at the MOT about 9 month ago. It worked to a fashion for a month or two then back to normal.

I've been told that the hand brake pads are a completly seperate item to the foot brake, is this correct? Also is it a big job?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[jonathanh]

There is a maintainance guide on this see

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1152564750

In my experience the hand brake is a pain to adjust and is not the easiest thing to work on

Good luck!

[Marks DTM Calib]

There is a maintenance guide here:

Servicing The Rear Brakes

You should be able to see in the pics that the parkinga nd foot brake are seperate.

Its unlikely the shoes will be worn as they never actualy stop the car, the common cause is siezed linkages at the rear of the drums (where the cable connects), incorrectly adjusted shoes and cable (the cable MUST be slack when adjusting the shoes) or a damaged cable......

I find the handbrake pretty easy to work on, the only iffy bit is removing the heat shields.

Did the one on the facelift 2 weeks ago and its now very good.

[Boiler Man]

Thanks guys,

Sorry I didnt see that Maintanance post on the other page, going a bit dim.

Cheers

[Markie]

its fiddly but do - able   which reminds me i need to do mine  

[Timbuk]

its fiddly but do - able   which reminds me i need to do mine  

Me too, yet again

[GaryB]

You can get at the cable adjuster without removing the heatshields - a long extension between your ratchet handle and the socket does work.  Haynes recommend getting both rear wheels off the ground at the same time (which is better from a purist point of view), but I have successfully done them one at a time.  Slacken the cable off, get your screwdriver through the hole on the drum and wiggle the adjuster round until the brake  locks, then back it off until the drum (just) spins freely.  It is then a matter of adjusting the cable so that the brakes lock at about 5 clicks as Ronnie says.

Thinks - I must check mine soon................

[Boiler Man]

Just needed adjusting

Thanks for all the advice