I've developed a bit of a problem recently. (on my car  )

The car turned three years old in the first week of this January, and it seems reluctant to hold when parking on my sloping drive.

A couple of weeks ago it went in for a minor Skoda service, and they mention that "the handbrake was stiff" !!

 

So yesterday I had it out in the road and the rear wheels off:

 

I checked the caliper sliders again/freedom of pads, done it once before - no problem.

I could move the handbrake cable to and fro by hand - no problem

I could rotate the handbrake mech by hand as well, but didn't check properly to see if the piston advanced.

The dirt sleeve around the handbrake lever is free and lubed occasionally.

 

I then got a set of cheapo rear pads, cleared the crud off the outer circumference of the rotor with a coarse file (yes I know, high tech engineering) and tried again. When on the road, the pads scrubbed up the rotors in a very short while - so no problem?

 

I have had the same problem on my MG TF, which has Rover 800 rear discs. By dismantling the innards, it turned out to be corrosion of the roller bearing supporting the actuating lever.

Now sorted, but wondering if there has been any known problems with the actuating mech of the rear caliper?

 

Not sure if this would be a warranty item, I have two years extra Skoda warranty now running. It feels like the pad/rotor combination has no "grip", which seems not to be true as the pads cleaned up the rotors well enough.

 

Any advice?

Phone Skoda customer services and have a word with them.

 

I've developed a bit of a problem recently. (on my car  )

The car turned three years old in the first week of this January, and it seems reluctant to hold when parking on my sloping drive.

A couple of weeks ago it went in for a minor Skoda service, and they mention that "the handbrake was stiff" !!

 

So yesterday I had it out in the road and the rear wheels off:

 

I checked the caliper sliders again/freedom of pads, done it once before - no problem.

I could move the handbrake cable to and fro by hand - no problem

I could rotate the handbrake mech by hand as well, but didn't check properly to see if the piston advanced.

The dirt sleeve around the handbrake lever is free and lubed occasionally.

 

I then got a set of cheapo rear pads, cleared the crud off the outer circumference of the rotor with a coarse file (yes I know, high tech engineering) and tried again. When on the road, the pads scrubbed up the rotors in a very short while - so no problem?

 

I have had the same problem on my MG TF, which has Rover 800 rear discs. By dismantling the innards, it turned out to be corrosion of the roller bearing supporting the actuating lever.

Now sorted, but wondering if there has been any known problems with the actuating mech of the rear caliper?

 

Not sure if this would be a warranty item, I have two years extra Skoda warranty now running. It feels like the pad/rotor combination has no "grip", which seems not to be true as the pads cleaned up the rotors well enough.

 

Any advice?

Phone Skoda customer services and have a word with them.

 

 

Mmm, don't really think this would do any good. I think brake disc/pad things would be classed as wear and tear - possibly?

 

If I'm having trouble finding the problem, I don't think my local dealer would be any better.

 

I was sure that the experienced and wise forum members would have had a bright idea, but hey ho.

 

Ist step might be new rear disc and pads, then that only leaves the caliper itself.

Jerry... was the garage saying the handbrake lever itself was stiff, or that the handbrake wasn't working properly?

If the latter, presumably it would have given a poor result on the MOT roller test, in which case dismantling (as you have done) would seem the best way to sort it.

But, if it's the handbrake lever that's stiff, it could be a known Yeti problem caused by a stiff "escalator blind" inside the car ie the plastic blind thingy in the centre console that shuts off the gap above & below the handbrake lever when you move it. There was a service bulletin issued in 2012 (I think) instructing dealers how to lubricate it - mine was sorted in Jan 2013 when the handbrake became very stiff to move both on & off.

 

I hope this helps.

 

If it's not the escalator blind, then I'm as lost as you are!

Jerry... was the garage saying the handbrake lever itself was stiff, or that the handbrake wasn't working properly?

If the latter, presumably it would have given a poor result on the MOT roller test, in which case dismantling (as you have done) would seem the best way to sort it.

But, if it's the handbrake lever that's stiff, it could be a known Yeti problem caused by a stiff "escalator blind" inside the car ie the plastic blind thingy in the centre console that shuts off the gap above & below the handbrake lever when you move it. There was a service bulletin issued in 2012 (I think) instructing dealers how to lubricate it - mine was sorted in Jan 2013 when the handbrake became very stiff to move both on & off.

 

I hope this helps.

 

If it's not the escalator blind, then I'm as lost as you are!

