Xantia 2.0l 16v 1998 MK1 handbrake problem

[admiral51]

Hi All
Not having driven the old gal for a good few months until last weekend i noticed that the handbrake light would flicker on the dash every now and then.When the light came on,if the handbrake was pushed down(when in its "off" position) the light would extinguish.Having compared it with my 2.1TD it is very slack no real resistance to pull the handbrake on.The handbrake holds fine but if you partially pull the handle on and then release there is no force to pull it down its sort of loose,whereas in the 2.1 it seems to spring down.
Sorry for the rubbish explanation but its hard to describe.
Major problem to fix or just the usual Xantia partial dismantling of the interior

Cheers

Colin

[citronut]

either the cables need adjustting to take up the slack (ALICE), or the levers on the callipers are sticking on slightly,

to check i the levers are sticking you need to unhook the cables from the callipers, and make sure the levers return fully every time you pull them on with a pair of grips then let them go,

regards malcolm

[KP]

or the spring holding the lever down is loose at one end or slack after long periods of being held on.

[admiral51]

Thanks guys
I have had problems with the front brakes binding on in the past so it could well be that i need to redo the caliper cleaning/freeing as im sure it will be a MOT failure

Colin

[CitroJim]

Colin, I'm a bit late into it here but unless you have replaced the cables in your ownership, I'd say the cables are binding. Their outer often split where they go through the last guide ring and all the steering movement just hastens it. Water gets in, the inner splits and bingo! Tight cables.

Been there and had the same on my 2.1TD.

And it's always the NS one that's special to the cars with the ML5 gearbox and the one GSF don't stock