Hand brake cable and front suspension arms

Oli18 · #1 25th October 2009, 10:10 PM

Hi guys,

So, I've had my silver 4.2QS for a good 11 months almost and i have to say, i've had almost a good 10k miles of niggle free motoring which is great.

There are two things that I am thinking of getting done at some point and i thought it would be worth your advice...

1. Hand brake

So a few months back i found that when i put my handbrake down and I put the car in 'D', it felt like the handbrake was not releasing on 1 of the calipers (can not confirm but that's what it felt like). The car would not go forward on its own in 'd'..it would always need a little bit of accelation to get it moving.

After a few days of driving with it (i wasn't able to take it to a garage at the time due to needing it), it all of a sudden went away. However, my handbrake was all of a sudden able to go up many more 'clicks' than normal. The handbrake doesn't really sit tightly now eventhough it's completely pulled up and makes the drivers armrest sit up more to accomodate the handbrake lever.

Where should i be looking to find out for sure? If a new cable is needed, what's the difficulty rating here? cost of materials?

2. My front near side suspension is starting to have a few knocks on occasion. I think i remember Dave from A8parts saying that one of the suspension arms jobbies may need replaying before the next MOT (jan 2010).

If this is the case, is it worthwhile replacing all the bits or just look at individual parts? I intend to keep the car for a few more years and want to look after it.

If so, what are the costs of a full setup and would anyone know the costs involved for labour as this is a job i'd rather outsource.

Thanks for you help.

Oli

PsYcHe · #2 26th October 2009, 07:52 AM

Oli,

1 - Sounds like a siezed caliper. Pretty easy to swap out, mine did the same a few months back.

2 - Control arms can be done DIY, but a bit fiddly. The preferred option seems to be either OEM or Meyle(sp?) kits. They do tend to go one at a time, but one after the other

Oli18 · #3 26th October 2009, 11:28 AM

Thanks PsYcHe,

I think i'll look to replace the control arms all at once in that case.

On the handbrake side, would a seized caliper be the culprit if it doesn't stick any more? And why would the handbrake now have so much slack? My gut feeling still says it's a handbrake cable issue but don't know the best way to check it? Take the wheels off, look under the car or look inside the transmisison tunnel?

Thanks again,

Oli

thebluewhale · #4 26th October 2009, 12:15 PM

Oli,

I have the same problem with the nearside rear caliper.
The pull mechanism on the caliper corrodes and will not return or engage so giving more handbrake travel. You will probably find only one caliper holding the car.
If you remove the rear wheels and ask someone to operate the handbrake you can see if the caliper is operating correctly

Zip · #5 26th October 2009, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebluewhale

Oli,

I have the same problem with the nearside rear caliper.
The pull mechanism on the caliper corrodes and will not return or engage so giving more handbrake travel. You will probably find only one caliper holding the car.
If you remove the rear wheels and ask someone to operate the handbrake you can see if the caliper is operating correctly

definitely the lever on the side of the caliper. It corrodes, siezes, then will not engage properly. Always feels like you need to pull the handbrake up a bit more, but then never holds. I have heard you can unseize it by soaking in diesel overnight, but I have never tried that.

Zip

PsYcHe · #6 27th October 2009, 06:45 AM

That was the problem I had with my D2... One side wasn't holding and on a decent hill, it would slip until wedged into P.

Was the driver side on mine, but could be either. Have it checked at your local thick-wit and they'll tell you which one, then get A8Parts to send you one.