Handbrake Adjustment

[bumpstop325 0]

Note: The handbrake system is not self adjusting on models with rear disc brakes. Therefore the handbrake requires perodic adjustment to compensate for wear. It should be adjusted anytime either when cable, brake disc, brake pad or hand brake assembly is renewed for some reason.

1 Slowly apply handbake, and count the number of clicks at the lever. If the lever can be pulled up more than this adjust the handbrake as follows.

2 Peel back the handbrake lever boot(remove rear center console), and loosen the cable adjusting nut.

3 Loosen a single bolt in each rear wheel. (or take the whole thing off on both sides if nessary(raise rear of car and place on axle stands)).

4 Turn the hub so you can see the 'adjuster starwheel'(use flat head screwdriver) through the bolt hole.

5 Turn the adjuster - clockwise to expand the shoes, anti-clockwise to retract them.

6 Now apply the handbrake three to four times to stretch and seat the cables. Then slowly apply handbrake lever until the 5th click. Tighten the cable adjusting nuts by equal amounts until the rear brake pads touch the disc. Verify that both wheels have same amount of resistance.

7 Release the handbrake, and verify that both wheels rotate freely(little resistance is alright).

8 You should get your WOF now.

[Grant 4]

Legends....the lot of you

Much appreciated

[Queen of Beemas 0]

You seem to have had a lot of help......But should you have any further problems Grant, give me a call at work.....444 5312 or just drop in.....we'll help ya!!!

Edited March 4, 2004 by Queen of Beemas

[Grant 4]

Yup - Pam, you guys were my next port of call.

Don't worry I (we - should I receive help) will stuff it up and then you Bavarian will be able to charge me an arm and a leg to rectify it.... (I'm not saying rip me off, I am saying legitimate charge to fix my wrongdoings) that is the usual story wth me.

I am a mechanics worst nightmare and dream all rolled into one.

Cheers

[Gus 5]

you? ahem.....

[Queen of Beemas 0]

I wouldnt do that......Im with Bimmersport now, you wont have to pay n e thing, or if anything will be Pammie discount!!! Talk to Gus, we do pretty well on the discount side....

[threeta 0]

and if you rtfm, it says to apply light pressure to the handbrake while driving at approx 50k, for 100m. this "cleans" the shoes/drum and freshens up the handbrake no end. i did this to my threeta when i bought it and turned handbrake from a piece of crap to brilliant. probably good enogh for the autocross - but that's another topic :-)

[threeta 0]

the "drum" on rear wheel disk cars is the inside hub of the disk rotor. this tip (see last post) is only needed on rear disk cars. cool bit about adjustment. is the adjustment the same for rear drum cars?? my other car ( a three "o") has em and not sure where to start.

[OLLIE 26]

wow i never knew the handbrake was as complex as this, thought it just used the rear "brakes" am i kinda right? how exactly does the system work?

[Gus 5]

the rear brakes are discs....the handbrake is a drum brake that is on the inside of the rear disc....quite clever really

[OLLIE 26]

thanks gus thats a very nice diagram there. fairly simple aye.

[downlow 0]

nice leaf!

Edited April 29, 2005 by downlow

[bravo 34]

Just did mine, then found this - few corrections if I may Tim?

You forget to mention how many clicks means the handbrake should be adjusted. Bentley says more than 8. Once mine is adjusted properly, I found that the 8th click is quite hard to achieve, so sounds about right.

You also mention to turn the star wheel clockwise - clockwise changes whether looking at the wheel from the back of the car or the front - you should turn it up on the left side of the car, and down on the right to expand the shoes.

Also, I found it a pain to turn it with a screwdriver as mentioned. 3-5mins removing the brake caliper (2x 17mm bolts) and the brake disc itslef (1x allen locator bolt) meant I could easily access the star wheel - Loosen the adjuster nuts almost right off inside the car, then expand the shoes until you can just get the brake disc back on over them.

Then tighten the adjuster nuts with the handbrake on the 5th click until you feel resistance from the shoes.

To adjust bias, the easiest way (although not necessarily the most scientific) is to find a patch of grass, get up to about 15-20km/h and apply the handbrake smoothly, but quickly enough to lock the wheels - you will feel one wheel lock up first - adjust accordingly. If you are not sure which wheel locked first - go look at your skid mark.

You could get someone to spin the wheel and then count the clicks for it to stop the wheel and then adjust the other side to match, but you need another person, and it is important to spin the wheel at roughly the same speed and apply the brake at roughly the same rate.