Handbrake Adjustment

L

LordTJC

Member
Hello,

After experiencing a whining noise whilst driving my A2, we have jacked it up and the brakes are still on on the back wheels with the handbrake off (One more than the other). We have checked the adjustment screw behind the handbrake lever, but this is ok. Where else can the problem be caused?

It is a Tdi 75 with drum brakes at the rear.

Thanks,
Tim
 
The handbrake cable housing degrades and distorts meaning the cable will not relax and release the handbrake. I had this with mine, as have others.

I replaced the N/S cable, from Audi, not too expensive. While there I replaced the rear shoes on the drums.

Hope this helps.

John
 
Take a closer look at the rear drums and pop the hub off. The piston can leak, and I've experienced this myself. The brake shoe springs wear too, so worth investigating.

The rear drum brakes can be rebuilt with new shoes, caliper piston and refresh spring kit. With the rear wheels off the ground, adjust the handbrake cable (10mm hex screw) behind the handbrake lever. You need to remove plastic pocket on handbrake trim to access. With 3 clicks of the handbrake engaged there should be contact with the shoes and drums, but not enough to hold the car stationary.

New handbrake cable is obvious choice too if problems persist.
 
Last edited:
Turns out it wasn't the handbrake. We took the wheel off and the drum, the left wheel cylinder was seized at one end. This want that one of the pads was binding. it also put the handbrake out of adjustment (when pulled up there was hardly any resistance).

This fixed the problem. When the right side was checked, the wheel cylinder had been previously replaced. But it had been replaced with a cast iron 15mm one, instead of an aluminium 17.5mm one. We changes this aswell.

The whining noise is the rear right bearing.

Tim
 
For anyone else changing rear wheel brake cylinders it's advisable to stick with the original cylinder diameter, or at the very least, end up with a matched pair. Going from a 15mm to 17.5mm dia cylinder increases the piston area by 36% with a proportional increase in braking force. This can lead to unbalanced braking across the rear axle which is not recommended. The only saving grace is that ABS will at least prevent the wheel locking up.

Cheers Spike
 
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