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        General >> Problems >> Overly Good Handbrake 
        
(Message started by: mazzy_j on Apr 28^th, 2006, 9:46am)

Title: Overly Good Handbrake
Post by mazzy_j on Apr 28^th, 2006, 9:46am

Hi all,
Yesterday i had the brakes bled on my car (one job i prefer not to do) and thought while i was at it i'd have ask the mechanic sort out the non-existant handbrake. I was lucky to get away without have to replace the rear callipers last MOT due to the handbrake boardering on seized. The mechanic has now managed to free up both callipers so that they pull on, the problem now is that on the drivers side it works too well!

It seems as though the inside of the 'spring thing' where the handbrake cable attaches too is still slightly seized and so it pulls up fine when the handbrake is applied, but doesn't release without some persuading with a screwdriver :( I've been told that a new set of callipers is on the cards which i'm reluctant to do seeing as its just one side which is a little bit sticky on the return.

I remember reading Paul B's write up a while ago and was wondering whether it would be possible to just remove the spring and clean up the inside? I havn't done this before and was wondering do you just remove the nut on top and it pull something out from inside or is there more to it than that?

Thanks, Matt

Title: Re: Overly Good Handbrake
Post by jonnycab on Apr 28^th, 2006, 10:15am

Are you sure that it isn't the actual cable sticking inside the sleeve, due to some water getting in & rusting. I recently had this problem on a Mondeo, the handbrake would work fine but would not release.

Title: Re: Overly Good Handbrake
Post by mazzy_j on Apr 28^th, 2006, 10:55am

Pretty sure. When he had the caliper off and the cable disconnected he could move the small lever but it wouldn't spring back.

Matt

Title: Re: Overly Good Handbrake
Post by Snoopy on Apr 28^th, 2006, 1:46pm

It is possible to remove the lever and clean it up with fine emery cloth and then regrease. I am sure someone on here did it quite recently... may well have been Paul b but here is an exploded diagram of the rear brakes http://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/images/rearcalipers.gif

Title: Re: Overly Good Handbrake
Post by mazzy_j on Apr 28^th, 2006, 1:59pm

Thanks Snoopy, it looks like there's a small cylinder with a half moon cut out (part 22) under the small lever. I'll have a tinker this weekend and see if i can get it all apart.

Matt

Title: Re: Overly Good Handbrake
Post by trogg on Apr 28^th, 2006, 8:43pm

be intrested to know how you get on as i have a simalar problem. mine ajust up fine when manipulated with a screwdriver but after a few uses it goes back to nothing.

Title: Re: Overly Good Handbrake
Post by Paul B on Apr 28^th, 2006, 8:55pm

I did partially strip my rear calipers and lube the the levers. Unfortunately this was only to last a for a short time :(
The long term remedy is to replace the calipers I think. Well thats what I did anyway.
I was going to have new ones but finances didn't allow it. In the end, I got some god 2nd hand ones from Paul (PaulScorp) and Russ (NuttyScorp).
There are still some good calipers out there and more Scorpios getting broken for spares by the hour.

Title: Re: Overly Good Handbrake
Post by mazzy_j on Apr 30^th, 2006, 4:39pm

Paul, when you removed the levers do they just pull out once the bolt ontop has been undone? Also would the brakes then need to then be re-bled?

Cheers, Matt

Title: Re: Overly Good Handbrake
Post by Paul B on Apr 30^th, 2006, 6:53pm

Matt... I never actually removed those levers.

Once the 10mm nut is removed, they can be teased upwards with a suitable lever.

Getting air in the system (and loss of fluid) was something I wanted to avoid at the time so I just cleaned and lubricated the section of the piston I could see.
I'm not 100% sure, but I think if you kept going they'd pop right out. But yes, you would have to retain the fluid somehow and then bleed afterwards.

BTW... if you do just lever them up like I did, bear in mind that pushing them back down will push the pads against the disc. So you'll be needing to undo the caliper and get the disc out of the way beforehand.

Title: Re: Overly Good Handbrake
Post by twoakers on Apr 30^th, 2006, 10:19pm

I did mine last month. It cost about £143 all in for a pair of rear calipers AND flexible pipes. Best to 'bite the bullet' and buy 'new'. Mine were service exchange unit from my local motor factors.
The good thing is that the handbrake is now good for another 10 years ;D

Title: Re: Overly Good Handbrake
Post by mr._floppy on May 1^st, 2006, 3:12pm

I've just recently replaced my rear brake pads, I noticed on the old pads ( annoyingly after I'd fitted the new ones ??? ) a raised pimple on the metal back designed to fit into one of the 4 recesses on the piston.

Will it be necessary to dismantle and re-position the pads, or is it of little importance ? :-*

Title: Re: Overly Good Handbrake
Post by Matt on May 1^st, 2006, 3:16pm

that little tag locates into 1 of 4 slots in the brake pistion, it's function: its allows the handbrake to self adjust without the pistion unscrewing fully,

also, if the tag isnt located in of of these slots, it wont sit right and may always rub on the one side of the pad untill it has worn away

so, get the tools out again and get the wheel off :P :P ;)

Title: Re: Overly Good Handbrake
Post by mr._floppy on May 2^nd, 2006, 5:20pm

Cheers Matt, Top Advice, the pads and discs were exactly as you described, luckily I'd only done a dozen miles with them wrongly fitted so no damage done. The Handbrake now holds the car on my town's steepest hill ;D

Strangely this important advice is not mentioned in any of the brake information on this site ( or in the Haynes Granada/Scorpio Manual ) .

Title: Re: Overly Good Handbrake
Post by Matt on May 2^nd, 2006, 5:26pm

Hey

glad to be of some help, any damage done to the edge of the pad? unlikely if you have only done a dozen miles

my dads cougar had the same problem but went unoticed untill the next time they were changed, damaged one of the 4 tags on the piston and the pad was wedge shaped !