Renault Megane 1 Handbrake stuck on

Prenderb

Hi Motors.

We have a Renault Megane 1 (2002) in the driveway which has been parked up for about 10 days. Went to drive this morning and even though the lever would went down fine, the handbrake is still fully applied. We have tried rocking the car backwards and forwards on the gears, but to no avail.

Has anyone any suggestions as to what I can do to get it back driving?

zapata

Any time this has happened to me, I just release the handbrake, put car into 1st gear or reverse and drive the car. Obviously stop if the wheels are locked and dragging along the ground. The shoes will break away from the drum\disk (You may hear a small bang as this happens). Try small forward and backward movements also.
If there isn't disk brake on the rear wheels you could also secure the front wheels (chocks), release handbrake, loosen wheel nuts, jack up the rear of the car, remove the rear wheel and give the drum and solid belt with a decent hammer.
(I accept no responibility for any damage caused)

ltdslipdiff

zapata wrote: »

Any time this has happened to me, I just release the handbrake, put car into 1st gear or reverse and drive the car. Obviously stop if the wheels are locked and dragging along the ground. The shoes will break away from the drum\disk (You may hear a small bang as this happens). Try small forward and backward movements also.
If there isn't disk brake on the rear wheels you could also secure the front wheels (chocks), release handbrake, loosen wheel nuts, jack up the rear of the car, remove the rear wheel and give the drum and solid belt with a decent hammer.
(I accept no responibility for any damage caused)

I agree with the hammer theory. The drums on the rear of Meganes can get dusty and sticky,especially with the salt on the roads.... If you can get to an autofactors get a can of brake-cleaner and spray it in around the rear of the drum,this should help free it up.....

Prenderb

Will try giving it a bang to loosen the brakes tomorrow - I'm not in the mood just now. Thanks for the suggestion. A kettle full of hot water didn't help, so I don't think it's frozen...

ltdslipdiff

These symptoms can also be a sign of a leaky brake cylinder(s), worth checking when you're in and around the hub.... In fact, might be worth an overhaul of the rear shoes altogether if they haven't been done in a while.....

Prenderb

ltdslipdiff wrote: »

These symptoms can also be a sign of a leaky brake cylinder(s), worth checking when you're in and around the hub.... In fact, might be worth an overhaul of the rear shoes altogether if they haven't been done in a while.....

Thanks, was kinda thinking along those lines myself if it looked ugly. How long would I put aside for that?

smokie2008

Jack the car up at the rear, remove the wheel, its very easy with the jack and wheel brace in the boot......hit the Drum, (the part where the wheel was attached) with a hammer while the handbrake is released and you should hear the handbrake releasing.....it will be a 'Springing' sound.


NOTE: make sure the car is on a flat surface and the car in gear when you jack it up.


Should release handy enough. If it doesn't another possibility is that the lining has come off the brake shoe an you will need the rear brakes replaced.

Prenderb

Thank you o helpful boardsies - I have had the wheel off, and been banging fairly firmly with a lumphammer, but to no avail as yet. Any other suggestions?

smokie2008

If the Car is still on the jack, locate the handbrake cable going into the drum, it will be a black plastic cable. It runs from near the center of the underneath of the car and enters the drum at the back.

Put your hand on it and have someone pull up the handbrake lever as normal, get them to pull it up, then down a few times and you should feel the inner cable moving about inside the cable you have in your hand.

If you DO feel the cable moving then your handbrake cable isn't jammed anywhere and the problem is most likely that the lining has come off your brake shoe and has jammed. you'll need it towed to your garage to have the brakes replaced.

If you DON'T feel the cable moving in there when someone is pulling the lever up and down then it most likely means the actual hand brake cable is siezed. The cable inside can no longer freely move which in turn cannot release the mechanism inside your drum.

Either way it seems you've done all you can. I'd advise you to seek professional help at this stage because at the end of the day...it's your brakes and there kinda important:o

Prenderb

Hey, thanks smokie. The cable is shrouded in a hose, but when the lever is raised up and down, the hose does move so it looks like its the bad problem. Is it a DIY fix, I wonder?

smokie2008

No problem. Your rear brakes need replacing by the sounds of it, Pads on the front are easy to do but rear shoes are far from a DIY thing. Theres all sorts of springs and cable adjustments and all sorts in there.

Might be cheaper to get a callout mechanic rather than a tow to the garage then the cost of repair and stuff thrown in. Where are you located?

Prenderb

Gah! I might see if there's a Haynes workshop manual to get a look at somewhere to assess DIY-ability. Callout mechanic likely expensive, but they are brakes...

Will throw the wheel back on before it gets too late! Thanks for your help/guidance.

BrianD3

If its your first time doing the rear brakes, when you have the drum off take a few good close up photos of the shoes, springs, parts etc. before you do any further dismantling. This makes it very easy to put everything back as you found it.

PS you will need a big socket (IIRC its 30 or 32 mm) and a decent bar to loosen the hub nut that holds the drum on. When reassembling, you need a new hub nut. And really you need a torque wrench too as if the hub nut comes loose due to incorrect torque its bye bye wheel.

smokie2008

Instead of taking a picture if its too much hassle (although its a good idea) Just do one side at a time so you can use the other side for guidance when assembling.

I wouldn't really advise you do it your self though to be honest. Best thing to do is to maybe try take off the drum and loosen the adjustment, put the drum back on then drive it to your mechanic. Won't a packet to get done. Somewhere around between €100-€150 would be my guess.

Prenderb

Right, saturday morning attempt to fix. Have decided to check handbrake cable - removed heat shield and have adjuster plate exposed. Seems that the half-cables to the rear are tight when the lever is up, but slack when lever is down. That's probably not much help, is it? Going to try removing hub in a bit.

smokie2008

So how'd you get on?

Prenderb

smokie2008 wrote: »

So how'd you get on?

Not well. Not a budge on the hub again. Even tried removing the hub nut - not a budge. Will have to make arrangements for tow/travelling mechanic tomorrow! I don't have sufficient tools or experience for this job!

Thanks for your help in my trying to get it going.

smokie2008

Ah I see, yeah I'd say its just jammed in the drum, probably because the lining has come off the shoe, I came to find this thread because only an hour ago I got a job and the hand brake was jammed on both rear wheels (Mitsubishi colt), so to free it I jacked up the rear left wheel, banged it with a hammer and it came free, the right wheel was still jammed and soon as I hit that, freed up no problem.

I've had them like yours too were I've had to get them towed to a garage.

Where abouts are you located I might know someone a bit cheaper than most for a tow?

Prenderb

An extra-deep socket got the hub nut going tonight. That said, we found a local guy who's gonna come down tomorrow night and get the job done. He dropped in this evening and had a bit of a look at it, and will come back with more tools and get the hub off. Takes a bit of pressure off me, I've already put about 4 hours into it! Makes you definitely value what guys charge.

Prenderb

Car is away - it's suggested that the bearing is gone too. Is this likely? I wouldn't have thought so immediately, but there has been a little banging going on, and trying to drive the car to force free the hub..

smokie2008

Yeah its defiantly a possibility alright, the mechanic will know soon as he takes the drum off. He'll have it all stripped down anyway so even if the bearings gone its not gonna cost way more than it already is so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

smokie2008

Well???

Prenderb

Yeah, all sorted now - thanks again for your help! It's a pain knowing what needs to be done, just not having the experience to know exactly how to do it, but the megane's back on the road now.

smokie2008

What was wrong in the end?