problem with my car hand brake

fletcher1985

i have just spoken to my brother and he said it was either my brakes need replacing or the hand brake cable needs adjusting due to it stretching so hes going to have a look at the weekend, i stopped on a steep hill today and it would not hold the car at all but im parked in the car park now on a slight slope and it didnt creak or move.

RaCinG_SnAkE_3

fletcher1985 wrote: »

well if you had asked why i didnt ask him in the first place you might know why im posting on here i wont bother again

Sorry Fletcher, I apologise for my earlier comment, but it does seem daft to me that if you know a mechanic, then it would make sense to ask him!

fletcher1985

he has just come out of hospital thats why i never asked him before.

RaCinG_SnAkE_3

Fair enough. Apologies once again.

Either way, whether its a new set of brake shoes, or tweaking the handbrake adjuster, it's not going to cost a great deal to fix. It will cause an MOT failure though, so if you've got one coming up, probably best to get it done soon.

fletcher1985

so if i take it round my brothers on saturday and its the cable that needs adjusting do you think he willbe able to fix it there and then? i have no idea about cars, and i couldnt speak to him for long on the phone today. i got my mot in march.

adouglasmhor

If it's just the cable needing adjusted a few minutes will do it, if it's the shoes a wee bit longer but still not a big job.

RaCinG_SnAkE_3

Depends what he's been in hospital for I guess. If he's had his tonsils out then yes. If he's had heart surgery then probably not no!

To do the job properly, you will need to remove the rear brake drum (the round thing staring you in the face when you remove the wheel) to see how worn the shoes are. If they need replacing, this will probably fix your problem without needing to touch the handbrake adjuster.

If they are good, then you can try adjusting the handbrake cable. You do this from inside the car. There should be some form of adjuster there, but you'll probably need to remove some plastic trim around the handbrake itself to get underneath it.

What car is it if you don't mind me asking?

fletcher1985

its a 1994 or 95 corsa 1.5 diesel

RaCinG_SnAkE_3

Perfect. Popular small car, so no big expensive parts to buy. If you need new shoes, they'll probably be around £30 I'd imagine, plus a couple of beers for your bro.

Hand cable adjustment will be free, unless its stretched so much that you need a complete new one, but I doubt this will be the case.

fletcher1985

yeah its a great little car has no guts in it when going up hills but its great on motorway, another thing i forgot to say was that i have noticed that the handbrake goes up another click now or two now