Handbrake handle suddenly lifted

[Mr Squashie]

Just pulled onto my drive and pulled the handbrake and it shot past where it usually goes to and ended up almost vertical. I've got quite a steep driveway and the car seems pretty solid, no creaking or anything when I bounced up and down in the seat, but I've left it in gear just in case.

What could be the cause of this? I would assume if the cable snapped then the handbrake would be inoperable, but it seems fine, just really high all of a sudden 🤔

 

[Brigsy]

Handbrake cable has stretched to the point of snapping or one has snapped at a guess. Get a chock behind the wheel

 

[Mr Squashie]

Handbrake cable has stretched to the point of snapping or one has snapped at a guess. Get a chock behind the wheel

Just done that, better to be safe than sorry. Don't think the neighbours would appreciate a Clio in their front garden 😂

 

[Brigsy]

Haha, yes better safe than sorry. Now its safely chocked, have a look at the rear calipers and see if the cable is loose on either side.

 

[Mr Squashie]

Yup. Drivers side has commited sudoku. Are they a pain to change?

 

[MRBILLYUK]

You might as well get both of them changed at the same time. It's sods law you'll change one and the other will snap.
I just took mine to a local garage and they changed mine.
Getting the right ones can be a bit tricky.
Offside cable.
https://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/e...=174019&pm=1&ds=0&t=1621445638818&cspheader=1

Nearside cable.
https://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/e...9&pm=1&ds=0&t=1619810320000&ver=0&cspheader=1

 

[Mr Squashie]

You might as well get both of them changed at the same time. It's sods law you'll change one and the other will snap.
I just took mine to a local garage and they changed mine.
Getting the right ones can be a bit tricky.
Offside cable.
https://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/e...=174019&pm=1&ds=0&t=1621445638818&cspheader=1

Nearside cable.
https://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/e...9&pm=1&ds=0&t=1619810320000&ver=0&cspheader=1

I'll give the garage up the road from me a bell next week, I feel like I owe them some money after they did some work on my girlfriend's car for free lol

Is there a reason why the cables are different brands for each side?

 

[MRBILLYUK]

I'll give the garage up the road from me a bell next week, I feel like I owe them some money after they did some work on my girlfriend's car for free lol

Is there a reason why the cables are different brands for each side?

They are the correct length. Lots of people buy from places like ECP and they're the wrong length. That's the only reason for the different brands.

 

[Mr Squashie]

They are the correct length. Lots of people buy from places like ECP and they're the wrong length. That's the only reason for the different brands.

Works for me, I'll get some ordered 👍

 

[Oggy997]

Smashing it out of the caliper wasn't fun on my 182.

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Check the caliper handbrake arm, often the cable snaps because the arm on the caliper is basically seized. This is what happened on mine. Ended up with two new rear calipers and two new cables, ended up just buying the cables from Renault which was expensive but everything worked properly.

If it is also the calipers don't buy the eBay £100 a pair calipers because they are dog shite, eventually I got calipers with the correct piston diameters via auto doc.

 

[Mr Squashie]

Check the caliper handbrake arm, often the cable snaps because the arm on the caliper is basically seized. This is what happened on mine. Ended up with two new rear calipers and two new cables, ended up just buying the cables from Renault which was expensive but everything worked properly.

If it is also the calipers don't buy the eBay £100 a pair calipers because they are dog shite, eventually I got calipers with the correct piston diameters via auto doc.

Funnily enough it's actually the caliper I replaced about 6 months ago so I don't think it will have seized this quickly. I'll give it a tug and make sure though

 

[MRBILLYUK]

Check the caliper handbrake arm, often the cable snaps because the arm on the caliper is basically seized. This is what happened on mine. Ended up with two new rear calipers and two new cables, ended up just buying the cables from Renault which was expensive but everything worked properly.

If it is also the calipers don't buy the eBay £100 a pair calipers because they are dog shite, eventually I got calipers with the correct piston diameters via auto doc.

I got my rear replacement calipers from Autodoc too. They've been spot on. 👍

 

[Mr Squashie]

Well I'll be buggered, the arm is just a big lump of rust. Anyone got a link for a decent rear right caliper? There's thousands to choose from on Autodoc 🧐

 

[MRBILLYUK]

Well I'll be buggered, the arm is just a big lump of rust. Anyone got a link for a decent rear right caliper? There's thousands to choose from on Autodoc 🧐

Right rear.
https://m.autodoc.co.uk/ridex/8100052

Left rear.
https://m.autodoc.co.uk/ridex/8100063

I don't know why there's such a big difference in price for the same brake caliper but opposite sides. Autodoc seems to be like that for some reason 🤔
I just noticed the left rear is out of stock, maybe that's why there's a price difference?

 

[Mr Squashie]

I just noticed the left rear is out of stock

That's showing as in stock for me, it's the right rear that's unavailable. I did have a quick Google and it's the same price on a number of different sites, all of which predictably lead back to Autodoc where it's out of stock 😂

 

[Oggy997]

Bestcarpartz.uk

 

[MRBILLYUK]

That's showing as in stock for me, it's the right rear that's unavailable. I did have a quick Google and it's the same price on a number of different sites, all of which predictably lead back to Autodoc where it's out of stock 😂

Sorry, yeah. It's the right rear that's out of stock.
There are a few different car part sites that are all part of Autodoc.