the hand brake has been adjusted many times and a good brake obtained. A hundred miles or so later it stops holding the car,Every thing appears to be moving freely. Any bright ideas please. Thanks
Hi alnessMX5
Just been sorting my handbrake out on our Mk2.5 Sport, here’s a couple of pointers that may help:-
Have you checked that the brakes aren’t binding on? It’s well worth giving all the pivots on the calipers a good greasing & checking the pistons move freely.
Check the piston adjusters aren’t sticking - there’s a 14mm bolt/ cover next to where the handbrake cable meets the caliper, if you remove this it gives you access to the adjuster which requires a 4mm allen key. Turn clockwise to tighten the pads to the disk until you feel resistance ( Be extremely careful here & insert the long end of the allen key- I was a bit ham fisted & stripped the splines on the adjuster. I managed to fish it out with the allen key & had to grind the rounded off section to make it work again!). Once you hit resistance, turn the adjuster one third of a complete turn anti-clockwise to allow some clearance between pads & disk.
Adjust clicks on handbrake to 5-7.
Hope this helps
Martin
How are you adjusting the handbrake? Have you seen the guide in the Technical Downloads section?
Yes I was wondering that.
It could be that the handbrake adjustment has been made at the cable in the past (rather than down at the calipers first) and most of the handbrake movement at the caliper is already used up. You then adjust at the caliper but it simply runs out of movement again after a few more miles.
Before adjusting with the allen key the handbrake levers (on the caliper) must be completely returned to their off position. This may mean slackening the handbrake cable or even removing it at the calipers. Then return the caliper levers fully. Then adjust with allen key. Then, as last job, re-adjust handbrake cable at the lever in the car for the right number of clicks.
As above but you must remoce the cables altogheter as if you dont you will lose adjustment Follow above but only refit the cables AFTER you adjust the allen key then adjust in the car at the handbrake itself.If this does not work the worm drives inside the caliper may be worn/seized
Really?
That seems like a huge amount of unneeded effort.
Remove hand brake lever shroud, hand brake off, slacken the adjuster nut with a big screw driver (Anti clockwise), make the adjustments at the caliper, tighten adjuster to give around 4 clicks on the hand brake, job done. 20 minutes tops, less if you are practised.
thanks for the advice. Had a go today, released the handbrake cable completely, pushed the calliper levers fully closed,adjusted callipers and then the handbrake.so far so good, the best brakes yet, lets hope it stays that way
No problem it works every time unless your calipers are worn etc.Old ways are best.You cant beat experience!!