 

Hi John.

 

Sorry couldn't do the Legend Fires, but the Wyedean was the following weekend and last year was a bit of a rush so I did radio on the Red Kite the weekend before!

 

Yesterday I had it apart again, double checked the sliders and pads - fine. I then gently pumped out the pistons until they had nearly popped out of the seals, and lifted the "dust" seal back so I could see the piston surface. Clean as a whistle. I smeared a bit of red rubber grease on the piston, and some silicon grease carefully in the locating recess for the seal in the caliper body so the seal could rotate easily.

 

However, the wind back mech was very stiff. I normally use long nose pliers, but I had to go out and by a tool  I had to go through several  sequencies to get a smooth, free operation. I'm still not convinced it's right, but it's marginally better.

 

The car had it's first MoT the first week of Jan with no problems, it's just holding and creaking on my sloping drive. I'm hoping the cheapo pads and crude disc clean up will get better. 

 

Something that might explain some rear disc behaviour?

Could this simply be a symptom of a stretched handbrake cable?

How far up do you have to pull the lever to get a reasonable degree of tension on the brakes? Logically, if the cable(s) stretch, the further up you need to pull the handbrake and consequently less leverage offered by the handbrake lever.

 

If you feel that's still ok, then sorry Jerry, I'm out of ideas.

 

As for NW Stages, I had guessed you had a good reason for not being there. Unfortunately there were problems with traffic jams on the road sections and the rally overran by an hour, so it was a long day (12 hours) on post at Weeton.Next year maybe?

 

Good luck with the brakes

Mine felt quite stiff when I got it, and eased up quite a bit when I sprayed loads of lube around the handbrake lever sleeve.

When Yeti II is released it will probably have an electronic handbrake like the new Suberb. This would be a bad move if it happens I think. At least with a mechanical handbrake you can, like Yety, adjust the brake yourself if it needs it. An EPB would put me off trying adjustment never mind always worrying that the car might roll away!

Oh dear rkenny!  I agree a Bad Move if they do that? 

 

After previous bad experiences with both the regular operation and maintenance of electronic parking brakes on other car(s), one of the attractions of the Yeti was its mechanical parking brake! 

 

With the electronic variety, it is slow to operate compared to mechanical, plus you lose all fine control of a hill start. So you can't easily back out of the decision and start again. You have to behave like an F1 driver, be determined and go for it first time. A nightmare for teaching a learner or inexperienced driver the finer points. On the Scenic the manual operation lever was to the right of the steering wheel. So the passenger couldn't grab it either if the driver got in a muddle! Then for experienced drivers, the slow speed of operation means you can beat it, which leads to clutch/brake wear as they fight each other and no such thing as a quick getaway.

 

Then there was no such thing as adjustment or maintenance.  Slightest problem, such as a sticking actuator or cable, the whole unit had to be replaced at a cost of £800+.  .Horrible things all round.  Hate 'em!

 

OK, rant over.  We can go back to topic now..........

Edited 1 March, 201511 yr by FlintstoneR1

I have this problem, dealer has told me that the stiffness is at the lever end.  Part of the plastic draught proofing breaks.  The car is overdue for a cam belt change and the job will be done then.

 

tom

Oh dear rkenny!  I agree a Bad Move if they do that? 

 

After previous bad experiences with both the regular operation and maintenance of electronic parking brakes on other car(s), one of the attractions of the Yeti was its mechanical parking brake! 

 

With the electronic variety, it is slow to operate compared to mechanical, plus you lose all fine control of a hill start. So you can't easily back out of the decision and start again. You have to behave like an F1 driver, be determined and go for it first time. A nightmare for teaching a learner or inexperienced driver the finer points. On the Scenic the manual operation lever was to the right of the steering wheel. So the passenger couldn't grab it either if the driver got in a muddle! Then for experienced drivers, the slow speed of operation means you can beat it, which leads to clutch/brake wear as they fight each other and no such thing as a quick getaway.

 

Then there was no such thing as adjustment or maintenance.  Slightest problem, such as a sticking actuator or cable, the whole unit had to be replaced at a cost of £800+.  .Horrible things all round.  Hate 'em!

 

OK, rant over.  We can go back to topic now..........

 

And you can't do handbrake turns around hairpin bends on rally stages!!

And you can't do handbrake turns around hairpin bends on rally stages!!

What about Tesco's Car Park?

 

Fred

Behave, Fred!!