Handbrake "failure"

[Rodge]

A non Skoda issue. Mine has popped off twice too but that's down to me not paying full attention. For it to be an actual design issue is be expecting it to pop off sever times a week. It doesn't. It's only done it when I've been rushing and I suspect that's the same for most in here if not all. All my opinion of course.

It shouldn't be possible for it to "pop off" at all, ever. If it pops off just once then it's a Skoda design issue.

[glosrich]

This has happened to me twice in the last couple of weeks. Mine's only just over a year old, 6500 miles.

 

Luckily I park in gear, and at work and home its flat.

 

I'll have to start pulling on a couple more clicks when I set it, maybe I'm being to weak and girly with it...lol

[lpt100]

Mine seems much tighter to pull on than any other car I've driven. Not being weak, but it takes some effort to get to the first click. Is this normal for skoda?

[Watsy]

Happened to me as well couple weeks ago, luckily as I just got out of the car and heard the bang it made as it released itself. Parked on the drive which is flat and also left in gear but I hate having an element of doubt in my head that whenever I leave my car the handbrake could release itself. Really shouldn't happen at all. 

[ednmra]

Mine seems much tighter to pull on than any other car I've driven. Not being weak, but it takes some effort to get to the first click. Is this normal for skoda?

Mine's the same. Adjusted too tight at service maybe?

[AccoSnr]

There are a few areas where IMO Skoda have skimped and scraped to save a bit of money (floor mats, owners manual, etc) but I hope not in the handbrake. The only way the pawl will come adrift from the ratchet (baring broken spring mechanism) by slipping to one side, is if the side plates of the assembly are flimsy and easily distort, or badly worn pawl and ratchet. Cannot see the offsetting of the handbrake to the passenger side causing a problem unless the whole assembly is flimsy. Likewise wouldn't expect accepted best practice (depress and hold button before pulling brake lever back, release when in braked position) to cause excessive wear of the ratchet and pawl and thus failure, again unless of flimsy design/material. Have witnessed brake failure in other machinery due to contraction through cooling and, as others have said, disc brakes readily lend themselves to this. The culprit was a safety feature to warn when the brakes needed adjustment. The problem was the safety feature actually prevented the shoes/pads taking up their new natural position because it stopped them from moving beyond a pre-determined limit. Is there a similar 'safety' feature fitted in this handbrake system and is it that which is also causing the difficulty in pulling the handbrake on to the extent required by the user?

Agree with others about leaving in gear, DSG, and never understood why drivers didn't press and hold the button before pulling the handbrake on - must save them at least a half second in time and 2joules of energy but each to their own.

Edited 17 October, 2016 by AccoSnr

[lpt100]

Factory set. Not been serviced yet, 2 years in Jan. Would drop in to stealers if had time.

[FlyingGecko]

There are a few areas where IMO Skoda have skimped and scraped to save a bit of money (floor mats, owners manual, etc) but I hope not in the handbrake. ...

 

...

 

Don't they provide a manual these days?

 

I know they saved on a decent translator for the manual I've got...

[AccoSnr]

Don't they provide a manual these days?

 

I know they saved on a decent translator for the manual I've got...

They do provide a manual but for me it doesn't have the quality of content, composition or ease of comprehension compared to the one provided with Mk2. They could have saved money cutting down on pages by leaving out the unnecessary, and duplicated, 'read and observe page .... first', 'WARNING' this , that and the other, etc. For example, on page 104 and 105 it states, 'Read and observe on page 104 first' 4 times, and this sort of thing is repeated throughout. It's as though 'elf and save me' have been let loose on it, or someone trying to justify their expenditure of time. On it's own small beer but such a shame when it detracts from the overall great experience with the car.

[wlange]

My Octy just did the same thing! I was in the car and few sec after engaging the break, the lever went down with a loud *thump*. I was in the car at that time, road was flat and DSG was in P position, so nothing could happen, but I was prety shocked / *****ed when it dropped. Such thing happened to me for the 1st time in some 350kkm I did with quite a few cars (french and italian ones ones included ) I would assume by now that I know how to use it lol.

[toni8b]

When I pull the handbrake leaver up (to a certain amount), I can still (unintentionally of course) drive away like that without noticing difference, only be warned by the car info ("release the handbrake or similar").

 

It makes me wonder how hard do you actually need to pull your handbrake up?

[wlange]

...hard enough to feel and sometimes even hear the difference

[Gromle]

Is the handbrake on the Octy self adjusting?

[toni8b]

...hard enough to feel and sometimes even hear the difference

give me the angle in degrees

 

pretty please

[wlange]

give me the angle in degrees

 

pretty please

26.7 deg :P

[teescom09]

On 18/03/2014 at 09:58, TudorM said:

 

I've always used the button when pulling the handbrake and found it quite odd that some people don't use it...

I find it very odd that you would press the button to apply the handbrake, don’t care what anyone says that is just wrong! You need to firmly pull the lever up letting it click properly over the teeth.   Otherwise mentioned incident is more likely to happen as you could release the dog just catching the tip of a tooth. Then the op incident happens, exactly that happened when   My wife did that. Who teaches people these days? The button is for releasing it only. 

