Hi all, My stepson Dan is having trouble with his (TDI) 2002 Astra's handbrake locking on. Its locked on in the mornings, and although he's tried leaving it overnight with the handbrake off, as soon as he does a hill start the problem resurfaces. He thinks the handbrake is self adjusting and is on the tight side generally, so I don't know if that maybe a factor?
Any advice or general thoughts very much appreciated.
Cheers,
Angus.
the most common reason for a drum handbrake to stick on overnight is because there is brake fluid leaking inside the drum, this attracts dampness which rusts the shoes to the drum, this can happen in just a few hours.
He may need some driving lessons if hill starts are taking him a few hours!
I think the best bet is to dismantle the rear brakes and have a look, it may even have a lining fallen off a brake shoe.
Actually I do seem to remember something I read somewhere recently that said astra handbrake cables should NOT be adjusted too tight (might have been on honest johns website) I think it said something about at least 7 clicks before operation.
Apart from anything else they're a bugger to get the drums off if you don't. Come to think of it they can be a bugger if you do:-(
Thanks for the help gents, but apparently his Astra has disks, not drums.
I'm out of my depth here as I know nothing about brakes, but my Cavalier had drums, his Astra doesn't - (so my old Cavalier Haynes manual was no help). :-/
Ice forming around the pads and calipers , handbrake cable has moisture in its sleeve , build up of general crud around the calipers freezing up .
Best option is to whip the wheels off and give the whole area a good clean with brake cleaner , relubricate with copper grease on the moving parts includeing any linkage to the handbrake cables .
Do the same for any external linkages to any other part of the brake cables at the same time , check the cables for any signs of corosion or kinks , its this time of year that they will give grief.
Try and get some lubricant into the cable sleeve if possible
Autodata says that there is a problem with the calipers and the cable on astras between 98 and 03, modified parts are available from dealers. It would be best to get the owner to go into a dealer and establish if his car is one of those affected. The problem is only put down as noise, but the cure involves different sliding pins, and if those seize the brake may well stay on.
Thanks for that - and the other helpful info. I will pass it on to Dan.
We wondered if the spring was basically knackered.
it might well have seized piston calipers, so you pull the brake on, but the piston stays pushed when you let the handbrake off, after a while it moves enough to let the brake off enough. A strip down will reveal all, it could even just be a seized cable, there is a mod on that too.
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