What's wrong with the handbrake????

[Gunpowd3r]

Hi All

I am having a problem with my Peugeot 406 well namely the handbrake......

When applied it needs to be pulled to the end of it's travel with both hands and this just holds the car(empty with driver)and likewise releasing it needs 2 hands...my mate is a mechanic and he has spent days putting new shoes on it and tightening the handbrake cables till they could not go anymore(this made the back wheels freeze up but did hold the car lol)so we aren't sure what to do anymore, when tightened the cable is either too tight or when loosened just a bit doesn't hold the car on any sort of hill........we don't know when the handbrake cable(if at all)has been replaced and are not sure if it's worth paying more for it not to work.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to solve this problem,we were thinking of going to see peugeot about it but what can they do?

The car is a 97, 2.0 lx.

Thanks Lee

[MagicRat]

Welcome to AF!

Well, Peugeot cars are built to go, not stop !

I suspect the problem lies in the hand brake cables. It sounds as if the cable housing is collapsing as you tighten the cable and/or the cable does not move smoothly in the housing.

Get underneath the car while someone moves the handbrake and look for unusual movement in the cable itself.

These cables rarely last the life of the car and often do need replacement, especially if the handbrake is used often, so a cable replacement may be in order.