Technical Sticky handbrake

[Ralf S.]

My offside/right rear caliper seems to be suffering from some stickiness, which is a bit boring since it's a refurbished one, just two years old. The handbrake feels "loose" when its off, there's a hint of drag if I take the brake off at traffic lights etc. and the caliper feels a lot hotter than normal, never mind compared to the other one.

I'm pretty sure the cables are okay, since they're quite new too and modern plastic coated cables don't jam any more...

What's the best way to free up the mechanism without dismantling it? i.e. What size hammer do I need and where exactly do I bash it?

I'll have the wheel off this weekend to generally clean it up. lubricate it to death and see if I can help it at all ... but if anyone has a secret Top Tip that would be useful.


Ralf S.

 

[jim cooper]

Sorry Ralf but my answer is to renew the caliper. Mapco do them at reasonable price and they are not refurbished old ones. One thing which also needs checking for is rust build up under the springs that hold the pads in place. This can make the pads too tight in the holder and they may not retract from the disc. Having said that it sounds more like a stuck piston in the caliper - exactly like I had on the nearside last week.

 

[RuSZ]

Check the release spring on the lever on the caliper itself.

After changing a seized caliper, the spring moved a bit so wasn’t pushing the level back, meaning the handbrake wasn’t releasing fully.

Make sure it’s properly seated in the groves. [emoji106]

 

[Ralf S.]

Aye!

It's been a while since I last had a good clean-out of the pads and retaining springs but when I did, I left them immaculate. I also made sure the pads were new and a good fit. I stuck Brembo in there and they seem to fit better than some less illustrious brands I've used in the past... so I doubt the pads are jamming.

If it's the lever sticking then I'll have to work it/lube it till it frees up.. unless it's an internal failure, in which case a new caliper will be the proper job.

The ones on there now are Red Rocket (or something? ) re-furbished doodahs I bought from a fella who had fitted them to pass an MOT and then when it failed on a million other things, decided to scrap the car, but not the new brakes.

One is smooth bodied and stamped Bosch whereas the other (the one that's failed I think) is unbranded and has a pimpled body, so it's more of a mongrel. On the other hand, the internals would have been replaced by Red Dog .. so who knows?



Ralf S.