help with handbrake and brakes on 306 estate

scfc_151 · Post by **scfc_151** » 12 Jul 2011, 20:57

My car recently scraped through an MOT with 17% on the handbrake.

Ive been told that the discs are corroding and handbrake cables are going, although they are only a year old.

I had the same problem last year with brand new pads / discs (that had couple of months to bed in, second hand calipers (that felt much better than the previous ones), new cables and brake fluid.

My question is how can I improve the handbrake any more other than replacing pads / discs and cables?

Would I need reconditioned calipers? If so where is the best place for these?

Also I cant decided which pads / discs to get....last year I had mintex parts but still struggled with the handbrake. What would give better braking performance overall....top branded parts or genuine?

cheers

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 13 Jul 2011, 07:55

did you get a good flow of fluid out when bleeding the rear brakes after fitting the S/H calliper,

also after windding the pistons back and fitting the new pads you need to press hard on the brake pedle two or three times, before re/conectimg the hand brake cables,

doing this should make sure the calliper levers are in the fully off position whilst resetting the calliper mechanisum (as above)

regards malcolm

scfc_151 · Post by **scfc_151** » 13 Jul 2011, 08:49

Thanks for the reply. Yeah there was a good flow from the caliper and the handbrake lever pushed in an out easily before fitting them. How do I know if its time for recon calipers and wheres the best place to look for them?