Handbrake not working on one side

[peteyg]

Hi guys,

Had the MOT last week and got a pass thanks to the friendly mechanic! Gutted I managed less than 1500 miles last year but that might have something to do with the handbrake problem that was flagged.

New rear calipers about 18 months ago. Handbrake adjusted, both worked fine for previous MOT but now the lefthand rear is not gripping. Cable pulls and the lever on the caliper moves as far as it can but no brakes. The caliper works perfectly when footbrake is applied. Righthand works fine with handbrake applied.

Haven't had a chance to investigate but all I can think is maybe the piston is twisted to push-back-in mode though that doesn't make sense because the notch in the piston mates with the tab on the back of the pad.

Any suggestions? No time at the moment for spending ages in the garage!!

Pete

[molemot]

Check that the lever on the caliper goes all the way back to the stop when the cable is released. If it doesn't then the self adjusting mechanism doesn't work and thus the handbrake won't grip. This often happens because the spindle in the caliper seizes up....or the cable seizes....or, as you say, it might be that the self adjusting mechanism won't work because the piston rotation isn't correct. There is also the handbrake cable adjustment under the sill in the cockpit...there is a single link to the handbrake lever and that connects to a bar across the two handbrake cables, so you have to match the two cables to get equal force on each.

[rogerch]

Assuming your callipers are the same as my 88 Stevens, this is a recent mod to overcome a similar issue, so far, it seems to have solved the issue, 3 clicks on the handbrake, all done locked up. What's more it releases without drag.

[Mr_John111]

Roger thats a really clever mod and I think would work for most styles of rear caliper, including Sue's S3 Turbo.

How on earth do you get the spring in that position? It looks too small to fit over the nipple on the end of the cable?

And where did you source it from?

John

[rogerch]

Originally it was a long length that I got for a "Dual Redundancy" throttle return spring, and I had some left over.

I got it on by winding it on over the cable, the tension was a bit of guess work, I kept winding until my little fingers could do no more and hoped it would be enough, and chopped it.