Technical Sticky handbrake...

[Luke P]

Hello all,

My handbrake sticks on when I leave it on overnight or parked all day when I'm not at work. It started a few days ago and is progressively getting worse. Doesn't happen when in use on the road... It feels like it will cause a problem in the not too distant future but I have an idea of how to solve it, I wonder what you guys think....

What I'm going to do is pull the drums off and I expect to find a groove worn into the inside surface of the drum and that the pads are sticking in this groove... I'm then (if I'm right so far) going to grind the high points back to roughly flush with the worn braking surface... Obviously replacing everything would be ideal but if the drums aren't worn past their min thickness then why not....

Does this problem sound familiar and am I about to make a major mistake? As usual all feedback gratefully received...

Cheers, Luke

 

[CLXCraig]

I had this problem once Luke. I took the drums off and cleaned them with white spirit, got all the brake dust out and it was fine after that. Think they must have been getting hot and when soft cooiling and sticking again

if it is a groove like you said grinding would be fine aslong as it doenst go wonky!

craig

 

[Panda Van]

Not sure if taking a grinder to the brakes in any way a good idea, firstly i'd investigate why theyre sticking - are the arms on the back of the brake drum full disengaging when you let the handbrake off - is the cable catching on anything underneath or has the cable frayed in any way? I dont know if ive miss-understood what you think it is, but its unlikely that the pads are sticking in any groove.
The drums on a panda have only 1.5 to 2mm tolerance, which isnt all that much, so if theres any sign of grooves and or wear, might be worth replacing while the brakes are apart. Brake parts seem to be well cheap online, good luck !

 

[Luke P]

There's me thinking about making sparks and I'd completely forgotten about the cables and springs... Nice one!!

Cheers, Luke.

 

[Panda Van]

panda brakes always make me !!!!!!

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

panda brakes always make me !!!!!!

Tell me about it :bang:

 

[Luke P]

panda brakes always make me !!!!!!

Don,t feel too bad about panda brakes; my mates Mk1 golf had the same problem but it cost him lots to get it sorted... I love my meccano car and the support network!!

Thanks again, I'm off on a mission on Sunday morning but if there's enough light for surgery I'll have a look in the afternoon... That's the next chance I've got so wish me luck.

Luke...

P.S. I heard it was possible to retrofit Uno Turbo rear discs... might be the solution to a number of problems!!

 

[JimMagill]

the panda is way too light for rear discs, you'd be locking the wheels up all the time....

Anyway, whats a handbrake? 1st gear? LOL

You can tell I don't really trust fiat handbrakes


Jim

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Anyway, whats a handbrake? 1st gear? LOL

You can tell I don't really trust fiat handbrakes

Please tell me you've also heard of the dodgy Fiat handbrake also then Jim. I mentioned it in LL a while back and they all thought I was joking :bang:

 

[JimMagill]

I was first made aware of it in the 1980's when fishing my 125 out of my neighbours hedge...

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

I was first made aware of it in the 1980's when fishing my 125 out of my neighbours hedge...

Our friend who we brought the 750L off of warned us about it. He even showed that it comes as standard. His 3 day old (at the time) X-reg Brava also had one

 

[pandamonius_maximus]

Ah yes, many hours spent on the rear drums of the white panda trying to get them to pass the MOT! I found that by taking all the shoes off and the completely working free the pivoted lever behind that operates the hand brake worked a treat.

But there is another possibility, and thats the slave cylinders have failed and are sticking. I replaced both mine for £8, theyre cheap as muck so even if it is them, which I hope it isnt as I know its a pain to do the brake lines, its not an expensive job. And infact you can change them in very little time, assuming that pipes come off and go back on without any trouble. I had to replace one of the brake pipes for that reason, as the thread had stripped. All was good when the MOT centre were suprised how good they were when I was done and their only point was one was slightly better than the other. I managed to get it to pass, i went quite fast in reverse then locked yanked up the handbrake and I think that centred the shoes nicely. Either that or they gave up failing it on something and just wanted it gone!!

