Can anyone tell me the quickest way to free up a hand brake lever on a Bosch rear caliper. It would not release fully when the hand brake was off, resulting in smoking brake pads after a short drive. I have sprayed with WD equivalent and it seems to have helped. I don't really want to change the caliper in the cold weather.
Technical Hand brake lever on rear caliper help
- Thread starter jim cooper
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Technical Hand brake lever on rear caliper help
Are you sure it's the lever on the caliper and not the handbrake cable that's seized?
The left cable is more prone to seize because of its convoluted route around the exhaust pipe.
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The left cable is more prone to seize because of its convoluted route around the exhaust pipe.
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It's the driver's side caliper and the cable seems to be free but I will check again.
Just checked the cable and it is moving freely.
I've sprayed releasing fluid around the lever pivot and it seems to be moving when I press it forward The spring is located correctly and is pulling the lever back when the hand brake is off. I suppose all I can do is wait to see if the problem happens again and then change the caliper.
If there is one thing that I would have welcomed on a Stilo it is a different design of rear caliper. The Bosch system is flawed both in terms of handbrake mechanism and pad location springs. The need for piston wind back is also a pain.
One of mine (also coincidentally the driver's side) is doing exactly the same thing. It was a refurbed caliper that lasted aboot 14 months before it started not releasing completely.
I've had the wheel off and (externally) greased/freed up the mechanism to buggeration .. but it only lasts a week and then it starts not fully releasing again. I found loosening the handbrake cable, so that the lever is not rotated as much seems to help. The "sticking" happens if I really crank on the handbrake (like the additional few degrees of the lever rotation puts it into a "sticky" zone.
I have a new refurbished caliper to put on after Christmas (Dr Death the MOT man will be inspecting it on the 31st December).
Anyhow... the current o/s sticking caliper is an unknown make (refurbished bt ATP/ATE or someone?) with a smooth body, so it's probably on its second tour of duty. The original equipment calipers are made Bosch and have "Bosch" cast into them, and a pimpled/rough finish.
The nearside caliper on the other hand is also refurbished one.. but it was a "Bosch" caliper (curious, since I bought at the same time from the same ATP/ATE firm) and that's working fine. I wonder if the Bosch body is better machined etc. and the smooth body/unbranded type is just less saucey and more reluctant to be rebuilt? I guess "1" is not a statistically sound sample though..
But Gerrard's original factory calipers were marked Bosch and never stuck on.... rather they just stopped being "effective" after 13 years 140k... and needed to be replaced by the current Bosch/Unknown combo'.
Ralf S.
Thanks for this Ralf. I think you have described my problem perfectly. When the lever is pulled too far forward it will not return sufficiently to the off position. At the moment I am driving without the hand brake (not too many hills near me!) and will fit a new caliper ASAP. I have one from a German supplier branded "Stark", with a smooth body and no Bosch stamping. Don't know whether it is refurbished or newly made but I have one on the other side and it has worked OK so far. Thanks again for your help.
Just changed the rear right caliper and now I am not 100% sure that the hand brake cable wasn't stuck to create the original problem. My reply to Davren was that the cable was moving freely but that could be because it became "unstuck" once I started messing about with the lever. I just wonder what can cause the cable to stick to the extent that the strong spring on the caliper can't retract it, since the cable wire is plastic coated along its whole length? The old caliper was a full price Bosch unit.
Unless the cable has been crushed it’s quite tricky for it to jam.
My money is on your caliper still... my replacement caliper is behaving itself... but a new o/side cable isn’t too tricky to fit if yours sticks with the new caliper too.
Ralf S.
My money is on your caliper still... my replacement caliper is behaving itself... but a new o/side cable isn’t too tricky to fit if yours sticks with the new caliper too.
Ralf S.
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Another problem. Changing the pads on the nearside rear - all OK until I start to wind back the caliper piston. The rubber weather seal is stuck to the piston and tears when I start winding. Smeared it with synthetic grease until a new caliper arrives.
