Handbrake release close shave

[Adenuf]

Sure I read something about handbrakes seemingly mysteriously releasing themselves quite a while ago, and mine did exactly that last week.

Fortunately I took notice of others saying, "always leave your car in gear", otherwise I'd now have a battered rear end of the car and a mashed garage door.

[MoggyTech]

Seems to be fairly common. Did the handbrake drop off the ratchet? or did the car just roll? Disc cooling can reduce handbrake efficiency, but it wont cause ratchet release. 

[Adenuf]

24 minutes ago, MoggyTech said:

Seems to be fairly common. Did the handbrake drop off the ratchet? or did the car just roll? Disc cooling can reduce handbrake efficiency, but it wont cause ratchet release. 

Dropped off the ratchet. I heard it clunk off as I was walking away.

Scary.

ALWAYS double check I've left it in gear now

Edited 3 April, 2017 by Adenuf

[guitarman001]

Is this just a SKODA thing? 

I notice once you pull it up... there is a lot more you can pull it up with a little more force. 

Do you pull it up ALL the way?

I never leave my car in gear!

[andyvee]

Mine dropped off of the ratchet and ejected the silver button into the dash in the process - needed a new handbrake lever as the tiny little plastic clip that holds the silver button on the 'rod' inside the handbrake had broken.

[toni8b]

Shouldnt you always leave the car in gear?

[MoggyTech]

2 hours ago, guitarman001 said:

Is this just a SKODA thing? 

I notice once you pull it up... there is a lot more you can pull it up with a little more force. 

Do you pull it up ALL the way?

I never leave my car in gear!

Can happen with quite a few designs, best way to apply the handbrake is with the brake pedal pressed down. Cars with rear discs have a rotating piston operated by a lever and the handbrake cable. Pressing the brake pedal as you apply the handbrake eliminates the friction in the handbrake mechanism, and ensures the handbrake is firmly on.

 

You should get into the habit of leaving the car in gear. 

[MoggyTech]

3 minutes ago, toni8b said:

Shouldnt you always leave the car in gear?

Yup, that's why a lot of cars have the press clutch pedal to start feature.

[AllanDJ]

When I had my Octavia Estate car I never, ever trusted the handbrake on any kind of slope because no matter how carefully I applied it, it always seemed to creak and groan as if it was struggling to hold and when ever I had to stop on steep hills this really became noticeable, did point this out quite a few times to the garage whenever it was being serviced but they insisted that the handbrake was working as it should, which is strange as no other car that I've ever owned ever acted like that! On one steep hill it did begin to roll back a bit but I caught it in time and really had to pull the handbrake even harder on, which fairly changed the angle the handle was sitting.

 

After every service it seemed to me that within a very short time the handbrake cable had stretched full out again and the handbrake was always sitting up, hard against the edge of the armrest, the sliding padded  bit which always seemed to slide forwards. When I handed the car back recently there was a very noticeable dent in the handbrake handle from hitting off of the armrest so much!

 

Always leave your car in gear, it is your failsafe security blanket just in case the handbrake itself isn't quite enough to hold your car from rolling away.

[Ciderspace]

14 hours ago, Adenuf said:

Sure I read something about handbrakes seemingly mysteriously releasing themselves quite a while ago, and mine did exactly that last week.

Fortunately I took notice of others saying, "always leave your car in gear", otherwise I'd now have a battered rear end of the car and a mashed garage door.

 

 I suffered this problem a while back, though was unlucky that the car hit a tap/wall/bushes :( Now park in gear without fail, though took a while to adjust.

 

Can I ask whether you have an estate or hatch and do you recall whether you closed it prior to the handbrake failing? Just curious if there is a pattern...

[Adenuf]

5 minutes ago, Ciderspace said:

 

 I suffered this problem a while back, though was unlucky that the car hit a tap/wall/bushes :( Now park in gear without fail, though took a while to adjust.

 

Can I ask whether you have an estate or hatch and do you recall whether you closed it prior to the handbrake failing? Just curious if there is a pattern...

Estate.

 

Closed it?

What do you mean exactly? 

It happened pretty soon after me closing the driver door, yes, in fact it may have been simultaneously. Can't be 100% sure.

 

I too have noticed that the car seems to groan and creak due to the handbrake not being pulled up enough quite often.

 

10 years of Fabia ownership, and never had any issues in this dept. at all.

 

Anyway, I can live with it, as it's only happened once in 11 months..........as long as i remeber to put it in gear EVERY time

[Ciderspace]

What I mean is, on the few posts I've read about this and in my own experience, having applied the handbrake in the usual way, the boot was then opened, items removed and then closed, with a bit of force as usual. I'm wondering if this force was enough to cause the handbrake to 'fail'. In your case you closed the drivers door. Is there a link?

 

In my case, I'd closed the drivers door, walked round to collect my son from the rear passenger seat, opened the boot, removed items and closed it... walked away only to notice later the car stationery on the opposite side of the courtyard! Had I not applied the handbrake, the car would have rolled immediately upon exiting... I'm left thinking the force of closing the boot caused the 'fail'..