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waderobertson

Adjusting handbrake at rear caliper

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Can someone tell me (really simply!) How to adjust/ tension the handbrake at the rear caliper on an XF?

My Ellery manual isn't always the clearest, or perhaps I'm just stupid, but I can't seem to get my lever arms to sit the recommended 5mm from the caliper housing. 

I replaced brake pads and in-between winding the piston back in, seating the pads, pumping the pedal & bleeding brakes I seemed to have ballsed something up.

Not sure what order I need to do things to get the adjustment right 🤔 

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3 hours ago, waderobertson said:

Can someone tell me (really simply!) How to adjust/ tension the handbrake at the rear caliper on an XF?

My Ellery manual isn't always the clearest, or perhaps I'm just stupid, but I can't seem to get my lever arms to sit the recommended 5mm from the caliper housing. 

I replaced brake pads and in-between winding the piston back in, seating the pads, pumping the pedal & bleeding brakes I seemed to have ballsed something up.

Not sure what order I need to do things to get the adjustment right 🤔 

 

i've never seen an adjustment possible?

 

if the handbrake lever isn't seized, it will return to the top with spring pulling it back. that's it.

if it's stiff or stuck, you need to pull the caliper apart and clean/grease the handbrake internals. 

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On 10/12/2024 at 12:08 PM, deankxf said:

 

i've never seen an adjustment possible?

 

if the handbrake lever isn't seized, it will return to the top with spring pulling it back. that's it.

if it's stiff or stuck, you need to pull the caliper apart and clean/grease the handbrake internals. 

Caliper is fine, hand brake operates. I am chasing a skimming issue on right rear brake. Ive had the calipers off and reset pistons a couple of times. I was just wondering if the mechanism (assume it drives a worm gear) that the handbrake cable connects to on the rear of the caliper needs to be 'set' a particular way I.e. wound right in or right out when resetting the caliper piston and pumping the brakes back up? The manual says there should be a 5mm gap between the lever arm and the caliper housing but as soon as I connect the return spring it pulls the arm back against the stopper on the housing. Was wondering if this was akin to pulling the handbrake on and causing skimming.

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11 minutes ago, waderobertson said:

Caliper is fine, hand brake operates. I am chasing a skimming issue on right rear brake. Ive had the calipers off and reset pistons a couple of times. I was just wondering if the mechanism that the handbrake cable connects to on the rear of the caliper needs to be 'set' a particular way I.e. wound right in or right out when resting the caliper piston and pumping the brakes back up? The manual says there should be a 5mm gap between the lever arm and the caliper housing but as soon as I connect the return spring it pulls the arm back against the stopper on the housing. Was wondering if this was akin to pulling the handbrake on and causing skimming.


if you can show a pic of what the book says, if its' got a picture?

if your cable is too tight, the adjustment is under the car near the gearbox you loosen the nuts on the curved cable hook there. 

 

 

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20 hours ago, deankxf said:


if you can show a pic of what the book says, if its' got a picture?

if your cable is too tight, the adjustment is under the car near the gearbox you loosen the nuts on the curved cable hook there. 

 

 

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That's what the manual says @deankxf. The hand brake is working fine, the arms on the rear of the caliper aren't seized (you can activate them with your hand when everything is connected up) and the cable is adjusted properly. 

 

I guess my question is more to do with setting the caliper itself before refitting, connecting handbrake and build pedal pressure. When I have wound the piston back in to refit pads I haven't touched the mechanism on the back of the caliper that the handbrake levers connect to, you know, the ones that have the rubber seal around them and the nut that holds the lever winds in to. You can wind these mechanisms in and out with a crescent and was wondering if they needed to be adjusted/ set a specific way (i.e. wound right out till you feel resistance? Does it even matter?) in tandem with winding the piston in to fit new pads. Is there a trick/ step I've missed in fitting the pads that I haven't got quite right? I could have a rotor issue or piston may be playing up, but before I head down those paths I just want to make sure it's not a simpler fix. 

 

 

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6 hours ago, waderobertson said:

That's what the manual says @deankxf. The hand brake is working fine, the arms on the rear of the caliper aren't seized (you can activate them with your hand when everything is connected up) and the cable is adjusted properly. 

 

I guess my question is more to do with setting the caliper itself before refitting, connecting handbrake and build pedal pressure. When I have wound the piston back in to refit pads I haven't touched the mechanism on the back of the caliper that the handbrake levers connect to, you know, the ones that have the rubber seal around them and the nut that holds the lever winds in to. You can wind these mechanisms in and out with a crescent and was wondering if they needed to be adjusted/ set a specific way (i.e. wound right out till you feel resistance? Does it even matter?) in tandem with winding the piston in to fit new pads. Is there a trick/ step I've missed in fitting the pads that I haven't got quite right? I could have a rotor issue or piston may be playing up, but before I head down those paths I just want to make sure it's not a simpler fix. 

 

 

 

apologies for the late reply

sorry My brain is a bit fried lately,  but to put it simply for you. 

* there's no adjustment on the caliper. so you can rest assured if the piston wound in enough to fit the pads and mount to the diff over the disc it's good enough. 

 

then it says to press the brake pedal a few times (this will push the pads hard against the disc )
then it says to adjust the U shape thing under the drivers seat(under the car) so you have the caliper levers not quite touching the stops. (I've never checked this before.. doubt it matters, but there might be a reason, even if it's to stop wear on the caliper body?

that's it. 

good to go. 
 

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