Disc Handbrake Failed Mot On Low Effort

[Super Josh 4]

Any suggestions on the cause? The caliper is around a year old, obviously a recon one and the cable is new

 

 

Josh

[pug309twin40s 1]

how old are the discs and pads??

 

i had this on my old 309 gti and fitted new rear brake pads and problem was fixed.

 

you could also check the rear brakes dont need bleeding.

[hengti 2]

all you've got is the lever, cables, caliper arms/auto adjustment ratchet, and the discs/pads

 

i'd make sure the arms are free to move easily through their full range and that the pistons are also free (for the auto adjustment) - could whip the calipers off and clean/re-grease the mechs under the boots and/or free off the pistons if there are any probs. then re-adjust the cables, take the car out and give the brakes a good work out to clean up the friction surfaces.

 

it's a pretty poor system imo, but shouldn't be too difficult to maintain some sort of effectiveness

[Super Josh 4]

Think I'll pick up some new discs and pads tomorrow, then make sure everything is free. Then see how we go

 

 

 

Josh

[Tom Fenton 1,562]

Have a look at the state of the discs, if they look past it this is most likely your problem, the disc handbrake as we all know isn't that brilliant even at the best of times! If the discs look OK though, take the pads out and deglaze them, and then take it for the beating of its life down some private lanes, add some left foot braking to really get some work into the rears. If this doesn't work then out with the cash and new bits, but personally I'm loathe to buy new parts when I don't have to!!

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

As said all to common issue, Just make sure everything is nice and clean and rust free as the carrier's get really bad, Mind when you do fit the new Disc's and pads get a few miles in for them to bed in or you'll have the same problem

[CosKev 16]

Do 205's have two different length handbrake cables like 309's do????????

 

If they do check you have got the correct length on the side thats got low performance

I'm speaking from experience as I bought a 'Pair of brand new cables' as listed on E-Bay to find they were both for the drivers side

Car had very low performance on pass side when MOT'ed,put the correct cable on and all was well

[MrG 3]

I think I need to do this as mine just about went through the mot, but I've noticed they're back to rubbish again so something isn't right. That and give it all a good clean up.

[BamBamGTI 0]

Give the whole brake system a good bleed. Worked in my case as I had this problem twice for the MOT. Also make sure you adjust the handbrake properly like in the haynes book. After adjustment, apply the handbrake and try to move off in the car. the car should resist, so you can feel the suspention move upwards and then you know the auto-adjusters are working ok on the calipers. The brakes on the 205 have never been very good and Im always told this by the geezer that does the MOT, so dont expect them to be great even after new calipers/pads/brake lines/compensators...

[Super Josh 4]

Well just to report back on my findings

 

Discs were a little worn, so decided to replace them along with the pads. Caliper sliders were nice and free, as they are only a year or so old. Gave the pad carriers a going over with the wire brush, as usual.

 

When I put it all back together the handbrake that had failed the MOT, that I had recently fitted a new cable to, was now working fine. But now the other side wasn't working very well (could move the wheel by hand!!!).

 

Looking at the tensioner on the handbrake lever, you could see the balance bar wasn't very level, indicating that the older cable had stretched a lot. So fitted a new cable to that side and were back to having some rear brakes

 

 

 

 

So moral of the story, fit handbrake cables in pairs.

 

 

Josh