Hello,

Most Multipla owners will have experienced problems with their handbrake at some time. Whether it has seized up or frozen on, you will know how annoying it can be. Well, I recently changed one of my handbrake cables and this prompted my decison to make protective shields for the handbrake cables on both of our Multis. They are mounted using the two nuts on the plastic cable runner for the front cable and are made from a fairly heavy (3mm) gauge black square drainage channel.

I know of a couple of owners who have made their own protectors and they report that they have proven invaluable against damage to, and water ingress into, the two rear handbrake cables which can result in the handbrake freezing regularly during cold winters and the cable innards rusting and seizing up. As most of you will be aware, the cables are directly exposed to anything thrown up by the front wheel causing damage which considerably shortens their lifespan. In my opinion, the lack of protection is a major oversight by Fiat.

I have a few protectors for sale on ebay (item number 200860395902) for £10 each plus p&p. I have currently listed 5 but, if there is demand, I can manufacture more. If you think that sounds expensive for a piece of plastic, bear in mind that new handbrake cables are around £20 each and fitment of the protector will considerably prolong their lifespan so you will ultimately save money in the longer term.

Regards

Ian

From your pictures on eBay it looks like things could still get in there it's water that causes the problems with frozen hand brake this time of year that's why most grease right up or use plastic casing as it can be bent about as needed was wondering what is stoping fluids from getting in a the bottom is the cable running through two small holes etc good idea though

Looks spot on for the job..... Not just multis that suffer in the winter. The scenic had a back door that wouldn't shut the other morning due to frost. Had to strip and grease the lock.

The main purpose of my protector is to prevent stones and other debris from causing damage to the rubber gaiters on the cables. Given the harsh environment the cables are in, you are never going to totally prevent water from getting past the protector.

What it does prevent though is water (and debris) thrown up by the front wheel, from directly hitting the cables at high speed which is what causes the damage. The protector stops the worst of it and what water does get in, since it does not have a direct path to the cables, will end up flowing down (this is a piece of guttering after all) and out of the rear end beneath the vulnerable part of the cables.

It is ultimately your choice whether you want to buy and fit one of course.

Regards

Ian

What I was getting at is water gets down the cables that's what makes it freeze up I covered mine with melted plastic lunchbox as stated in other frozen hand brake threads