General Handbrake Adjustment

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General Handbrake Adjustment

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Aug 11, 2003
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Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
Just fitted pads, shoes and handbrake cable. Brakes need bleeding again they spongy. Had to fit a mew master cylinder one side was siezed. Handbrake cable is a tough one. Got the cable to the tightest possible place yet i can pull 7 clicks and don't get resistance till the fourth. Sure this aint right.
 
sure you've routed it right? And you sure the handbrake levers are on properly? If so, I'd get a new cable mate!lol
 
Once you've bled the footbrake , you'll need to adjust the handbrake cable . If you get underneath the car , you'll find the adjuster just behind where the handbrake comes through the floor , right above the hot exhaust pipe!!

Just take up the slack until you have about 2 clicks of free travel .Make sure the wheels rotate freely with the handbrake off .

Too much free travel and no reserve travel are both MOT failures .

Hope that helps
John
 
is yours a late cinq? Does the handbrake adjustor system look like it does in the haynes manual. there was talk a while ago of two different types of cable, i dont remeber if it was the sei having a different cable.

If you have a late cinq, and the adjustment mech doesnt match that of haynes - then you have a sei handbrake adjustor.

Or i could be talking poo, i remeber reading it - but not paying too much attention.
 
Yes, Arc's right later Cinqs 97 and 98 with the seicento type steering wheel also have a different brake lever and need a different cable. I know becaus I had to change mine on my old cinq.

Regards,

Michael
 
When I called for my handbrake cable, they asked for my chassis number to make sure the cable was right. Did they do that with yours? sounds like that could be the issue. Other than that, my money would have to be on the handbrake levers not being on correctly :confused:
 
bit late for this message but just for future refrence for other fiat cinquencento drivers if the hand brake is a new cable and properly adjusted and still moves then its the back shoes on the back wheel need adjusting and simple as that as that was the trouble with mine no(y)w there all good
 
After you've reassembled the rear brakes sorting out any problems on the way (leaky slave cylinders, shoes covered in fluid, rusty brake pipes,etc you need to set the shoes up on their friction adjusters before touching the handbrake set up.

To do this just put the rear wheels back on and whilst driving in reverse do a couple of 'emergency' stops. Lift car and remove wheels again and set up the handbrake cables after checking that none of the brake lever pivots have seized.

For the old timers like me it was exactly the same set up on the 500's and 126's.
edit:Just thought I would add that when the shoes are being set up the spring loaded friction adjuster is being pushed nearer the centre of the hub and moving the friction material closer to the drum giving less pedal movement before biting.
 
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