davemar 16 Posted February 16, 2008 I pulled the handbrake on this evening (in a 1.1 205, drums at rear) and there was a twang noise and it pulled up a couple of notches higher and didn't hold the car so well. My initial reaction was a cable had snapped, but when I removed the handbrake cover both cables were still nice and taught in the bracket. So I popped my head under the car and saw the right-hand cable had come free from its clips under the fuel tank and was hanging down in the middle. So it appears it hasn't snapped (though with drum brakes it isn't as easy to tell unlike the disc brakes where the ends of the cable are visible) but just gone a bit slack as it is not supported anymore. The sleeves that go round the outside of the cable's cover that you slide into the mounting clips have rotted right away, they were just like mouldy sponge. I don't fancy removing the whole cable, so has any got any ideas for replacing these sleeves can I can clip the cable back in, which can be wrapped around? Without them the cable doesn't stay in them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ginjaspeed 0 Posted February 16, 2008 what you describe shouldn't effect the tightness of the handbrake. The quickest fix to get the handbrake tight again is to tighten the 13mm nut on the cable end of the lever inside the car, this will pull the cables up a bit to shorten the throw of the lever. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davemar 16 Posted February 16, 2008 I'll have to get the rear of the car in the air to check both rear wheels are being braked at the same point. It seems rather too coincidental that a sudden rise in the hand-brake lever requirements happening the same time as the cable dislodging from the clips. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
welshpug 1,657 Posted February 16, 2008 sounds like worn self adjusting mechanisms in the drum. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MartinM 0 Posted February 16, 2008 Check the handbrake end of each cable, under the car - I split the plastic ferrule that goes into the tube that takes the centre cable inside the car to the handbrake itself. If so, it's new cable time The tightness of the handbrake won't be affected by it hanging down from the fuel tank - although it would be good to fix that.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davemar 16 Posted February 17, 2008 That plastic ferrule sounds like a possibility, there was definitely the feel of something breaking as I pulled up the lever. Too cold to get under the car now... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
