Jazz ex handbrake is a joke

[jm0128]

anyone notice the handbrake just doesnt work, pulled on handbrake and  rear brakes can release themselves after 2/3 seconds  and handbrake level feels rubbery.  Dealer replaced rear callipers after 25 K miles but it still fails at times , a definite recall problem 

[chrisc]

Sounds like the cable between the lever and the brakes, or the cam that activates it.  It might have come off a guide

[Ozzie]

Ozzie dons driving instructor hat . . . .
Once you have stopped, press the footbrake down FIRMLY, then put the handbrake on, this will then hold the car a lot easier than just using the handbrake.

Ozzie

[Peter]

 


- and always leave the car in gear. Parking [hand] brakes are notoriously unreliable on disc-braked wheels.

[Ozzie]

- and always leave the car in gear. Parking [hand] brakes are notoriously unreliable on disc-braked wheels.

or "Park" if its an auto. Ideally also turn the steering wheel towards the kerb when parking on a hill, so that if the car was to roll back it will come to rest against the kerb.

[chrisc]

And you can carry two bricks in the boot.  Place one each side of the wheel and then it is parking brake, put in gear, steering wheel turned and bricks.

Bit of a bummer to do when you are a hurry though..

[russd1978]

I love my Jazz, but I must say the one thing I would change if i could would be the handbrake.  It feels like it could snap off when parking on a steep hill.  My old Fiesta's handbrake felt solid and firm, but the Jazz's is flimsy at best.

Love everything else about the Jazz though, just seems like the one thing they didn't pay much attention too.  Maybe they don't have many hills in Japan?

[chrisc]

Compared with a Golf 1 (sold in South Africa as a Chico) the Jazz'a handbrake feels like it will stop a ship!

The Golf's handbrake consisted of 2 cables about 1mm square.  There have been countless tales of guys exerting too much force when parking on a steel hill to have the whole contraption snap off and you can see the road surface underneath.  My mechanic friend used to repair these and they inserted steel strips top and bottom before re pop-riviteng it back

[culzean]

Love everything else about the Jazz though, just seems like the one thing they didn't pay much attention too.  Maybe they don't have many hills in Japan?

Japan is one of the most mountainous countries in the world - LOL  Try applying the footbrake before pulling on the handbrake - as suggested by Ozzie in an earlier post

[stiggysawdust]

I normally try to treat handbrakes sympathetically so as to hold the car but not to stretch the cables. But my 60 Jazz Ex I Shift auto needs a  good firm pull to hold although it does actually work very well.
I always leave it in drive, just to be on the safe side, as there is no "Park" position.

[caseyjones]

This is a well-known problem with cars that use a handbrake that acts on the pads, rather than having a separate little drum with its own shoes. I believe the Citroen Xantia was notorious for rolling away. The method of stepping fairly hard on the footbrake while pulling on the handbrake seems to work best for me. Honda obviously acknowledge this problem because the owners' manual (page 297) advises that the transmission should be in 1st gear with the front wheels turned away from the curb (I think they mean kerb!) if parking facing uphill, and in reverse gear with the wheels turned towards the kerb if parking facing downhill. I guess it's a case of Honda misguidedly changing things for the sake of it, just as they changed the wonderful CVT transmission to the dreadful i-Shift, and then changed it back again when there was an outcry. My old 2003 SE had drum brakes on the back (perfectly adequate for a car of this type) and of course the handbrake worked fine. I wouldn't be surprised if the Jazz soon reverts to drum brakes on the back, or at least a separate handbrake drum with its own pads built into the rear discs.