Hi

Our Fabia's handbrake has recently started to stick so that it needs some light revs to pull off, even down our inclined driveway.

I had a look at the drums. The nearside looked fine but when I opened up the drivers side there is a large buildup of oil, dirt - it looks fuzzy, like small hairs but I assume it is being stripped off the brake shoe as there is some scouring/marking on them. I have added two photos showing this.

The sticking has stopped for the moment, but assume it will come back.

What should I do? Can i just clean it all up or do I need to replace some components?

Any help appreciated.

Cheers

Chris

Looks like a leaking rear brake cylinder for starters, needs replacing and a good clean up.

DB

What's happened is the seal has gone allowing brake fluid to leak onto the shoes and drum. You need new shoes and new cylinders, do both, if your doing it yourself buy a brake spanner. The drums will clean up but they're not expensive, if you replace them then paint them with metal paint to stop them rusting up and looking untidy. If spraying do *lots* of thin coats and remember Hammerite and similar dry from the outside so allow extra drying time. Also change the brake fluid for the £3 it'll cost.

Thanks for the advice! Have ordered new cylinders and shoes, hopefully not too much of a drama to change out :-)

tis messy.... lots of rags and brake cleaner needed.

Dont forget to clamp off the brakeline hose, also dont forget to refit the shoes correctly.

you want to be sure you have got all that gunk out of the drum before you put it back together, small contamination can ruin all your hard work.