A few days ago I had a service done, and when I picked the car up, the mechanic said he'd adjusted/moved something on the rear brakes to remove some play in the handbrake. It had improved the handbrake so I only had to lift it a few clicks to keep the car stopped. However, it seems that whatever he adjusted has gradually worked loose again, to the point that when I had to stop on a hill to let someone through a gap earlier, it took virtually all my strength to get the handbrake to "bite" and stop me rolling back. Because it's happened gradually, I didn't notice it getting worse again until today.

The invoice doesn't actually say what he adjusted, and I can't remember what it was he said he'd done for me to look it up and have a crack myself, does this sound familiar to anyone? The discs and pads are a little bit worn but he said there was no cause for concern with them, they're just about halfway through their life so I don't think it's a friction material problem, just seems like some kind of lack of pressure. Any ideas what I need to be looking for so I can try and have a go myself to save taking it back again?

pull the console between the two front seats out and theres a nut on a threaded bolt fixed to the handbrake. Tighten it to adjust the handbrake.

Yeah, I know it could be done from within the car but I'm just concerned that if whatever the problem was he mentioned above has recurred, doing it on the cable might just be hiding the problem rather than fixing it. If I've got some kind of recurring problem with the calipers then obviously this needs to be sorted else it's likely to lead to expensive premature rear brake replacements and whatnot. I was just curious if anyone knew what he might have done on the caliper itself to reduce the movement. Cheers though, I'll certainly bear the cable adjustment in mind if I can't find any other problems.

Check the adjuster inside the car, and I bet you find one side is lop sided due to cable slack. Caused by partially seized rear caliper handbrake mechanism.

I'll try and check that tomorrow night. If something's seized up again within a week of being serviced and cleaned up, I'm guessing I'm probably looking at a new caliper? :/

I'll try and check that tomorrow night. If something's seized up again within a week of being serviced and cleaned up, I'm guessing I'm probably looking at a new caliper? :/

Yup.

Yep, just had a quick peep under the rear ashtray, the threaded nut is lopsided and further back on the passenger side which I would guess means that side is sticking. I just read on another thread about some springs to help the handbrake release, I might see if my mechanic can clean them up and get a set of those springs to see if that could be a cheap fix. Cheers for the advice Moggy

Yep, just had a quick peep under the rear ashtray, the threaded nut is lopsided and further back on the passenger side which I would guess means that side is sticking. I just read on another thread about some springs to help the handbrake release, I might see if my mechanic can clean them up and get a set of those springs to see if that could be a cheap fix. Cheers for the advice Moggy

The springs sometimes only mask the problem rather than fix it mate. It tends to be thread damage inside the caliper, when the piston is wound back after pad replacement (if correct wind back tool not used.) See how it goes, but I would budget for a new caliper. Also check if the caliper piston rubber dust skirt has gone hard (more common on the fronts), as it can cause the piston to stick.

Oh yeah, I'll replace the caliper if necessary. I'm just thinking that for the sake of a few quid for a couple of springs (assuming I can pick them up fairly easily from TPS) I could try that first and see what happens, some people have reported it fixing their problem and making the handbrake feel more positive which can't be a bad thing. As I haven't owned the car from new, I can't guarantee that the correct tool has always been used. However the last disc and pad change was done by Awesome so I would assume they'd have checked operation of the handbrake and found it OK, which to my mind implies that it's not thread damage. If it's caused by use of wrong tools it should already have been prevalent by the time they changed the brakes on the car. As always, I'll start with the cheap fixes and see how things go

edit - from what I can see after just having a look at the car on the driveway, the cable does seem to be releasing OK. However the whole system on the passenger side was crudded up to hell, the drivers side looked cleaner so I think that must be the one that got done the other day. I've scraped the worst of it off with my hands but it might need an application of chemicals and a wire brush to do it properly, which I don't have to hand. I'll still pick up the springs anyway, they might give it the extra oomph that's needed to release properly and they're only likely to be cheap. But looking more like a new caliper, possibly two if the drivers' has been cleaned once already for the same problem.

Edited 4 July, 201114 yr by gavinchappell

I thought i needed a new caliper, but didnt in the end....

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/204715-wonky-handbrake-adjuster/page__view__findpost__p__2424234

Edited 4 July, 201114 yr by Chris Berry

Good advice, mine does seem to be freeing off though. I guess there's no harm in chocking the wheels, slotting the handbrake cable out and working the lever a bit to make sure it's as free as it should be though, so I might try that. Did you grease it up at all, or just rely on the WD40 (which isn't really a lubricant)?

Right, £4.xx for some Sharan springs from TPS and about 10 minutes (and wet feet in the rain) to fit, and job done. To start with, the handbrake feels a lot better, before I could pull it up till the handbrake light came on wuithout really feeling any resistance. Now I can't, so it does seem to be "biting" earlier. Also now when the handbrake is off, the adjuster sits level (by eye) so the springs may be helping there. However when I put the handbrake on, the adjuster goes lopsided again.

I'm putting this down to perhaps the pad on one side has been dragging on the disc and the reason for the lopsidedness is that the pads are a bit thinner on one side so bite later than the other. Does that sound about right? If so, I'll just ignore it for now until the pads need changing and it should all return to normal. The handbrake definitely feels much better now, and managed to hold me on the same hill I had trouble with when I started the thread with no problems.

Cheers for the advice, all!

Lop sided adjuster plate is partly seized caliper. Disc brakes are self adjusting, so pads always contact the disc slightly. Springs will only help return of handbrake lever on the caliper, and won't apply any force that aids better handbrake. You could try cleaning off as much crud as possible on the calipers, and spray plus gas or diesel round the handbrake lever assembly. WD40 isn't much use.

What you really need to do now is to "re-zero" the pistons as outlined on that sticky guide, then maybe you will need to slacken off the cable a bit to initially make it slightly too slack until the pistons re-adjust themselves. I sorted mine out a year or so ago and its still okay. You say that the saddle on the cable is still "off-set" that will disappear when you have followed the sticky guide, from what you said about the position of that saddle or equaliser assembly, I'd reckon that its still the O/S calliper that is the problem as it usually is.

Oh, and WD40 is a slight lubricant and its lubricant is castor oil!

Edited 5 July, 201114 yr by rum4mo

Springs will only help return of handbrake lever on the caliper, and won't apply any force that aids better handbrake.

Yeah, I figured that was why it now sits straight with the handbrake off (due to each side returning properly), and also why there's proper resistance when I lift the handbrake (as it's immediately working against the spring/lever pressure, rather than before when they weren't returning correctly and there was a bit of cable slack before the levers moved). When I get a bit more time I'll have to try the re-zero thing, this was just 'cos I had a few minutes spare really and it was a simple job. So it's kind of helped one problem, just not the main one :/