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Technical Winter Handbrake Troubles

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Technical Winter Handbrake Troubles

orange127sport

orange127sport

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Wife reports "car hard to get off drive" .Investigation found near side H.B cable seized due to sub-zero temps.
Changed it this morning with help of father in law and found 2 reasons for water getting in:-

End rubber boots shot and cable had been chaffing on the wheel due to a carrier bracket bent and pusing cable casing against edge of wheel.

Changed it and reseated holders to avoid chaffing, but father in law observed the end where the 2 sep cables attach to cable from HB lever is really open to elements. He squirted oil down new and existing cables and plastered the rubber boots with copper grease then suggested we make a prevention plate.

Attached pic to show where etc. Took 5 mins to make out of stainless steel and 3 large pop rivets to fit it. Leaving his garage theres loose gravel and could hear how much was pinging off the plate. Imagine this with all the snow/salt going straight to the cable joining places.

The modification seems good but time will tell. It may help others
 

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I have got the same problem, freezing up on the passenger side. I tried to get some WD40 down there but with limited luck.
Where did you get the replacement cables from and how much did they cost? I will have to do mine when the weather allows, the sooner the better.
I like your modification, I think that will be something I will look at doing too. thanks for the picture of it.
 
multiplex said:
I have got the same problem, freezing up on the passenger side. I tried to get some WD40 down there but with limited luck.
Where did you get the replacement cables from and how much did they cost? I will have to do mine when the weather allows, the sooner the better.
I like your modification, I think that will be something I will look at doing too. thanks for the picture of it.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hijack, but I just did mine last weekend here's a link to the site I bought my cables from: http://www.shop4parts.co.uk/?name=s...0&secondary=12&opts=60&btnViewProducts=Search
(y)
 
Frogger, thanks for that link. I think for the prices on the site I will change both cables. Sods law says if I do one the other will start to freeze up. Any problems changing them or was it fairly straight forward?

Thanks again
Andy
 
I've suffered the same problems. I got the tube from the spray oil stuck down the inside of the cable outer and unloaded about half a can of the stuff (a Duck Oil type product) into the cable. It was sub zero again here last night and this morning. No problems. Fingers crossed!! Great mod by the way - the cable ends are so exposed!
 
orange127sport said:
Wife reports "car hard to get off drive" .Investigation found near side H.B cable seized due to sub-zero temps.
Changed it this morning with help of father in law and found 2 reasons for water getting in:-

End rubber boots shot and cable had been chaffing on the wheel due to a carrier bracket bent and pusing cable casing against edge of wheel.

Changed it and reseated holders to avoid chaffing, but father in law observed the end where the 2 sep cables attach to cable from HB lever is really open to elements. He squirted oil down new and existing cables and plastered the rubber boots with copper grease then suggested we make a prevention plate.

Attached pic to show where etc. Took 5 mins to make out of stainless steel and 3 large pop rivets to fit it. Leaving his garage theres loose gravel and could hear how much was pinging off the plate. Imagine this with all the snow/salt going straight to the cable joining places.

The modification seems good but time will tell. It may help others
Click to expand...
This should be a sticky!
 
My father in law takes all the credit for the adaption , it was his idea. He's old school you see, from an era where make do and mend was the order of the day and things were repaired and modified to last longer rather than instant replacement which seems to be the order of the day now .
Bringing 4 kids up that have all ended up solid honest people with good jobs (and a couple of university degrees thrown in for good measure) on a mechanics wage in the 1970's is no mean feat, but his inginuity and frugelness definately helped!!

Don't go rushing in at those prices from Shop4Parts for HB cables though. £42 inc delivery isn't a bargain. I.net shops always look cheap but never include VAT / Delivery and to be honest I'd rather keep local shops in business if their prices are close.
HOWEVER , mine were a LOT LOT CHEAPER.
Mines a rear disc model(so dearer HB cables) and I paid £24 for the pass side cable (the longer of the 2). That was from a local very trustworthy motor factors (called BBC) in East Lancs. 2 mins from my house and they had them in branch an hour after I ordered them.
OK they are not Fiat originals but were excellant replicas with the heat sleeving etc (for preventing exhaust heat melting cable outer case) in the right place. The end boots good quality too and it fitted perfectly so obviously right length etc.
 
