Self adjusting handbrake

Since fitting two new rear callipers and handbrake cables last year, it appears that the self adjusting mechanism doesn’t work very well if at all. Initially I thought it was just down to the new cables stretching a bit so I adjusted the threaded section near the handbrake lever which seemed to help. But now I’m on my last ‘notch’ and I’m getting the feeling that maybe the self adjusters are lazy and not working. Anyone else had similar experiences?

Someone did mention that rather than adjust the handbrake inside the car I should remove the cable from the lever on each calliper which would allow the self adjusting part to sort itself out. Is this the sensible option?

[stephendell]

Did you fit GTA calipers or BX calipers?

GTA refurbished ones. They looked identical to the ones I replaced.
Rentek sold them to me for around £100 each.

Didn't realise BX ones fitted Maybe they would have been cheaper..

I know that in order for the self-adjuster to work properly, the handbrake lever on the calliper needs to be able to back off fully when the handbrake is off. If you have adjusted the cable at the handle end then you may be stopping the levers from fully returning and thus preventing the adjusters from working. The cable needs to be adjusted so that the lever on the calliper does not move until after the first click of handbrake travel (according to manuals for R5 and R25 which have the same self-adjusting mechnism).

There's also something about aligning marks on the piston with the bleed screw that seems to be crucial to the correct working but I think that is more to do with being able to bleed the calliper rather than the self adjuster.

I usually find that handbrake ineffectiveness problems are solved by making sure that the piston is free to move in the calliper - they seem to get stuck with an accumulation of white powdery stuff that fills the gap between the piston and its housing. I'd have hoped that wasn't a problem with new callipers - but you never know. Check if you can wind the piston in and out easily - it should turn without too much effort when you use a screwdriver or bit of square bar across the slots in the piston.

Someone did mention that rather than adjust the handbrake inside the car I should remove the cable from the lever on each calliper which would allow the self adjusting part to sort itself out. Is this the sensible option?[/quote]


Yup take of the cables of at the calipers make shure ure cables are not sticking and take it for a short drive put them back on again adjust ure handbrake and you should have a working handbrake

Thanks, if it doesnt pee down today I'll give that a try