My MoT is coming up and I thought I should really sort my hand brake and not rely on the autobox park.

Basically when it's tight enough to hold the car it doesn't release and the brakes drag, and when it loosened so the wheels don't drag it doesn't hold the car.

Anyway I tracked the problem down to the right rear cable which is stuck in the spring section and isn't free to slide or even move. That's easy enough I will change that. The other cables all move freely One question here though are those cables the same on Grand voyagers and short wheel base voyagers?


What I don't like is where the left and right cables join, the plate is really imbalanced, see the pic, is there away to balance this? (Top goes to Right and bottom goes to left.) Or has the right one (top in pic) just stretched with it being seized in the spring?

Thanks

 

Hi Nitro I had the same problem a while back, however, to begin with the cable imbalance is normal; the right hand cable is much longer than the left so over time does stretch further. Therefore the plate pivots to compensate for this and provides equal pressure to each cables.

As for the drums; to begin with I made sure there were no lips or high spots along the edge of the drum. Next I cleaned everything and then took piece of 240 grit wet'n'dry and removed the sheen off the shoes. Then adjusted them up so they were just binding. Ran the van for a few days and the shoes re-bedded themselves and have been fine every since. It did however take several attempts.

 

From your picture I would say your balance plate is the wrong way round as the top cable going into the shortest cable sheath is getting the mega pull on it. Whereas the bottom cable with the cable sheath farther away and if I'm right there's a big arc on that sheath not to far away, it should get the main pull.

 

No the plate is the correct way round, the bottom of the photo is the outside of the van with the front being to the right. The cable at the top of the photo running into the sleeve goes to the right had wheel.

 

Yes that's how the picture is orientated.

Thanks all for the feedback, I have a new right cable on order from euro car parts. Hopefully it's the right one. (There's a right, left, and centre listed. I don't know if the centre is the "extension" to right hand cable that goes across the centre of the car or if the centre is the front.)

I will see how the balance of the plate looks once the new one is fitted.

 

Note of caution with these handbrake cables Mine is a 2006 GV:--

Make sure the cables do not abraid against ANYTHING where it can be cut through, meaning the black plastic cover. Mine failed MOT because of this, the water gets inside the cable and rusts the springy steel coiled outer. It doesn't rust the inner as there is a clear nylon sheath over it. But a rusty outer will bind and make the handbrake stay partially "on" without the bonging alarm sounding. Some zipties in strategic positions along the cable will fix if you are fitting new.
My own MOT is due shortly in the next few days...

Leedsman.

 

The whole entire service & maintenance thing including exploded pictorials is in sec 5 - 64 of of the 2005-RG-SM.pdf



Best of luck.

 

That took along time for the replacement cable to arrive from Euro Car Parts - Think I ordered it on the 8th and its just got to me on the 26th! Glad I did this before booking the MoT.

Anyway, hopefully I will get to fit the new hand brake cable tomorrow. Is there any advice on lubrication of gear cables? Is it best to leave them dry or spray oil or light grease down them? Any other general tips to follow?

 

My new h/brake cable has a plastc-sheathed inner, therefore lubrication unnecessary.
That's a long del. time! Mine took a day (Leeds).
Be sure the black plastic outer cannot be cut by anything along its route. Zip-ties handy here. Otherwise water gets in and rusts the coiled springsteel outer.

Leedsman.

 

Hmm. The new cable is a good 15cm shorter than the old one. I guess they sent me the cable for the short wheelbase voyager not the grand voyager...

The old/original cable is 140cm and the new cable is 125cm. The black outer sheaths are the same.