handbrake, left wheel won't lock

Maintenance advice to keep your Spider in shape.
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LucN
Posts: 35
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2014 10:08 am
Your car is a: Fiat Spider Pininfarina 1979
Location: Belgium

handbrake, left wheel won't lock

Post by LucN »

It seems the left wheel won't lock when i pull the handbrake, right wheel lock @ 3 click, what can be the reason for this failure?
18Fiatsandcounting
Posts: 3798
Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:23 pm
Your car is a: 1969 and 1971 124 spiders
Location: San Francisco Bay Area

Re: handbrake, left wheel won't lock

Post by 18Fiatsandcounting »

LucN wrote:It seems the left wheel won't lock when i pull the handbrake, right wheel lock @ 3 click, what can be the reason for this failure?
That sounds like normal behavior for a Fiat handbrake....! OK, all joking aside, there are several possible causes: 1) the handbrake mechanism on the left rear caliper is not working right, 2) the handbrake cable on the left side is frozen in its outer shielding or otherwise has some restriction, or 3) the cable should be self-centering where it connects to a clamp that attaches to the handbrake lever rod, but sometimes this cable gets out of place so it favors one side over the other.

Does the handbrake have any effect on the left wheel, even when pulling pretty hard on the lever (3, 4, or 5 clicks)?

-Bryan
SteinOnkel
Posts: 1000
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 9:31 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider 1800

Re: handbrake, left wheel won't lock

Post by SteinOnkel »

Learn to live with it. I've swapped all the parts Bryan mentioned for new stuff and it's still the same.
tima01864
Patron 2021
Patron 2021
Posts: 702
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2012 8:01 pm
Your car is a: 1983 FIAT Pininafarina Spider 2000
Location: Wilmington, MA

Re: handbrake, left wheel won't lock

Post by tima01864 »

take the cable off tension completly, pump the brakes and reinstall cable. Do the 3-5 clicks and test
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