Handbrake "failure"

[gadgetman]

No one raised with VOSA?

[RJSvRS]

My two month old Octavia rolled down my drive and crashed into the wall opposite this morning. The handbrake had been on, I can't get out the car with it on the slope otherwise. It wasn't in gear

I was hoping to swop regs with Neily03 if possible and anyone else with a similar problem, to follow this up with Skoda as their first reaction was they have not ever heard of this happening. Like you, I am not expecting the dealer to find a problem and despite half and hour of trying have not been able to replicate it myself

Sorry to hear of your problem.

Following my handbrake releasing I emailed and spoke to SUK on 25 March 2014.

They are aware of the problem but choose to ignore it.

[toni8b]

How far you have to pull the handbrake before it caches first teeth?

 

Seems to me pretty high on Octavia..

[V6Jules]

Mine normally holds the car when its two clicks up.

[RayVonGeezer]

Hi,

 

On Thursday I had to recover my 2 month old Octavia estate from next doors hedge, after the handbrake disengaged because the release button failed.  I had a search for similar problems on here, but I can't see any similar "failures" to mine so I wondered if anyone else had come across it? 

 

When I parked up I noticed the handbrake button didn't seem to press in as far as it normally does, I faffed with it a little bit then decided it must be me just noticing a difference between the old car and the Skoda.  I do usually leave a car in gear, but not this time.  A few minutes later I looked out the house and noticed the car wasn't where I'd left it, it'd rolled across the road and been stopped by next doors topiary.  Luckily no damage to the car or bushes.  The handbrake was off and the button was sticking out further than it should and at an angle, I had to press it back into place which it did with a "click".

 

Trying to recreate the problem I've found that by flicking and releasing the button it's possible for the spring to defeat the clip that holds the button in place, and once it does the ratchet on the handbrake is released.,

 

I've got it booked in with the dealer next week, but even if mine is faulty it seems possible (likely) that, because the button is made of plastic, over time the clip could weaken to the point where the spring is strong enough to pop the button out on its own, releasing the handbrake if it's on.

 

Has anyone else noticed this?  It's a long time since I messed with a handbrake lever, probably an 80s Scirocco, and from what I remember the actual mechanism was mostly metal with a sprung arm that had to be pulled away from the ratchet to release it, basically the default position was "locked".  The one on the Skoda seems to be the opposite, the button has to pull the ratchet locked//.  Making the whole mechanism dependent on a piece of chrome plated plastic seems like very poor design. 

 

Cheers.

[gadgetman]

Have you made a video of this happening? It'd be interesting to see for others having the same issue

[RayVonGeezer]

I have, but I really need to make a better one, it was dark when I was faffing, if you can peer through the gloom though you can see me flicking the button until it springs out across the console, and after it does there's no ratchet action on the handbrake.

 

https://www.facebook.com/dean.tyler.334/videos/vb.100003160191245/872498659532132/?type=2&theater&notif_t=video_processed

 

I've uploaded the one I've got to FB and made it public, I'll try and get out and do a better one in daylight and upload it somewhere more accessible.

 

Ray Von

[GAFF]

Not sure if related but are people pressing the button when applying the handbrake?

The only time I press mine is when I release the handbrake.

Maybe by pressing button in when applying the handbrake i.e.on way up the mechanism isn't functioning correctly.

[AndyWol]

Just had my handbrake release itself on my car last night, thought I was going mad at first until I seen it on this forum.

 

Got home and pulled on the drive as normal, it has a slight slope towards the house, luckily not towards the road. Was in the house about 15 minutes when there was an almighty bang outside followed by a car alarm going off. Looked outside to see that my car had ram raided my wooden gates! Luckily there was no damage to the car as the wooden gates had taken the impact. Got in the car to find the handbrake was fully released. If the handbrake had not been fully on it would rolled slower down the drive, but this sounded like it had suddenly been released judging by the noise it made when hitting the gates.

