I used to get to 3 clicks and it was as tight as could possibly be, then in the last 3 months 3 clicks was still just as difficult to pull up to, only it wouldnt hold on steep hills like normal, e.g. 40 degree hills. So i tried to get it to fourth click, cwhich i have been able to do for 1 month and today when i tried i heard an almighty bang and lost all handbrake power (while parked on an extremly steep hill )

Can now reach the end of the handbrake's leverage without any effect.

Wats more likly, a broken cable or pins? As i checked the underside of the vehicle once jacke dup at the back like previous threads said, and i couldnt see any wires out of place or broken leading to the rear drums, or any pins out of place, could it have snapped on the underside where the nadbrake is located??

Need some help.


p.s also is this covered undeer warrenty from the garage i got it from??

isobarboy said:

I
p.s also is this covered undeer warrenty from the garage i got it from??

Click to expand...

very unlikely, in fact nil

It is a problem that has slowly got worse over time (at least 4 months going by original post) you shouldve gone back pretty much straight away for at least a chance of a warranty repair when it wouldnt stop on steep hills in first instance(although i am pretty sure you wouldnt have got one) and it sounds like you have barely been gentle with the handbrake either i reckon

Cable will have frayed inside.

Whatever has failed need to be fixed so pop the cover off the cable under the middle of the car and check it.

Unlikely to be a warranty item, but check your warranty documentation. probably excluded as 'wear and tear'.

Cheers

SPD

Went to my fiat dealership and guess what . . . not covered, half expected that to be honest though, they said;

"it should cost £98 but we'll go halfs with you and you only have to pay £45"

wtf! GO HALFS? i thought the going rate for a handbrake cable change was 50 anyway, so why say there doing me a favour?

Yeah i was very gentle with it , but living in cornwall with these hills, when you have to park on a steep one, you need that extra oomphw with the handbrake, coz my horse and cart isnt as reliable (jokes)

ooo btw is 45 a good price you rekkon?

new cable is only 20 quid... do it yourself

If you do it yourself have a couple of new cotter pins ready incase you can't reuse one, also use some WD40 to clean and lubricate the levers that are half in/half out of the drums, will either prevent it getting stiffer and stopping the handbrake from not releasing properly or prevent it stiffening up sooner than they would have done. If you have to remove the levers to do this make sure they go back into the same side, they need to be the right way up.

Also it's probably a given by now, but leave it in gear when you park up, even with a working handbrake. Pretent your Cento is a classic motor

Got it done, took them two hours! even i know it isnt that hard, i just do not have any of the recources(spelling?) to do it, so i let em, procedure as follows

1. bring car into garage
cup of tea
2. raise car on stands
packet of crisps
3.take out old cable
chin wag and sandwhich with friend
4. start fitting new cable
cupa tea
5. finish sitting cable and drive away
WTF wheres my car
6. recieve keys!


Lol Never though it could be so drawn out, should be 45 min job and took 2 hours!!! Least i didnt pay 2 hour labour as it was a set price!

Sounds normal workshop procedure to me!

Cheers

SPD