Last edited:
That plate's a nice idea but I think you'll still get water in the cables eventually, due to spray swirling around under the vehicle, and splashing up directly from the rear offside tyre.
I think it would be better to make some sort of gaiter arrangement with an old inner-tube, or some neoprene (wetsuit material).

It's a common problem with the Multipla as some have mentioned.
I'm in the habit of just leaving it in gear now if it's freezing, or getting close.
It did stop me having fun in the recent snow though (n)
 
So, it's nearly that time of year again...
The MOT (rather than the weather) necessitated me looking at the handbrake problem(s) again this time though. :rolleyes:

Failed on the left (n/s) inner pad being nearly down to the metal, despite the outer having around 6-7mm left, sticky cable syndrome again (n)

So, I whipped the calipers off, cleaned everything up, re-lubed the sliding pins and reassembled.
The pistons wound in easily (the calipers were only fitted Jan 2010).
What I didn't realise is that you have to pump the piston out against the disc with the foot pedal (with the caliper fitted of course) before you connect the cable.
If you connect the cable first, the handbrake mechanism 'lags behind' the piston, and basically doesn't work at all.
So that was the first re-test wasted. :rolleyes:

The tester also picked up a slightly twisted hose on the front-left caliper, which the original tester missed, and failed the front tyres (originally an advisory at the first test.
I'd done 110 miles in between, getting rear tyres (one had a small cut down to the cords, and they were both getting near the limit anyway) and pads, and taking my wife to work.

Luckily, you don't need to remove the calipers to 're-set' the mechanism, just disconnect the cable, pump the pedal, and reconnect the cable.

The twisted hose meant just taking the caliper off and turning it once.
Due to the daft design, with a straight screw-in union on the caliper end of the hose, and the other end fixed in the mounting bracket, you have no adjustment once the caliper is fitted.

Anyhow, it's through now.

One thing made me smile amidst all the gnashing of teeth (I'd have been pulling my hair out too, if I had any!).
Another customer at the MOT centre was quoted a couple of quid more for one tyre as I paid for all four of mine :D

BMW X3...no thanks!
 
[FONT=&quot]I fitted a protector from an old piece of guttering, cut to shape and bolted onto the fixing bolts where the cables divide.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
 
Is that like the one described on t'other forum?

I've got a piece of guttering sat in the garage in readiness for that very job. It stares at me every time I set foot in there.....
 
Best thing is an aerosol of motorcycle chain grease. It comes out of the aerosol like wd40 which lets it penetrate the cable, but thickens up dramatically after a few moments to help keep water out. My handbrake has never frozen and I don't live in a warm, dry place! :D

It has also worked well used on the spare wheel winder thing. :)
 
widemouthfrog said:
Is that like the one described on t'other forum?

I've got a piece of guttering sat in the garage in readiness for that very job. It stares at me every time I set foot in there.....
Click to expand...


It is indeed. It took me 20 minutes of trial and error to get the right guttering to the correct length, but it's protected the rubber perfectly.
 
Sooooo.
Last night, I dropped my Daughter of at work (0000-0530 shift, her '71 Beetle has no heating :cool:) took the little lanes on the way back (just for a change of scenery), hit 6" deep sharp-edged pothole and knackered the front-left tyre (less then 1000 miles old :mad:).
Left it on the verge and walked home (no tools in car), only a couple of miles luckily.
Went up this morning (in the unheated Beetle), with jack and tools, picked her up, changed the wheel for the stupid little spare thing (must get to a scrappy soon), which, to give the rusty little piece of c**p credit, still had pressure in it.
I've never touched the thing since we got the car (Oct 09), except to cut it from it's cable when it dropped off it's mounting a few months back, and by the look of it, it's not been touched since new.
Tried to pull away, (you're way ahead of me, aren't you) handbrake stuck on... -6º on the dash!

So, it's still there, no gas in my blowlamp, waiting for B&Q to open now...

I had all the cables off back in Oct (MOT time), and cleaned and thoroughly lubed them, shrink wrapped over all the split/worn parts of the sleeving, they were almost like new.
 
Got some gas (Screwfix...no, not the Adult dating site!), defrosted the cables, drove to Kwik-Fit (I know, but they're the only tyre centre open on Sundays round here).
Wheel is shot, nice big ding in the rim :cry:

So I'm off to the scrappy in a minute, hopefully they have some rusty old (but not too old) Fiats in...
 
When mine freezes up I just drive for a mile or so and then I take off one of the very hot drums and use the heat from it to thaw the cable out.
 
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