What could be wrong ??
About 10 days ago Suddenly my cars handbrake stopped working every time - apparently it’s an electronic system .
Living on a road with a slope , it’s rather awkward .
I rang the local CITREON garage , 4 weeks
So I asked on our local NEXTDOOR for recommendations
I rang the closest garage with most recommendations , booked a service for last Friday . They put it on an electronic tester and was informed that the brake discs and shoes needed replacing , this was completed and I collected . Went 10 miles , SERVICE /HANDBRAKE ISSUES - so I returned today and they said they’ll replace the calliper on the LHS - I Asked should both be replaced but was reassured it was just the left
Well I had it completed today - yup within 5 miles ‘ service / handbrake
What else might be the issue
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 10 Oct 23 at 10:41
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Electric parking brake?
Working sometimes but not others?
At a guess something affecting the electrics. Loose connection? Wiring break?
Does the parking brake operate in the same pads/discs (rear?) as the service brake or a separate mechanism; maybe like a drum.
Have you tried a Citroen specific forum eg frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/ ?
Been on there occasionally with my Xantia/'lingo issues down the years.
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Thank you , I’ve never heard of it , but will
Ooooh you’re getting all tech there , I press on the brakes they stop
The hand brake isn’t the normal Rachel I’ve been used to , for decades - it’s a switch on the facia , press the brake and or flick the switch to release the hand brake - why mess with a system that’s worked for decades
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>> why mess with a system that’s worked for decades
That's my take too. Had the odd courtesy car with an EPB and coped.
In so far as anything of my own is concerned it's a tick in the against column albeit not a deal breaker.
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It's probably the wire to the motor on the caliper - in their wisdom Citroen ran these without any secondary insulation in the corrugated duct and it wears the wires through. You need to get the garage to strip it out of the duct and check it for any wear / breaks.
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60 years driving and no real handbrake problems - my Xedos needed new brake cables at 13 years old but no real handbrake issues otherwise in all that time.
EPB is, IMHO, a solution to a problem that did not exist.
Handbrakes needed new ratchets / new cables repairs. My Mazda Xedos was a £200 bill - £150 for cables and £50 fitting IIRC.
People I know have been stung for over £1,000 to resolve EPB issues.
Try buying a new car with a proper handbrake - almost mission impossible.
Bought my CRV and it has EPB - 30 months warranty left !!
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EPB is, IMHO, a solution to a problem that did not exist
The benefits are: no more seized handbrake cables on older/rarely used vehicles; freedom for designers to locate the switch elsewhere other than between the seats; the same components can be used in both LHD and RHD vehicles; more automation i.e. "drive-thru" handbrake release, "auto-hold", auto brake application on ignition-off; consistent management of the application pressure (although not in wotspur's case, clearly) - an EPB can always be trusted to hold a vehicle on a car transporter, whereas a manual parking brake cannot, for example.
The downsides are: diagnostic equipment required to wind the pistons back for a simple pad change; expensive component replacement; faster wear of callipers due to greater force being used on every application regardless of temperature; lack of potential for guerrilla repairs as vehicles age, depreciate and become bangers.
I am generally not in favour of the EPB either.
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>> EPB is, IMHO, a solution to a problem that did not exist
I love the EPB, married with Autohold and auto gearbox, its the perfect towing solution. Many cheap easy solutions exist for winding back and disabling the system.
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 13 Nov 23 at 08:48
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>> >> EPB is, IMHO, a solution to a problem that did not exist
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>> I love the EPB, married with Autohold and auto gearbox, its the perfect
system for helping older people who have difficulty not driving into buses.
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When I get old and infirm enough to be forced into a Yaris, I'll let you know.
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The Jag goes in next week to fix the EPB.
The system works by measuring the current to the EPB motor and when the motor stalls it knows the cables have been pulled tight. To monitor for jammed cables it uses a Hall effect sensor to count the rotations of the motor before the current rises and if the count isn't within a certain range it throws up a 'Plausibility' error but continues working. It's the Hall effect sensor that's failed on mine.
The only problem is that the EPB actuator is mounted on top of the rear subframe and can't be reached without dropping the subframe a couple of inches so it's a pig of a job. Not to mention the £400 Jag wanted for a 12V motor and wormgear.
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>> The Jag goes in next week to fix the EPB.
>> The system works by measuring the current to the EPB motor and when the motor
>> stalls it knows the cables have been pulled tight.
Thats a very poor implementation, clearly a bodge design to use existing hardware.
The beemer has epb motors on each calliper, well integrated into gearbox / engine management modules.
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The module that operates the EPB is a seperate module that talks to the engine/transmission and other modules via SCP and CAN bus. Out of the Ford parts bin but used across the range including Landrover. For different models/layouts they just change the secondary cable connected to the actuator and the module recalibrates itself.
Mine operates on the existing calipers but the supercharged models have seperate calipers.
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Citroen - 16 2.0 CITREON C4 GRAND PICASSO - Bromptonaut
