Another flaming handbrake problem…
After having had a very dodgy handbrake for 6 months and discovering that adjusting the nut on the handbrake lever did no good I replaced the rear discs and pads on my 1997 machine. At the same time I took the left and right cables off the car and gave them a good oiling together with the centre compensator.
I went through the usual adjustment procedure with the caliper adjuster (nipped up 'til the disc locked and backed off 1/3rd).
However I can still rotate the hubs by hand when the hand brake is fully on but infact by squeezing the actuating lever on the caliper up by hand I can get the disc to lock so I guess the calipers are OK.
Are the cables knackered (stretched) and in need of replacement? Car has done 97,000 - how long should the cables last?
It is either the cables, or more than likely the calliper handbrake arms starting to freeze up, tech talk…Jack her up on a axle stand with the wheel off, follow the cable to the handbrake arm, and give it a couple of hits with an small hammer to see if it moves to apply the handbrake? if this is the problem then some times you can get them back without spending daft money, remove the calliper from the carrier (no need to remove it from the roadster) the same as you would changing disc’s or pads, rotate the caliper so you can see the arm, remove the hold off spring and lever the hinge out, it will only come out about an 1"? , dont try and get it all the way out, now plenty of plus gas, knocking forward and back to free it back up, plus in and out also, once you are happy and it is free, put some oil on there and copper grease, push the hinge back in and the spring back on, applying copper grease around the movement of the arm to the caliper, and it should be fine until 12 months time when you check clean and degrease.<o:p></o:p>
But I would also clean and file the carrier where the slider clips live apply copper slip to the carrier and clean regreased slider clips, make sure the slider pins have no surface rust and red rubber grease needs to be applied, also file the brake pad edges where they move on the clips, and a bit of copper grease, blob a light coating on the pad and the shim, doing this every 12 months before MOT will make sure that you get your golden ticket, hard work done now dead easy next year just a clean and re’grease.<o:p></o:p>
If it turns out to be the cables, at the bottom of my sig is a link to the OC’s FAQ’s and there is a thread in there about reworking those.
EDIT:- http://www.mx5oc.co.uk/forum/forums/t/832.aspx<o:p></o:p>
Hope this helps<o:p></o:p>
M-m<o:p></o:p>
The adjuster on the handbrake lever is for compensating for stretched cables (and to take up manufacturing tolerances). If the calipers are set up right (which you have done) there should be just a few clicks on the handbrake lever to get the full range of movement on the lever on the caliper.
If the handbrake lever is coming all the way up without locking the wheels you need to adjust the nut on the end of the cable. If the handbrake lever doesn’t move all the way up but the lever on the calipers still has free travel then something else is jamming the cable between the lever and the caliper.
Top advice fellas - yes I took the spring off the lever at the caliper and waggled + penetrating oil + waggled + hammer etc etc…and it works!
MOT looms.
Thanks for your help
Happy days.
Time to enjoy again, if you get time,do the same to the other side,then you will solve it before it happens again
M-m