Handbrake cable snapped??

[briencrean]

Hi Everyone, I need some help!!

I just bought a 95 GR Manual FTO last week. When I bought the car the previous owner advised me that the passenger side handbrake cable needed to be replaced as the old one came off!! I still have the old cable in the boot.

When I was parking the car yesterday the handbrake completely stopped working - It seems like the connection on the driver side cable came loose or the cable has snapped?? Im relying on 1st gear at the moment!!

Whats the best way for me to check where the problem lies and get it fixed?? I know I can order new cables from camskill if needed.

Thanks

[Sebastian]

been there done that ..
cables changed , handbrake working fine .


any mechanic shoud help .

[kevinod]

Pull up the cup holder just behind the gearstick, and you should be able to see where the 2 handbrake cables meet. You could see if the drivers side one is still tight or loose then.

At the other end, the cables naturally connect onto the rear calipers, so you can take a look at that end, see is the cable still connected, and if so is it tight.

If you can see under the car (if you jack it up be sure to use axle stands, never depend on a single jack to hold the car if you're under it!) you could trace the cable from the caliper towards the handbrake cable and see what the story is with it.

Under the cupholder there's a nut you can use to adjust the tension on the handbrake cable, if the cable is still intact maybe you could just adjust it up to make it work again.

[briencrean]

Thanks for your replies guys. I think I will go out and get some axel stands and have a look myself. I dont mind paying for someone to do it for me but I would like to learn how to do it myself and more importantly how my FTO works!! I'll post up how I got on with it.

However a more serious problem has happened recently and I need to tackle it first - My FTO wont start!! I'm gonna start a new thread for that!!

[briencrean]

As you can see from my other thread I attacked some of the problems with my car today.

Replacing a handbrake cable on an FTO is pretty straight forward. The exhaust and heat shield do not have to be removed from the underneath to get at the cables at least on a 95 GR, which is what I feared at the beginning.

I followed the cable from the rear driver side caliper to where it goes up through the car's floor. I then removed the cup-holder and the armrest/center console to have a look at the hole where the handbrake cables come up through the car floor.

To my shock I discovered why I lost the tension in my second (driver side) cable. The previous owner tied some welding wire to replace the tension lost when the passenger side cable was removed. After using the handbrake over time the wire snapped on me. I was disgusted that someone would leave the handbrake in such a state - The wire could have snapped and the car could have rolled into someone or something.

Anyway I still have the passenger side hand brake cable - which is perfectly intact so I put it back in. I am missing the retaining clip for the calipers so I have to find one before I can use the handbrake cable properly.

I am now searching for some parts so my car is like a beached whale for the time being!

If I order a handbrake cable or calipers from camskill do they come with all the extra little clips, bolts and retainers needed for securing cables??

Thanks

Brien