Rubbish Handbrake.

[davemar 16]

For as long as I can remember now my handbrake has been pretty dire on my 205 1.9 GTi. It seems to just get through the MOT, but for real life use it's a pain. I've got pull the lever so hard I feel I'm lifting the whole car up, and even then it creeps away on relatively steep slopes.

 

Over the years I've replaced the cable, and I'm sure at least one of the rear calipers; and adjusted things to how they ought to be. But I can never get it working convincingly. The lever arms on the caliper seem to move cleanly enough, and when operated on their own (using some molegrips as a lever extender) they seem to stop the wheel pretty firmly (though I can't spin much torque through the wheel when it's jacked up). But when the cables are connected and the handbrake lever adjusted they never seem to work well enough. I can tighten the lever further, but that just binds the handbrake on all the time.

 

Any ideas? Could I have a left-right imbalance issue here?

[jackherer 543]

it could be the bracket the handbrake lever bolts to coming away from the shell, so when you pull the lever its flexing the bracket rather than pulling the cables properly. I need to weld up my mates one (again...) thats on a '92 but earlier cars seem to be stronger there (or maybe thats just the ones I've seen).

[hengti 2]

could also be due to the fact that Peugeot rear disc handbrakes of this period are *RUBBISH*!

it's a real balancing act between getting some sort of handbrake action and trying to avoid binding brakes

 

you can get them working to some extent, but i always still leave mine in gear on steep hills

 

 

just out of interest - has anyone ever managed a convincing handbrake turn on tarmac in a 1.9 with a std handbrake? (obviously only whilst rallying or autotesting etc)

Edited September 21, 2006 by hengti

[Guest cknotty]

just out of interest - has anyone ever managed a convincing handbrake turn on tarmac in a 1.9 with a std handbrake?

 

How about this one of my friend's 309 on tarmac? Or are the 309 rear discs better than a 205's?

Edited September 21, 2006 by cknotty

[Rob Thomson 6]

My 309 used to go around a treat on the handbrake. It was sh*t when I got it, but it was soon treated to new cables, callipers, pads and discs and totally transformed it. They'd never lock in a straight line, but were more than ample for parking on hills or making it twirl.

 

I think the mechanisms in the callipers seize up, so you're f***ed unless you throw some cash at it.

[James_m 0]

could also be due to the fact that Peugeot rear disc handbrakes of this period are *RUBBISH*!

it's a real balancing act between getting some sort of handbrake action and trying to avoid binding brakes

 

you can get them working to some extent, but i always still leave mine in gear on steep hills

just out of interest - has anyone ever managed a convincing handbrake turn on tarmac in a 1.9 with a std handbrake? (obviously only whilst rallying or autotesting etc)

 

Ive never managed one in the wet, let alone dry

[davemar 16]

it could be the bracket the handbrake lever bolts to coming away from the shell, so when you pull the lever its flexing the bracket rather than pulling the cables properly. I need to weld up my mates one (again...) thats on a '92 but earlier cars seem to be stronger there (or maybe thats just the ones I've seen).

 

I'll have a look into that, it certainly wasn't something I've considered.

[Rom 0]

Mine was cack when i got it. New discs and pads. Makign sure the piston is adjusted properly. I got it quater of a turn out first time, and handbrake had about 8 clicks. There quite crucial to get right

[Grim.Badger 15]

just out of interest - has anyone ever managed a convincing handbrake turn on tarmac in a 1.9 with a std handbrake? (obviously only whilst rallying or autotesting etc)

 

Managed it quite easily on my old car, a 1.8D with 1.9GTi rear beam and discs, it even managed about 270 degrees . The adjustment on the cables is crucial though as if it's slightly out then it wont work; it can be as little as a couple of turns on the nut.

Not tried on my GTi yet but will do when I've got my new tyres ordered

[boldy205 75]

back off the throtle or a quick dab of the foot brake will soon aid the handbrake! where the handbrake is attached to the floor of my pug was all cracked to mines also a 1991/92. must be a weak spot as i dont use the handbrake for anything other than parking, honest.

[davemar 16]

The handbrake seemed well attached to the floor of the car, so that wasn't the problem. There was a slight imbalance between the left and right side, so one wheel was getting pulled on tight while the other was left a bit loose. I put a spacer where the cable attaches to the metal bar which the handbrake lever bolts into to shorten one the cables. This seems to give a better balance overall. It is a bit better now, but still not brilliant. I certainly wouldn't trust leaving it out of gear!

[jackherer 543]

sounds like you have the handbrake cables swapped over, they are slightly different lengths!

 

or possibly you have 2x left or 2x right cables rather than a left and a right.

[Theo205 0]

The first problem I ever discovered on my GTi was the rubish handbrake.

First days I picked it up, I kept parking it every night on my downhill driveway , but every morning I found the car nicely parked down the end of the driveway in the garage with the handbrake on.

 

The first time this happened , I thought I had parked it the day before but I just didnt remember . For 3 days the same thing happened every morning so I started thinking somebody was pulling a joke on me.

...when I discovered that as soon as the brakes cooled down the car started to move by it self steering down the driveway and rested on the flat surface of the parking space

 

Anyway, new disks and refurbished calipers helped but still, the handbrake is weak compared to other cars.