Handbrake

[richyb66]

I was looking at using a Renault electric mechanism and had spotted a few on Ebay for £50 or so but eventually decided to use an umbrella type instead on the basis that electric ones as still pretty scarce and if a second hand one goes pear shaped it could cost an arm and a leg to replace.

 

After looking for suitable levers I finally got a Mark 1 Cortina handle for 30 quid, again off Ebay, but the prices seem to vary wildly with some going for over 60 quid. I mounted the handle to the left of the steering wheel rather than the right so it's less likely to get kicked getting in and out and because it's more usual to go for the handbrake with your left hand.

 

One thing to bear in mind with this setup is the handle on its own has no mechanical advantage, it just pulls on the end of the cable, so you need to incorporate something to give around a 7:1 advantage.

 

I've now got it all fitted and despite the fact that it uses 3 seperate cables, it works a treat and everything is routed inside the tunnel so there's nothing dangling down underneath the car and the adjusters are (fairly) easy to get to. The only slight issue might be that the Cortina handle has a die-cast end with a few sharp edges so this might need a bit of fettling for SVA.

 

Despite a picture being worth a 1000 words, I haven't posted any yes as I'm posting this when I really should be doing some work, but if there's suitable interest on this thread I'll take a few and try and do a bit of a write-up for anyone who's thinking of doing something similar.

[richyb66]

Oh, and new Jags use electric parking brakes too-

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JAGUAR-S-TYPE-NEW-XJ...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

but I'm not sure how simple the wiring would be as it's almost certain to be wired into the engine ECU.

[miikae]

Donor parts from one of these may be of use here .

 

New System: Electric Parking Brake

 

A recent variation is the electric parking brake. First installed in the 2003 Lincoln LS, electric brakes have since appeared in a number of vehicles, including the Audi A6 and A8, BMW 7 Series, Jaguar S-Type and XJ, and the 2006 Volkswagen Passat.

 

Two variations are available: In the more-primitive 'cable-pulling' type, an electric motor simply pulls the emergency brake cable rather than a mechanical handle in the cabin. A more advanced unit uses a computer-controlled motor attached to the brake caliper to activate it.

 

Mike

[Guest pwlcarz]

I had a VW Passat with an electric parking brake - horrible thing! It didn'tgive you any control and hilll starts were a nightmare! Left foot down on the clutch, right foot on the accelerator, left hand into gear, left foot off the clutch far enough to start biting, right hand stab at the parking brake button. Then hope that you managed to time things correctly. Whoops! not enough on the accelerator! Parking brake now fully off and you are rolling back in the car behind! Right foot now on the footbrake, right hand stabbing at the parking brake button! Repeat!

 

OK, (slight) exaggeration but you get the idea.

[Guest Daren.F]

We have a similar problem with a 180 merc, its a foot operated parking brake, to the left of the clutch, with a hand pull to release.

To apply the parking brake you have to take your foot off the clutch, Its not fast or easy when your in a stop, start, traffic jam on a hill.

[Les Welsher]

My current tintop is a renault grand scenic which has an electric handbrake.

To move off just put your foot on the gas and lift the clutch pedal handbarake comes off automatically, hill starts are a breeze. There is a lever on the dash which allows you to apply/release the handbrake manually or for realy steep hills push the button in the centre of the lever which will keep the handbrake on until you want to release it.

Press the stop button to turn the engine off and the handbrake comes on.

There is a manual release in the boot just in case you have a flat battery and need to move the car.

 

Les

[Guest gdc]

as i remember the electric park brake was jag.

that jamie had , i am happy to be corrected if wrong.

 

regards graham

 

and it passed sva

[Les Welsher]

For SVA jamie told me he had to have a dual action on the switch to release the handbrake to stop it accidentally being knocked off. Can't remember if it was down/down, up/up, down/up or up/down, something like that.

 

Les

[Guest klaxon]

This was my solution. It involved a lot of work but it was so worth it.

 

 

 

[Guest rhetorical-oracle]

Hi all,

 

Thanks to richy's link I've taken the plunge and purchased the Jaguar Parking Brake unit from ebay. Looking at it, it looks pretty similar to the one in Jamie(turbo)'s pictures of the mod to his car.

 

I've emailed Jamie for any info he might be willing to share on wiring the unit up, failing that I'll have to have a go at it myself, hopefully it shouldn't be too difficult.

 

Regards,

Phill.

[Guest turbo]

out of hibernation today but this one is still under raps Ian

[richyb66]

Hi all,

 

Thanks to richy's link I've taken the plunge and purchased the Jaguar Parking Brake unit from ebay. Looking at it, it looks pretty similar to the one in Jamie(turbo)'s pictures of the mod to his car.

 

I've emailed Jamie for any info he might be willing to share on wiring the unit up, failing that I'll have to have a go at it myself, hopefully it shouldn't be too difficult.

 

Regards,

Phill.

 

I've got contacts at the Jag working in development, I'll see if i can get hold of the wiring diagram for the electric handbrake.

[Guest rhetorical-oracle]

I've got contacts at the Jag working in development, I'll see if i can get hold of the wiring diagram for the electric handbrake.

Thanks Rich. That would be great, if you could find a diagram that could tell me what each of the pins on the connector are for.

 

Cheers,

Phill

[Guest gordon_macnab]

All Jag S types have them and some of the newer Renault Scenics have electric handbrakes too, must be easy enough to ge the bits and sort something out.

[richyb66]

Thanks Rich. That would be great, if you could find a diagram that could tell me what each of the pins on the connector are for.

 

Cheers,

Phill

Phill,

 

you have a PM.

 

Rich.