Morning all,

 

2006 Skoda Fabia Vrs 

 

just mopping up jobs on my Fabia the handbrake travel and efficiency on the drivers side. There’s a gap when off of about 1.5cm rested and it seems to struggle to return to the 1-2mm space rested. This weekend I’ve released 10mm nut behind handbrake, removed calliper and pads, wound piston in and out a few times and checked for free movement on arm lubricated and popped back together but still it refuses once hand brake has been applied to return to the recommended spacing (I did pump the brakes and apply handbrake several times after finishing. So am I best replacing x2 cables or do you think it’s still calliper related ? It freely moved without the cable attached but once cable attached it doesn’t, I didn’t notice that side doesn’t have the protective boot on the wire……

You could try unhooking your cables and have someone pull on the handbrake lever while you pull back, having sprayed the cables with some lubricant. Keep working back and fore for a bit occasionally topping up the lubricant. This will maybe free up the cable or will confirm they need replacing.

2 hours ago, Whit3Knight said:

So am I best replacing x2 cables or do you think it’s still calliper related ?

Dunno. Is there any evidence that the sheaths for the HB cables are collapsing? This can happen more on one side than the other.

51 minutes ago, HeavyMetalRich said:

You could try unhooking your cables and have someone pull on the handbrake lever while you pull back, having sprayed the cables with some lubricant. Keep working back and fore for a bit occasionally topping up the lubricant. This will maybe free up the cable or will confirm they need replacing.

Good idea!

27 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

Dunno. Is there any evidence that the sheaths for the HB cables are collapsing? This can happen more on one side than the other.

The outer sheaths? I presumed they come with the cables 

1 hour ago, Whit3Knight said:

The outer sheaths? I presumed they come with the cables 

They do. I thought that knowing what to look for might be helpful.

Are there any return springs fitted to the operating arm on the calipers. Cannot remember origin but theses are something I fitted on my 1.9 TDI Elegance rear calipers as they are not original fitment, VRS may be different but the general idea was to work the arm by increasing travel when letting handbrake off.

 

3 hours ago, KeithCheetham said:

Are there any return springs fitted to the operating arm on the calipers. Cannot remember origin but theses are something I fitted on my 1.9 TDI Elegance rear calipers as they are not original fitment, VRS may be different but the general idea was to work the arm by increasing travel when letting handbrake off.

 

No there isn’t any fitted but I’ve just ordered a set from flea bay, did they make a difference ?

1 hour ago, Whit3Knight said:

No there isn’t any fitted but I’ve just ordered a set from flea bay, did they make a difference ?

 Not sure, but by having the arm operate through a larger angular position this may reduce stiction issues. For the minimal cost must be worth a try as it will take any additional drag put into the inner/outer cable by the operating arms out of the equation.

I'd think that the fact that the protective sleeve/boot is missing from that side is never a good thing, adding springs can only be a good thing, I did that on a 2002 VW Polo 1.4 16V, and that seemed to improve or remove the drag that tended to "appear" with time wrt pad<>disc, so I just did the same thing as some as we bought a new 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI for my wife, okay maybe the internal return spring has been slightly beefed up on later rear calliper, but I've added these external return springs and again no pad<>disc contact when the handbrake is off.  Obviously you will "lose" the recommended clearance between the arm and its stop, but you can just adjust the cable length to suit what you feel is correct in terms of handbrake "lift".