the handbrake has never been adjusted. i'm the only owner and self serviced. have tried new disc and pads , but it still sticks on when it heats up. when cold the wheels seem to spin freely. the slide pins are free and regreased

Don't think I've ever had a car with automatic brake adjusters where the brakes adjusted automatically.

I've always had to do it manually, which is generally a PITA, because they aren't designed for it.

OTOH, I don't think I ever had a car with manual brake adjusters (I'm old) where the brakes didn't adjust manually.(and easily).

I believe this is referred to as "progress"

if you tighten the handbrake up to tight on drum brakes it prevents the adjuster working as its designed for

if you tighten the handbrake up to tight on drum brakes it prevents the adjuster working as its designed for

Never come across one that was adjusted too tight, always too loose as they are rarely adjusted .. even from new

That tends to suggest they don't work at all then, since if they worked from new they wouldn't need adjusted (from new).

Can't comment on that, since, (apart from company cars that I just drove) I've never had a new car.

The newest car I've owned was a dealer-maintained Renault 5 Campus that I took over from my mother when she stopped driving due to frailty (hers, not the cars).

First automatic adjusters I'd had. They were some kind of exotic phosphor bronze alloy (presumably for corrosion resistance) and beautifully made, Swiss-watch / Faberge Egg stylee. A friend who had had a car customising bizniz, and who knew his stuff, opined they probably cost more to make than the rest of the rear axle assembly.

And they absolutely WOULD NOT WORK.

Its been downhill all the way from there. The more recent examples have been crummier, but they still don't work.

I remember those friction adjusters BT, simple and worked well.

The fairly simple adjusters on the Aygo work well too, no trouble at all, but like everything if you neglect them and allow dirt to build up so they are too stiff to operate smoothly then they will fail eventually, due to them being rear brakes normally wear is minimal so the usual thread sticks.

As often said here, by doing things the lazy way and instead of making sure all is returning to fully unadjusted in the drum, so many people just adjust the handbrake cable up and by doing so often stop the adjusters from returning far enough to get another 'bite' at the pawl (ratchet), in time wear takes effect and you run out of cable to adjust.

On all of our cars the parking brake is the drum inside disc design where the parking brake shoes only ever get used when the parking brake is applied, these are almost exclusively manual adjusters, but they too sometimes need to be adjusted up because rust will build up on the drum and the sensible owner gently applies the parking brake whilst the car is moving now and again to keep things clean, usually the adjuster is reached through a hole in the brake drum, and the wheel must be removed on most to access.

I'm not that keen on rear calipers that have built in adjusters where the pads provide both normal brakes and parking brake, not easy to get to the adjusting mechanism to clean service or lubricate, sooner normal drums where shoes do both, unfortunately lazy garages and owners for some reason assume all these systems need no maintenance, not to mention give the cables a bit of lube once in a while.

Thanks for updating. Remember this one.

Don't really get the "lost confidence" bit, though I suppose thats a subjective thing so logic may not be applicable.

IF (as now seems the case) it was a faulty flex hose, then you've fixed it. Cause for celebration and enhanced confidence, surely?

With 20-20 hindsight, from the comfort of my armchair a few thousand miles away, lessons might be to not jump to conclusions (assuming both brakes were binding was diagnostically misleading), to be reluctant to replace components without evidence (Some pros seem particularly prone to randomly throwing parts at a problem, it not being their money and all) and replacing the cheapest component first if you have to start part-chucking.

The last "rule" would have taken you to the flex hose directly, though I suppose that's just Sod's Law kicking in.

I've now stripped my whole braking system except the master cylinder. which I should really do but wont unless I can get a seal kit. I had to replace both wheel cylinders. Probably didn't have to replace the hoses but I did it anyway (Moral Panic Effect). The calipers, though they looked in awful condition internally, cleaned up nicely. None of this was very difficult, though I suppose it might have been on a newer car.