I hope it isnt anything that extreme anyway, as was mentioned before a good clean up and some copper grease will make huge improvements.

Good luck!

Si

 

[Luke P]

Cheers Si, I'll pull the drums off on Sunday assuming I have the time and clean it all out and lube up the pivots... At the moment it is a case of leaving the old girl in gear all the time like Jim said!!

Thanks all and I'll let you know how it goes.

Luke.

 

[CLXCraig]

the panda is way too light for rear discs, you'd be locking the wheels up all the time....

Anyway, whats a handbrake? 1st gear? LOL

You can tell I don't really trust fiat handbrakes


Jim

I do both! extra precaution because i live on a hill. Thats the next thing to adjust though, hand brake cable. Sorted my leaking sunroof today and rear brake light that wasn't working too now i have to leave her to dry out in the sun.. no driving for a while

 

[lewey]

Have scan read this, but don't grind your drums at all. Don't even bother if you have a proper lathe and skill to do so. Brake parts are so cheap, save yourself the bother and risk. Poor handbrake if pads and drums are anything but ruined will be the little lever in the anchor plate that relays the cable effort to the shoes. Extract it and WD-40 the frak out of it.

Then do it again in 12 months when it seizes again...

 

[firstcar-Y10]

I do both! extra precaution because i live on a hill. Thats the next thing to adjust though, hand brake cable. Sorted my leaking sunroof today and rear brake light that wasn't working too now i have to leave her to dry out in the sun.. no driving for a while

sun

 

[firstcar-Y10]

Please tell me you've also heard of the dodgy Fiat handbrake also then Jim. I mentioned it in LL a while back and they all thought I was joking :bang:

my Y10 failed the MOT on handbrake. The garage replaced the cable, dismantled it all and changed the shoes, greased up all the moving parts and generally faffed about for a couple of days and coudn't make it any better but because by this stage they had established that everything was working OK they just decided to pass it on a retest and assume that the handbrake was not actually defective, just crap. Didn't charge for the faffing either. Top garage, I miss those guys!

 

[turbo_jim]

my Y10 failed the MOT on handbrake. The garage replaced the cable, dismantled it all and changed the shoes, greased up all the moving parts and generally faffed about for a couple of days and coudn't make it any better but because by this stage they had established that everything was working OK they just decided to pass it on a retest and assume that the handbrake was not actually defective, just crap. Didn't charge for the faffing either. Top garage, I miss those guys!

Lol! I had exactly the same experience with my y10 the other day. It came back from the mot with the handbrake cable tightened to within an inch of its life - the lever would only come up 2 clicks, and it would just about hold on the level.

Anyway, I changed the brake shoes and generally cleaned everything up, and now the handbrake actually works properly. I then did a full brake overhaul just for peace of mind. Although i broke one of the brake pipes when changing a brake cylinder!!! Does anyone know where I can get a brake pipe ready-made? Fiat is out of stock until march.

out of interest this is the cost of the parts to fix your handbrake:
Ferodo brake shoes: £12
Brake cylinders (if needed) £7 x2
Brake drums (if neede) £20 x2

It's also possible that the handbrake levers will be excessively worn/rusted/seized. Unfortunately these are no longer available from fiat, sp you will have to clean/bodge/repair them as necessary. I was lucky in that mine just needed a good cleanup.

 

[Luke P]

Oh well, got my self all psyched up to sort the brakes this afternoon... Got the back end of the car up on stands, got the wheels off and realised I have no bolts to drift the drums off the hubs... Well goddamn... Does anyone know what bols I need... They look like they mighgt be M8 but not sure...

I did however pick the new wheels up today... I'm sure Firstcar would approve...

Luke...

 

[Panda Van]

Probably M8, failing that a large hammer and big flat screwdriver (bodge, bodge )