Will report this at the next service, but it always frustrates me that dealers always look surprised when you report something, as if nobody has never had this issue. The last time I reported a problem they said they would charge me £80 for the diagnostic test if they could not find anything wrong even though I had photographic evidence of the error message !

Hi all,

Just had the handbrake release itself on my car last night!

[ednmra]

One thing I've noticed with my handbrake is that it is often quite hard to pull it up even to the first click, and you certainly can't get it any further than that.

But at least it seems to work reliably.

[kedambarai]

Here are some thaughts. I have no skoda yet (expecting one though) but have some experience with audi handbrake.

 

Firstly - when you have a habit pulling the lever not straight up but somewhat to the (in my case left) side, the teeth and the rachet inside the lever gradually become misaligned and the lever starts to skip or disengage. As the tension is downwards, it skips off the brake . Had figured that out, I used some force to bend the lever back, in my case to the right and it started to hold perfectly.

 

Secondly - On my audi, I noticed once that the hand brake button somehow started to sink into the lever and one day I couldn't reach it. Had scrached the cabbage for a while, I discovered that the grip part of the lever had slided forward and the button stayed in place. It turned out to be an easy move to push the grip back but really - visually it looked like wtf and gave no clu that such an easy thing could happen.

 

Cheers

 

P.S. Where I live, there is often a feet or two of snow and -25C. After few times of having stuck rear wheels (snow melts to the disc and effectively blocks the weels with engaged hand brake as it cools), I never use hand brake in winter. My sequence on manual gearbox car - get in the car, press clutch + brake, take the gear out, start the engine and release the clutch. Works fine, 2 errors during last two years when I forgot to take the gear out and then the engine stopped due to the pressed brake pedal.

[MoggyTech]

Easy way to avoid all these problems. Apply the handbrake while pressing on the brake pedal. Then stick the car in 1st gear, belt and braces and all that.

[FluffyEyeball]

That wouldn't stop the ratchet mechanism failing once it's up. And in gear is all well and good for "normal" parking, but on a steep enough hill the weight of the car is enough to turn the engine if it's in gear and the handbrake fails, so it'd roll anyway.

[themanwithnoaim]

Fn annoying getting in a car to find it in gear alternatively, Royal Mail staff are required to use the hand brake, leave in gear and turn the wheels to the kerb in the direction of any slope. FFS we only park 50 or 60 times a morning.

Top tip, buy a DSG

Regards

T

Edited 2 February, 2016 by themanwithnoaim

[AndyWol]

Unfortunately I do not have a kerb on my driveway to point the wheel to when I am parking, so I could resort to some bricks or chocks and get my partner to shout “chocks away” before I pull off . The other alternative is to park right next to the gates so it can’t get a run up at them next time it fails, but this does make opening the gates difficult as they open towards the car.

To be honest having spent over £20k on a new car you really do not expect to be having to place the car in gear everytime you park on a slight slope or put chocks under the wheels, I would only normally do this on a steep slope!

Thanks

[webweasel]

Just went to get something from the car and noticed the handbrake was OFF! Fortunately it's a flat gravel drive and the car hadn't moved an inch but disconcerting to say the least. I generally left it in gear when parked on a slope but will be making the effort to always do this in future.

[Alpha2110]

I have always left cars in gear, more so with rear disks, however with this one having a duel mass flywheel i was under the impression it was advisable not to leave it in gear as any torque for periods of time on the clutch can cause premature failure of the flywheel. I read this on another forum, i don't know how factual it is but have done it on this car just to be on the safe side.

[Iamholam]

Had this happen to my last Honda too. There was a recall on that and ever since have always left my car in gear no matter what the age.

Have been told that people learning are advised to always lift the handbrake whole pushing the hand brake button so you don't hear any "clicks" apparently that is better as it doesn't wear the ratchet. I have always clicked it up though.

