Adjusting the handbrake

[slimjim]

My hand brake is right at the top of its "travel" and isn't really holding the car

 

MOT is coming up, so I thought I better have a go at sorting it myself.

 

Had a quick look at the adjuster on teh handbrake itself and it seems to be as far "up" as it can go.

 

SO... BEFORE I try to adjust it at the rears, should I slack it off at the hand brake? So I have more to adjust in the future?

 

 

And if I do/dont.... do I just follo this ...

 

Whilst the car is excellent the handbrake is shite whether its adjusted or not - thats my opinion anyway.

 

I seem to recall way to adjust it is to:

 

Jack up all the back end with the wheels off the floor

1) take rear wheels off and release handbrake

2) remove rubber plugs in rear brake disks, 1 per disk

3) rotate hole which had the rubber plug in to 12 o'clock(cog is at 12 o'clock position) IIRC )if not its at 6 o'clock)

4) roate cog with a flat baded screwdriver one click at a time until the wheels start to lock up (I think on the drivers side you rotate the top of the cog towards the passenger side and on the passenger side the bottom of the cog to the drivers side, if after 10 clicks of the cog the wheels are still free to rotate try the other way 20 clicks)

5) when cogs have been rotated to point where wheels lock up rotate cogs 5-7 clicks in other direction, ensure wheels are free to rotate and don't rub.

6) Get in car and pull up handbrake counting clicks, you wanna aim for 6 - 7. If less clicks loosen the nut on the handbrake with the extended 10mm socket if more than tighten it abit.

7) release handbrake and repeat until you have 6-7 clicks.

8) release handbrake jump out of car and check wheels are free to rotate

9) reapply handbrake, check wheels are locked.

10)put wheels back on

11)bish bash bosh brew time

[Chris`I]

That sounds about right - its in the service manual ( http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/ ). You'd certainly want to loosen off the handbrake lever end before adjusting the back

[Greekman]

My hand brake is right at the top of its "travel" and isn't really holding the car

 

MOT is coming up, so I thought I better have a go at sorting it myself.

 

Had a quick look at the adjuster on teh handbrake itself and it seems to be as far "up" as it can go.

 

SO... BEFORE I try to adjust it at the rears, should I slack it off at the hand brake? So I have more to adjust in the future?

 

 

And if I do/dont.... do I just follo this ...

 

Whilst the car is excellent the handbrake is shite whether its adjusted or not - thats my opinion anyway.

 

I seem to recall way to adjust it is to:

 

Jack up all the back end with the wheels off the floor

1) take rear wheels off and release handbrake

2) remove rubber plugs in rear brake disks, 1 per disk

3) rotate hole which had the rubber plug in to 12 o'clock(cog is at 12 o'clock position) IIRC )if not its at 6 o'clock)

4) roate cog with a flat baded screwdriver one click at a time until the wheels start to lock up (I think on the drivers side you rotate the top of the cog towards the passenger side and on the passenger side the bottom of the cog to the drivers side, if after 10 clicks of the cog the wheels are still free to rotate try the other way 20 clicks)

5) when cogs have been rotated to point where wheels lock up rotate cogs 5-7 clicks in other direction, ensure wheels are free to rotate and don't rub.

6) Get in car and pull up handbrake counting clicks, you wanna aim for 6 - 7. If less clicks loosen the nut on the handbrake with the extended 10mm socket if more than tighten it abit.

7) release handbrake and repeat until you have 6-7 clicks.

8) release handbrake jump out of car and check wheels are free to rotate

9) reapply handbrake, check wheels are locked.

10)put wheels back on

11)bish bash bosh brew time

 

You know the answer

Slack it but not as much as you can in case you tighten it too much from the hubs. Leave some play and then tighten from the hubs. It's easier than what it sounds