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How many handbrake clicks should hold a KA?


nitten_traveller
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Hi all,

I've searched around but can't find an answer to this, so here goes...

Mrs N has a KA which I seldom drive.  She said that she thinks the handbrake is not holding the car properly.  I tried it out yesterday on a hill and found that the first six clicks of the handbrake do nothing at all.  The seventh will hold the car, just, against gravity but it will move as soon as the clutch engages first gear (no accelerator).  Click 8 holds the car properly, and there are two more clicks until the handbrake is fully engaged, though the tenth needs a bit of force to set.

How many clicks should it take?  My Haynes manual for the Focus says 3-5, but I don't have a manual for the KA.

I can't imagine it's a handbrake adjustment issue having read other posts it seems that is never the case.  If eight clicks is normal then that's OK.  If not, then, what? The brake shoes? The car has done 55,000 miles (13 plate) and has been serviced every year.  It's on its third set of front pads/discs but as far as I know the rear shoes have never been changed.  

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8 clicks does seem excessive, 3-5 is normal for most cars.  You should feel some resistance on 1 or 2 clicks.  Rear shoes probably need adjusting, the 'auto' adjusters rarely work properly after the first few years.

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Thanks for the quick reply.  It's not due a service until the spring so I'll have to take it somewhere as I don't even have a jack to look myself!

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if you goto Halfords they will do the pads/shoes for life so next time you need new ones they do them free. worth asking about pads for life at Halfords.

sounds like your rear shoes are worn out and the garage you goto dont do their job properly as they should have noted the wear on the service sheet.

from memory they used to say on the second change of front pads you change the rear ones or there abouts and every second change of front pads you do the disks aswell

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1 hour ago, stef123 said:

I wouldn't let Halfords fit a set of shoes for the entirety of my life, does that count? :lol: 

I wouldn't let them fit shoes on my feet. 

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1 hour ago, iantt said:

I wouldn't let them fit shoes on my feet. 

This man has won the internet for today :lol: 

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13 hours ago, delboy said:

if you goto halfords they will do the pads/shoes for life so next time you need new ones they do them free. worth asking about pads for life at halfords.

sounds like your rear shoes are worn out and the garage you goto dont do their job properly as they should have noted the wear on the service sheet.

from memory they used to say on the second change of front pads you change the rear ones or there abouts and every second change of front pads you do the disks aswell

The spring 2018 service was done at our local Ford garage!  In their defence the five year service schedule says keep the wheels on; I checked the paperwork this morning and it refers only to checking the front pads/discs.  MOT paperwork says the parking brake efficiency was 23% (pass is 16 or 17%, I forget which). 

The spring 2017 service was done at a garage close to my work for convenience though I won't use them again for the reason below.  All previous services done by Mr A Clark under a service package when the car was bought. 

In October 2017 Mrs N_T picked me up from somewhere... the first time she had to tap the brakes you could hear the squealing.  "Oh yes, I have been meaning to ask about that"... me "it's your brake pads saying time's up, we'll get them changed" [This should have been picked up at the service I think but there is nothing on the paperwork about them].  The next morning I got a text when at work: "the noise changed to a crunching every time I braked so I took it to [a place that Fits things Kwikly] next to work as that's where I took it last time so the pads will be free*". Ergo, third set of pads and at least the second set of discs too.

The trouble is that compared to my Focus the KA feels like it has the build quality of a shopping trolley.  When driving it I find it hard to tell the difference between something mechanical which is worn out and something mechanical which is actually meant to be like that.

 

* the cheeky so and sos nevertheless tried to charge for the pads and were promptly put right by Mrs N_T!

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