 

As for not ALWAYS leaving it in gear and relying on a average at best handbrake... oh dear astonished. 

[teescom09]

Do we need a manual to tell us how to put the handbrake on? Maybe so by the sounds of it. The lack of mechanical abilty by the masses, complete opposite to 30+ years ago is making it’s mark. The results of sitting with a xbox controller instead of stripping and  building bikes , engines etc from a young age. 

 

This issue was a major problem with Hyundai years ago. But their problem was disk or more pad shrinkage not poor  ratchet engagement. Still should always be in gear though ffs. 

Edited 9 November, 2018 by teescom09

[KevC_Derby]

@teescom09 On my IAM Advanced driving lessons, pressing the button when applying the Parking Brake was recommended.

[xman]

It shouldn't matter if good quality materials are used in the handbrake mechanism. Unfortunately there are many cases of modern cars having worn out ratchets and self releasing, in some cases causing serious damage or injury. That's progress for you.

[xman]

2 hours ago, teescom09 said:

I find it very odd that you would press the button to apply the handbrake, don’t care what anyone says that is just wrong! You need to firmly pull the lever up letting it click properly over the teeth.   Otherwise mentioned incident is more likely to happen as you could release the dog just catching the tip of a tooth. Then the op incident happens, exactly that happened when   My wife did that. Who teaches people these days? The button is for releasing it only. 

 

As for not ALWAYS leaving it in gear and relying on a average at best handbrake... oh dear astonished. 

 

Can't argue with the first bit, except for the wear issue that does happen on some cars with chocolate ratchets.

 

As for parking in gear, this is a big problem for some VAG camchain engines that will release chain tension if the engine is pushed back even a little. It has been known to cause the chain to jump/detach on restart and trash the engine. Precaution is to leave in first if pointing downhill, or reverse if pointing uphill, or leave in neutral if you are reasonably level and rely on the parking brake.

 

Also utilise appropriate steering wheel position, I'm sure you know what I mean.

 

Before long we will all have electronic parking brakes, as it is becoming more or less mandatory in 2021 iirc EU regs with AEB 

 

 

Edited 9 November, 2018 by xman

[Skodax2]

I have a 2014 Octavia, base model.  I have a steep driveway and normally don't park the car on the slope but occasionally have too.  About 2 years ago I parked the car and came in to eat dinner about 10 minutes later there was a knock on the door from a person who was asking if the white car in the middle of the road was ours! Miraculously there was no damage to anything or anyone.  The car is manual and I always leave it in 1st gear so that must have made the descent slow.  I was second guessing myself thinking I must have not put the handbrake on correctly.  Then, about 2months ago I was lying awake in bed at 2am when I heard a "clunk" followed by a slow whirring.  I got up and looked out the window and saw my car on the road again!  Luckily again , no damage. This time it had been parked for about 9 hours before it rolled.  Again I wondered if I had done something wrong. Then yesterday driving to work I stopped at traffic lights on a downward slope.  I put the car in neutral and the handbrake on. About 30sec later I heard a loud "clunk" and the handbrake released, fortunately not all the way and my foot was resting (though not pushing) on the brake pedal so Iwas able to  stop the car quickly.  I will be very cautious parking on slopes from now on!  Suggestions welcome.

[PetrolDave]

12 hours ago, Skodax2 said:

I heard a loud "clunk" and the handbrake released

Sounds like a faulty ratchet on the handbrake lever to me.

[Oldmansomerset]

When I started driving - 'ere we go - brakes were perhaps not quite so reliable as today.  I was also taught not to ratchet the handbrake but hold it in to avoid unnecessary wear and tear.  My early cars were pre war and one was for ever adjusting rod brakes.  I nearly always park in gear and another old trick that other oldies may recall, was to park on a hill / slope with the front wheels turned into the kerb.  Some people even carried one or more bricks to scotch a wheel on a slope!  Those were the days - yawn.

[OctaviaItalia]

It got me today. 64 reg Octavia.

 

Replying to this topic although seen a couple of theads such as this one:

 

It has popped off before and the local VAG garage said no issue found.

 

Today I heard a familiar sound, looked out the window and watched my car roll down the drive, across the road and into the leylandii hedge opposite. Brilliant. Light bumper damage but thankfully no people or property damaged.

 

Found the handbrake down, button in the drivers footwell and the spring on the rear seat. (some photos show a cup like washer but not sure if I should have that).

I can fairly easily pull the button out when put back in so guessing its worn. Tested as @lex131 suggested in a post. Pulled the rod out and raised the handbrake. If I pull hard enough I can feel / hear the rachet effect as I raise it. So dont think its the mechanism (open to suggestion otherwise)

 

Took some photos of the old parts. Got a new button on order from local Skoda dealership. £4.75ish part number 5F0711333A 2ZZ.

 

Will update with new part vs old part pics and if that fixes the problem.

 

And yes I push the button when raising it and dont park in gear.... well I will now.

 

[PetrolDave]

I had the handbrake come off by itself a couple of years ago in the Aldi car park in Bideford, fortunately it was parked only a few inches behind another car and gently rolled forward onto their rear bumper.

 

Never happened again and the Skoda dealer, predictably, said no fault found.