Honda Civic - Handbrake

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Mon 21 Aug 2023 11:58
Honda Civic - Handbrake - Mbh02

Fitted new calipers and handbrake efficency was raised as an issue but passed, this year they failed

Spoke with the mechanic and he suggested they where either adjusted incorrectly or faulty

Had new calipers, pads and handbrake cables fitted since, slider pins are free and greased, pads are free, cable is free, handbrake lever on caliper is free, calipers have been bled

To adjust handbrake I slackened off adjuster started car and pumped brake, adjusted cable until it just pulled the levers off stop pins. Nearside locks wheel up offside has some resistance but I am unable to lock wheel..

Really lost not sure if bedding in should matter i ruffled up the pad but still no difference

Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated

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Mon 21 Aug 2023 15:31
Honda Civic - Handbrake - focussed

Not being certain of the year of you Civic but the procedure on my 2007 FN3 was:-

Engine running put your foot on the brake, hold it down and apply the handbrake several times this hopefully will ratchet the parking brake up, if everything is assembled correctly and free of salt corrosion.

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Mon 21 Aug 2023 19:00
Honda Civic - Handbrake - Mbh02

Might help ?? Its an EP2 03

Yeah thats the same process I followed might have to bed them in just odd it's only one side

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Mon 21 Aug 2023 21:10
Honda Civic - Handbrake - madf

I understand the Civic and Jazz handbrake mechanisms are the same or v similar to that of the Jazz

The caliper faces which activate the rear pads have two grooves in them at 90 degrees in an X. When the pads are inserted, one groove MUST be vertical. That ensures a pin projecting on the pad fits into the groove. If the groove is not vertical, the pad pin does not fit into the groove and forces the pad out of alignment so it does not mate properly with the disk when the brake is applied. Hence the lack of braking effort.

10: 1 that's your cause. Remove pads, check one groove on the caliper is vertical, if not, adjust by turning with a BIG screwdriver (a specialist tool is available on ebay.. search "caliper wind back tool")

Don't ask me how I know (I DIY my Jazz)

Edited by madf on 21/08/2023 at 21:22

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Tue 22 Aug 2023 03:01
Honda Civic - Handbrake - gordonbennet

Madf's suggestion sounds reasonable.

I've never been a fan of these self adjusting calipers incorporating the park brake mechanism, thinking back over the years with various makes they can be prone to issues with the self adjusting mechanism and pistons sticking, difficult to lube too without fully dismantling.

Larger Hondas as far as i'm aware have or had the excellent and generally trouble free forever drum inside disc design, this allows the use of standard simple brake calipers as one would find on normal front brakes.

With all park brakes the very last thing you adjust is the cable (or rod on older cars) mechanism, the cable wants to be slack enough to allow any self adjusters in the brake to do their thing, a cable that's too taught (or itself sticking one side?) won't allow the mechanism to catch the next segment in its adjusting mechanism.

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