Hello everyone. I'm a newbie here. I have a question about parking my Fiat 500 on a hill. I assume that when turning the vehicle off, the car needs to be in neutral with the handbrake on. But unless I really yank the handbrake up with a lot of strength and force, the car starts to roll back. It's pretty worrying. In my previous car (a Nissan Micra) I would put the car in "Park" and use the handbrake with a small amount of force. Am I doing something wrong now that I have a Fiat? I can't see a gear called "Park" in the Fiat. Thanks.

Welcome to the forum!

Sounds like you definitely need to get your handbrake adjusted pronto.

The Dualogic gearbox is not an 'automatic' in the accepted sense; it's a 'robotized manual' (or clutchless manual).

When you change to neutral and apply only the handbrake, and the handbrake fails or is ineffective, the car will roll, just like any other manual.

When you stop the car do not put it into neutral, on a hill or even on flat ground - leave it as-is and apply the handbrake. Thus the car remains in gear - it will shift automatically into neutral the next time you start it. Naturally you should also turn the front wheels into the kerb as a further precaution.


But first and foremost get that handbrake adjusted.

As above, the car doesn't have a "Park" option for the gearbox. You park it with the handbrake.

Your 500 probably has drum brakes and these do need attention occasionally. It could be that the actuating arm pivots are stiff so are not transferring the hand-brake movement to the brake shoes. They would need to be removed, freed up, greased to buggeration and refitted.

It's a mostly labour-only job, cost-wise unless the garage finds a leak in the brake cylinders or a problem with the handbrake cables while they're there.


Ralf S.

Have the whole hand brake system looked at outs needed new drums cables shoes all cheap ours needs very little effort now

If the handbrake lever has a lot of movement seized up self adjusters would give exactly this symptom as the handbrake and footbrake travel will get longer as the shoes wear and the handbrake will become less effective. Does your foot brake go down quite a bit before the brakes bite?

One of the least serviced items on a car until there is a problem. I tend to look at the braking system when I do an oil change every six months. I agree as what's said already to have the whole system looked at, just adjusting the hand brake is never enough. Drums off & inspect, cables as well. If your handy with the spanners, now is the time to check other things while you're at it.

Firstly, as said above, the handbrake mechanism needs checking to ensure it is working properly, especially the self-adjusters.

Once that's done, if it has drum brakes, this technique will help hold it on a hill, and allow you to release it again without having to use both hands.

Stop normally.
Once stopped, and still holding it on the footbrake, press the footbrake hard. This will use the footbrake to squeeze the shoes hard against the drum, so the handbrake mechanism only has to hold them, not apply them.
Now, with the footbrake pushed hard, apply the handbrake, enough to hold the shoes, but not so hard you'll never get it off again.

This has worked for me for many years, on many cars with otherwise poor handbrakes.

GreyRabbit said:

Hello everyone. I'm a newbie here. I have a question about parking my Fiat 500 on a hill. I assume that when turning the vehicle off, the car needs to be in neutral with the handbrake on. But unless I really yank the handbrake up with a lot of strength and force, the car starts to roll back. It's pretty worrying. In my previous car (a Nissan Micra) I would put the car in "Park" and use the handbrake with a small amount of force. Am I doing something wrong now that I have a Fiat? I can't see a gear called "Park" in the Fiat. Thanks.

Click to expand...

Hi.

Your car doesnt have a PARK setting..

So with the engine off it can coast..or roll.

As stated the handbrake should still hold the car.

What age..and mileage??

Basic parts are cheap.

Charlie

I suspect wear rather than corrosion as the cars in Australia?

Year is 2013 and mileage is 12843km.

varesecrazy said:

Hi.

Your car doesnt have a PARK setting..

So with the engine off it can coast..or roll.

As stated the handbrake should still hold the car.

What age..and mileage??

Basic parts are cheap.

Charlie

Click to expand...

No, I don't need to put my foot brake down very far to get a response.

Pugglt Auld Jock said:

If the handbrake lever has a lot of movement seized up self adjusters would give exactly this symptom as the handbrake and footbrake travel will get longer as the shoes wear and the handbrake will become less effective. Does your foot brake go down quite a bit before the brakes bite?

Click to expand...

Thanks for the great feedback everyone.

GreyRabbit said:

Year is 2013 and mileage is 12843km.

Click to expand...

Is the car honestly "only" 12,800 KM ? or about 8,000 miles at 6 years old? if so where's it been sitting unused? I know its warm there so rusting is less of an issue.

At such low mileage.. the basic contact parts of a functioning handbrake should be great.

It is NOT a complex piece of equipment.

Any competent garage should be capable of servicing the handbrake.

Quick question..

If you slowly raise the handbrake lever
..without pressing the button..

How many clicks from
bottom (off) to top (on: tight)?

That will tell a story

Charlie

John202020 said:

Is the car honestly "only" 12,800 KM ? or about 8,000 miles at 6 years old? if so where's it been sitting unused? I know its warm there so rusting is less of an issue.

Click to expand...

Yes, that's definitely the mileage. The car came from Sydney.

Almost certainly some part of the rear brake mechanism will have seized.

This is a common issue, as the parts aren't lubricated when they are assembled in the factory.

Older low mileage cars are particularly prone to this sort of thing. Regular use helps to prevent this.

What's needed here is to remove both brake drums and find out what's going on. The two most likely causes are that one of the shoes has seized onto the backplate (there are three points of contact for each shoe, identified by hatched areas on the backplate) or that one of the self adjusters has stopped working.

In either case, all that's needed is to dismantle the relevant parts, clean, apply an anti seize lubricant to the appropriate points, and reassemble.

A seized wheel cylinder or handbrake cable is also possible, but far less likely.

A common mistake is to try to rectify this kind of issue by adjusting the handbrake cable. The handbrake cable should never be adjusted until it's been verified that all internal brake parts are moving freely and working correctly. Excepting cable replacement, the only reason to adjust the cable is to compensate for any stretching of the wires, which tbh is unlikely unless the car has been driven by a gorilla.

Excessive handbrake travel is almost always caused by a problem inside one of the brake drums.

As an aside, both brake drums should be removed annually when the car is serviced, to check that all is well. Many garages only remove one side, and assume the other one will be in a similar condition. If anyone's interested, I could post some images from my 'horror gallery' which shows what can be missed if you only check one side.

4 clicks.

varesecrazy said:

At such low mileage.. the basic contact parts of a functioning handbrake should be great.

It is NOT a complex piece of equipment.

Any competent garage should be capable of servicing the handbrake.

Quick question..

If you slowly raise the handbrake lever
..without pressing the button..

How many clicks from
bottom (off) to top (on: tight)?

That will tell a story

Charlie

Click to expand...

GreyRabbit said:

4 clicks.

Click to expand...

Yes that's right ours holds at 4 clicks but is not hard to apply.

4 clicks :

Not excessive movement


So not worn out.. you will be looking for operation / braking effort on one side only.

Causes:

Contamination ( fluid leaks)
Seized cable or mechanism

As above.. it takes 10 mins to remove wheel and brake drum for a visual inspection.

Do that. Let us know what is found

Charlie

varesecrazy said:

As above.. it takes 10 mins to remove wheel and brake drum for a visual inspection.

Charlie

Click to expand...

Yes if they've been off regularly but if never off could be "quite an issue" I found.