Handbrake adjust spring clip not released

[Spriteracer]

Morning all,

Just finishing off the rear end rebuild and was struggling to adjust the handbrake. To cut a long story short I couldn't push back the spring under the handbrake lever. Thanks to Youtube it transpires that the spring was already pushed back and hadn't been released last time the brakes were adjusted. This would have been by the garage when the subframe bushes were changed.

My question is - what effect would this have had other than a loose handbrake lever with lots of clicks ? Thanks and happy new year when it comes.

 

[dhobbs]

As far as I understand the spring is there to provide tension to the cable when not in use.
Have you tried releasing it yourself?
I struggled a lot but found using a big screwdriver going in from the top and pushing the spring backwards. I took the handbrake cover off just to see things more clearly. Most instructions say go in from the front, but I couldn't get it lined up.

 

[dhobbs]

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/BMW_Z4M/92-BRAKES-Parking_Brake_Adjusting/92-BRAKES-Parking_Brake_Adjusting.htm


I used this as a guide

 

[DarKnight]

Hi,

IIRC the spring needs to be pushed all the way back and locked in place to release tension in the cables so you can correctly adjust the cog-wheel on the rear shoes.

Keep the spring pushed back/locked, adjust your rear shoes correctly then release the spring from the lock and test the handbrake for correct operation.

Hope this helps

 

[DarKnight]

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticl ... usting.htm


I used this as a guide

+1

 

[colb]

I used a long screwdriver on the clip after pulling the cover up and out of the way then tapped it with a hammer to get it to get it held back by the clip spring. Adjusted the brakes then used the scrrewdriver to push the clip to the side so it released and sprang back to its correct position.

 

[Spriteracer]

Thanks all, however the issue was that the spring was already in the locked position, i.e. it hadn't been unlocked by the garage when they adjusted the brakes. I had already adjusted at the back and unlocked the spring and now have a decent handbrake fully on with 4 clicks.

My question was would the locked spring have caused any issues driving other than just a loose handbrake.

My rebuild exercise started by trying to find the cause of a weird vibration / noise which started a few miles after I collected the car from having the subframe bushes done (and at which point the handbrake spring was left locked), I was wondering if this may have been the cause. Having now replaced all the bushes, springs, dampers, brake callipers and lines, wheel bearings, prop guibo, centre bearing and centering bush and had both driveshafts and the prop checked by a specialist, I found absolutely nothing else wrong.

 

[dhobbs]

Not sure if the locked spring would cause the shoe tensioner bracket to rattle ( the part the cable locates in). I don't know how the cable is mounted in the car but I would assume the cable assembly would be fixed to the body somehow, so doubt that would move.

Have all your rattles been fixed now?

 

[Spriteracer]

Not sure yet. Only went back on its wheels this afternoon. First road test will have to be on the way to the alignment / MOT station.

The issue wasn't really a rattle - rather a weird vibration that lasted a minute or so (thought it was some dodgy tarmac on the M4 initially) but followed by quite a harsh noise from the back under relatively heavy braking the next day. Bad enough to make me turn around and take another car that day.

 

[Spriteracer]

The cables come from the handbrake box, through the subframe and into the backplates with a couple of clips along the tunnel.

 

[Zedebee]

It’s possible that the loose cables were vibrating in a way that they wouldn’t under tension, assuming the spring ordinarily maintains some kind of tension when the handbrake is released.