Help!! My 2002 Punto Active just failed its MOT due to the handbreak, it doesn't hold!! Does anyone know how I adjust this? Can I access the bolts and cable from underneath? Or is it accessed internally within the car? Please help!! Thanks you.

Re: Adjusting the handbreak

Posh Claire said:

Help!! My 2002 Punto Active just failed its MOT due to the handbreak, it doesn't hold!! Does anyone know how I adjust this? Can I access the bolts and cable from underneath? Or is it accessed internally within the car? Please help!! Thanks you.

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Remove rear ashtray,3mm allen key bolt then use a 10mm socket to tigten the handbrake cable adjuster.

Hi by the way:wave:

Although cables do stretch, and occasionally break, the problem is usually due to faults in the rear drums. Usually failure of the selfadjusting mechanisms

Suggest you check the operation of the rear brakes, and their adjustment, before looking at the cables

Re: Adjusting the handbreak

slacken hand brake from inside car,drive forwards,5 to 10 mph,brake hard,do the same in reverse, do this 3 or 4 times,this will adjust your brakes with out removing your drums,providing you have no other faults on the brakes ,then adjust to 4 clicks.that should give you a good hand brake and better foot brake.

Re: Adjusting the handbreak

multipete said:

slacken hand brake from inside car,drive forwards,5 to 10 mph,brake hard,do the same in reverse, do this 3 or 4 times,this will adjust your brakes with out removing your drums,providing you have no other faults on the brakes ,then adjust to 4 clicks.that should give you a good hand brake and better foot brake.

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does this really work?

Re: Adjusting the handbreak

Alex-R said:

does this really work?

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I'm not sure since there are two types of auto-adjust mechanisms. One adjusts when you use the footbrake whilst reversing, the other adjusts when the handbrake is applied. I have a feeling the Fiat system is the latter.

Re: Adjusting the handbreak

MikeSalt said:

I'm not sure since there are two types of auto-adjust mechanisms. One adjusts when you use the footbrake whilst reversing, the other adjusts when the handbrake is applied. I have a feeling the Fiat system is the latter.

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right cheers, just had the hub off and i can't see any way of adjusting it in there but i'm obviously wrong.

i'll slacken the handbrake off, brake a few times and see where i get

Re: Adjusting the handbreak

so has anyone adjusted the handbrake this way on a punto or has a rough idea how to do it before i start?

just the GF is wanting the car for the weekend while i'm away and she's useless without it lol

Re: Adjusting the handbreak

the slackening the handbrake and braking hard method done nothing at all

Re: Adjusting the handbreak

There is an adjustment level, it is directly below the right spring in the drum. Me and my Dad were doing mine on my car tonight.

Re: Adjusting the handbreak

karbineftw said:

There is an adjustment level, it is directly below the right spring in the drum. Me and my Dad were doing mine on my car tonight.

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ah right, what exactly do i do with it lol?

just i was going to just pay for it to get done but if im sure i know what i'm doing i'll give it another go

Re: Adjusting the handbreak

there's a knurled silver wheel turn this to tighten loosen brakes, its just below the brake cylinder
i've altered mine so often that i can do it leaving the wheels on and only remove one bolt as there is a hole in the drum

Re: Adjusting the handbreak

as far as i know yours will be same as mine, a normal adjuster with teeth, located behind the shoe kind of, you need to bar the shoes away from each other and it will open the adjuster.

Re: Adjusting the handbreak

cheers you 2, ill take another look in the morning

so do i slacken off the handbrake and then just tighten it up at the shoes?

Yeh, thats it. Then tighten the handbrake up again once you have done both sides to the tightness you want. 3 clicks is usually what people tend to go for

right i'm stuck, what bit am i adjusting? i can see where the cable enters the drum, sort of looks like a nut, other than that i'm lost


cheers

yours is different to mine, but i'd say its behind the top right spring

its the shiney silver bit on the right behind the shoe, thats got little teeth in it and when you bar the shoes away from each other it will click up on the teeth.

I've got a similar model & the drums are well worn if the shoes are worn as well you can run out of adjustment. New drums & shoes were an instant cure!
Anothe 'funny' I've found is the handbrake cable outers rust & collapse a bit the effectively make the inner cable too long & hand brake adjustment impossible or lopsided - all good fun!?
In the picture the silver bit you can just see on the right is part of the auto adjuster the lower lug holds the spring the adjuster has ratchet teeth as does the mating part behind the shoe.
By the way you are not supposed to pull the hub off fair chance you wreck the bearing it - is part of the hub. you can do the necessary to the brakes with the hub in place. just remove the drum - undo the two wheel locating pins (12mm spanner) & the drum comes off at worse you can screw 2 bolts in the drum to jack it off the hub.