[moley]

Have been told that people learning are advised to always lift the handbrake whole pushing the hand brake button so you don't hear any "clicks" apparently that is better as it doesn't wear the ratchet. I have always clicked it up though.

I have always lifted the handbrake with the button depressed to reduce the wear on the ratchet, but I release the button at the top and lift the handbrake until it 'clicks' into position. In a manual I leave the car in first gear and the DSG in P. on steep inclines I turn the wheels to the kerb.

[sworrall]

I had mine pop off and release itself again the other day. Scared the life out of my daughter who was getting out the car and I was already out with the door closed.  Utterly crap design 

[vc-10]

I wonder if it's partly because the handle is offset to the passenger side? I'm presuming that's a cost-cutting move, as it's better for the LHD cars which make up most of those sold. My mum's Superb II has a similar handbrake, and she always pulls it up and to the right as she's not that tall and it's pretty much impossible for her to pull it up perfectly vertically. Even when I've driven the car it's been awkward and I'm a 6'2 rugby player. I wonder if it's like the 'climbing over' failure model as described earlier in the thread?

 

Thankfully, after her Peugeot 807 ended up in the garden, mum always parks in gear! That had the handbrake between the driver's seat and the door, and so when she was getting out she bashed the button, knocked off the handbrake, and it ended up demolishing the daffodils (complete with some terrified small children in the back!)

[Gerrycan]

I'm no engineer but the only way for a handbrake to release as described is if the pawl has been pushed the side off the ratchet ( as described by others with excessive side force) OR the pawl has a slight nick on the end which just manages to engage the ratchet sawtooth and can then slip off.

My money is on the latter so that the mechanics examine the sawtooth only and everything appears and is declared ok.

I have not experienced the problem but like EDNMRA my handbrake is tightly adjusted and requires a fair bit of effort to engage the first tooth and I have only needed to engage he second tooth on really steep hills.

Traditionally the ratchet was made from mild steel and was subject to wear over time hence the common recommended practice of pressing in the button when pulling the brake up. Someone mentioned it would now be made from hardened steel, and it should, but without proof somehow I doubt it.

[JollyGardener]

I parked my car on the drive the other night and as I was getting out there was a loud bang which sounded like someone had thrown a stone at the car.  I couldn't see anything, but the next time I got in the car I noticed that the handbrake had dropped a notch.  Fortunately, I always leave the car in gear, so it was only when I put my foot on the clutch to start the engine that the car started to roll.

 

I always push the ratchet button in when I pull the handbrake on - it's the way I was taught.  My first job when I left school was at a garage.  The chief mechanic used to go mad if he heard anyone pull the handbrake on through the clicks.  He always said it wore the ratchet out.  

 

In my handbook (2016), the parking procedure is given as follows:

 

> Bring the vehicle to a stop and depress the brake pedal.

> Firmly apply the handbrake.

> Switch off the engine.

> For vehicles with Manual transmission, select 1st gear or Reverse gear R.

> Release the brake pedal.

 

Is this Skoda's way of putting the onus onto the user?  If the car rolls away they can simply point to the handbook and say the parking procedure wasn't followed correctly.

[hobbie2k]

In my handbook (2016), the parking procedure is given as follows:

> Bring the vehicle to a stop and depress the brake pedal.

> Firmly apply the handbrake.

> Switch off the engine.

> For vehicles with Manual transmission, select 1st gear or Reverse gear R.

> Release the brake pedal.

Is this Skoda's way of putting the onus onto the user? If the car rolls away they can simply point to the handbook and say the parking procedure wasn't followed correctly.

Well, it is the correct way of parking the car. Growing up in the frozen north of Minnesota, we were taught to never trust the handbrake alone since snow/salt corrosion and rapid temp changes wreak havoc on the cables and mechanism.

But a little CMA is to be expected in an operator's manual.

[skd12]

My handbrake has disengaged with a significant clunk as we were getting out of the car one time. Fortunately it's the dsg so no movement but even in manuals I always leave them in gear.