Punto mk2 MOT FAILURES... Trying to save car from the crusher!

[Davo29]

Hi Folks. Trying to save my dad punto. MOT's have been fine up until this year :/ Now it's come back with vengeance.

For the moment, I need advice on the hand brake. It only works on the off side, the near side is free wheeling but works with the foot brake. It's had new pads, shoes and auto adjusters this year and when I had a look last week they are in fine condition still. I removed the handbrake cable as suspected it had seized, this was not the case. It moved fine and also the end has not frayed. Everything else in that drum looks fine. I've even dug out the old Haynes manual just to check... Everything looks good. Would this likely be just a very stretched cable? I've found a pair of new ones for £15 so I think I'm going to change both for that price. Just don't want to keep jacking the car up, taking the drum apart, then the shoes, then re-fit... I must have done it several times this last month in trying to narrow this down!

Thanks for reading and any tips in advance!

 

[hennabm]

With the car jacked up and the wheel and drum still on, can you feel any retardation on the suspect wheel when you pull on the handbrake.

If you can get to the outer cable, by pulling down on that, does that introduce any retardation?

When you have the drum off and operate the handbrake, can you see any movement on the cable attached to the h/brake shoe?

At the lever end in the car does pulling on the adjuster with a pair of pliers show any movement at the drum end?

Check all these first before deciding on a new cable as there may be a more fundemental problem.

The footbrake you say works Ok, so the piston is pushing out the shoes but obviously the handbrake show is not reaching the drum.

So possibilities include the handbrake shoe lever is not on the pivot of the shoes or hooked in behind the auto adjuster correctly; the cable is not attached or incorrectly adjusted; the handbrake lever end of the cable is not in propoerly or adjusted correctly/sufficiently.

When all these have been checked then as you have done take off the cable and check its length against your good one to see if it is longer and therefore stretched.

HTH

 

[Davo29]

Come to think of it, when I had the cable off and attempted to pull it there was no movement at all with the drum off, not a millimetre. I just though with me doing that by hand wasn't enough leverage to make it work.

It does bite a little bit when jacked up but you can quite easily move the wheel around with one finger without and real restriction.

The inside handbrake mechanism is all fine and properly adjusted and the off side is absolutely fine.

So maybe it is the adjuster not seated correctly etc.

Would that cause a clicking noise when braking too? Sorry, forgot to mention that bit!

 

[varesecrazy]

Would that cause a clicking noise when braking too? Sorry, forgot to mention that bit!

loose/ maladjusted parts..,

check for loose springs/ mechanism..,

THEN- wind-up the self-adjuster until you can only just "twist the drum on",

if it's still poor, then you'll KNOW the mechanism isn't being pulled correctly by the cable,

Charlie

 

[Davo29]

Thanks Charlie.

I will yet again take it all off.

Maybe I'll just fit some new springs to it anyway to be safe for the sake a few pounds.

 

[hennabm]

^^ As Charlie said

If the clicking noise is from the drum when the footbrake is applied it is definitely something catching.

As one side works fine then it may also be worth a close look at the two sides and compare to see if you can spot any difference.

Charlie's bit about adjusting up the to see is spot on

 

[varesecrazy]

Thanks Charlie.

I will yet again take it all off.

Maybe I'll just fit some new springs to it anyway to be safe for the sake a few pounds.

TBH , I've never come across "self-adjusters" that work well,

remember there are "handed" differences from Drivers to Passengers sides..,


charlie

 

[Davo29]

As soon as it stops raining I'll get out there a and have a go.

I can see why self adjusters are rubbish, I mean basically a bit of tin is being expected to turn it!

Will post my results in due course!

Thanks Chaps