I was sitting in a queue at some lights this morning on a fairly steep hill, facing downwards.

I usually press the footbrake, lift the handbrake lever to lock it on then release the footbrake. I did this and was sitting there for maybe 30 seconds, daydreaming, when there was a clunk and the handbrake released itself!

Fortunately I reacted automatically and stood on the brake pedal, only moving about a foot.

Do I need to get something checked out or could this be a one-off weird thing?

I need to be able to trust my handbrake as Wellington is pretty hilly and I often leave the car parked on slopes (in gear of course)

If in doubt I would get it checked, better a small bill for checking than a larger one for a respray or other repairs.

Whoops!

Did the car start to move with the lever in the same position Rob? Or was it a case of it returning the usual 'off' position?

Get it checked, whichever way!

Steve

It just released itself and dropped back to the off position. I'm surprised it could do that to be honest!

I'll call in at my favourite German car specialist this evening

I havn't seen anything like this on any of the cars with all round disks that I have had.

Even a citroen BX where the handbrake was on the front disks never did this when you applied light pressure on the foot brake before applying the handbrake.

I use the handbrake quite a lot in traffic as it's mostly hilly here and I've never had a problem - I'll definitely get it checked out as I like the shape of the front end of the car

I've had this happen - but I'm sure it has been my fault.

Having a lot of mechanical sympathy I too press on the brake, pull up handbrake and gently release button. And, there, I think, is the problem - i.e. it is not 'latching' properly.

To remedy this you need merely follow the actions of a mother in a hurry.

Rip, scrunch (wheels stop turning two seconds later). There - now you know it's latched

Treat her rough eh?

Treat her rough eh?

No sheep jokes please. This is a highly technical conversation

Baa-humbug!

Ewe know it makes sense. Do I have to ram home the point.

Oh, if my explunashion doesn't fit - then, yup, get it checked out.

Ewe know it makes sense. Do I have to ram home the point.

Oh, if my explunashion doesn't fit - then, yup, get it checked out.

Bit of a woolly expanation but it does make sense.

I think I'll get it looked at anyway. No point taking any risks with brakes!

mine has done it a time or 2 when its not properly engaged into the notches, normally its straight away though

Yeah same as above, I've had it once or twice when it hasn't properly engaged.

Could be the brake discs cooling down, especially if you have just driven down a steep hill and had to use the brakes a lot. As they cool, the discs contract, thus eventually friction between pad and disc is lost. This is quiet a common where the rear disc pads are used to hold the car on the handbrake, its for this reason that some manufactures fit brake shoes into the hub of their rear disc brakes to hold the car. My old XJ40, and the Boxster had rear discs for normal braking and shoes for the handbrake.

I disagree with a fair bit of the above. From what Rob says, the HB actually moved down several notches by itself, and IME that only happens if you use a "lazy handbrake" and actually wear out the locking pawl!

I've had cars with 160k miles on the clock that were always 'lazy handbraked' to pull up the handbrake, never had trouble with it wearing out.

And if it does, it's generally a pretty easy bracket to replace

TBF there were suggestions of a missing heat treatment being involved, but the point still stands I think.

Yep

mine has done it a time or 2 when its not properly engaged into the notches, normally its straight away though

Me too

Ensure that the teeth on the handbrake ratchet are not worn out because this would cause the problem. Did the handbrake ratchet properly engage when you pulled it up? If it had not engaged then it will slip particularly on an incline. If in doubt get the car checked over. It should have disk brakes at the rear so there should not be any problems there as they are extremely reliable compared to drum brakes.

Steve

I've not pressed the button on my handbrake ever since I did so and the pivot pin fell out of the mechanism leading to the centre button coming free and the handbrake not holding, cue nearly an hour of wiggling and struggling to push it back in I think it's only held in by the pressure of it pivoting against the ratchet mechanism, so I added some duct tape. I suppose older handbrakes are easier to fiddle with though. Especially when it's only covered with an easily removable plastic trim.