Handbrake Parking brake fault

[Honcho]

This is really frightening. Poor paint finish or lousy radios aren't going to kill anyone. This might. Cooling discs and weaker than average arms are a universal phenomenon. Handbrake mechanisms should be designed to allow for them...and they obviously are in the main, because cars don't run away all over the place. Of course it's common safety sense to park in gear or turn wheels in. But if common safety sense were relevant there'd be no seat belts, speed cameras, airbags or crash barriers. Honda need to answer this one, and soon...always assuming there isn't some factor involved in this incident we don't know about.

[czechplastik]

Its a pretty serious fault, My driveway is on a slight incline, sometimes in the morning i find the car has moved a few inches overnight. Definately not good, I just make sure i apply it extra-firm, havn't had any scary moments since.

[Topcat]

Originally Posted by Honcho

This is really frightening. Poor paint finish or lousy radios aren't going to kill anyone. This might. Cooling discs and weaker than average arms are a universal phenomenon. Handbrake mechanisms should be designed to allow for them...and they obviously are in the main, because cars don't run away all over the place. Of course it's common safety sense to park in gear or turn wheels in. But if common safety sense were relevant there'd be no seat belts, speed cameras, airbags or crash barriers. Honda need to answer this one, and soon...always assuming there isn't some factor involved in this incident we don't know about.

Your right - Honda should be taking more notice of this problem, if there is an underlying fault that could endanger a life it is their responsibility to put it right.

[Bungle]

I teach learners. Many of the female pupils simply cannot apply the had brake tight enough. I see it all the time. The majority of famels find it very difficult to apply it enough, and can't release it enough after I have applied it.

In all seriousness, this probably was down to a combination of factors, and suggesting there is an inherrent problem with all Civics is just scare mongering.

[Topcat]

Originally Posted by Bungle

I teach learners. Many of the female pupils simply cannot apply the had brake tight enough. I see it all the time. The majority of famels find it very difficult to apply it enough, and can't release it enough after I have applied it.

In all seriousness, this probably was down to a combination of factors, and suggesting there is an inherrent problem with all Civics is just scare mongering.

Who is suggesting there is an inherent fault?

I have been driving for 23 years and have never had a handbrake problem, I certainly know how to apply a handbrake. If I pull my handbrake up too high it makes a strange click sound and then drops straight down in my hand. The three times I have pulled it up and it has dropped down seconds later I believe is when it has been pulled too high up, if I pull it up a small way it is fine.

[Willie]

Quote:- Has anyone had any issues with their handbrake on their new Civic? You need the forearm of a truck driver to get the handbrake up to a secure level. I though T had my car brakes safely on a slight incline on my drive, however, 5 mins later the car had creeped down the drive and was nudging the garage. Has anyone had a similar problem? Is this a design fault?

This was a post from another Honda forum.

[robertc808]

I am glad to see other people think this is also a serious issue.

What annoys me so much is how quickly the dealer and Honda CS tried to fob me off and say it was my wife's fault. I am not going to let this one lie, that's for certain.

[basegreen]

It's incredibly easy to not fully apply the hand brake though. Woman or man. That's all anyone is saying. It says to put the car in gear and turn the wheels to the kerb when on a hill. Incline or hill... doesn't matter.

[neilfs]

Isn't the handbrake subject to a test as part of a standard MOT? Maybe you should ask an MOT station to test that one component ahead of schedule.

A friend of mine is an MOT'er so I'll ask him when I see him later, might get him to test mine when I next annoy him at work.

I might be wrong, but three clicks is what should be sufficient to hold the car - I'm certain an old student car of mine failed an MOT because I nearly had to get in the back seat to put the handbrake on.

My car needs five clicks, as I got back in mine after been at a customers site for an hour, I was pulling phones and keys out of my pockets when luckily I had an odd sensation of movement - the car was rolling backwards towards a lamp post, it hadn't moved more than a meter before I yanked the handbrake up a few more clicks.

I've noticed I don't pull it hard enough - no idea why, maybe I'm not used to the handbrake being so close to me (Peugeot don't alter the position of their handbrakes between left and right drive cars, so UK Peugeots have the handbrake on the wrong side). Maybe even the design doesn't allow you to put enough force on???

If it had hit the post, I would have gone doh - called myself a silly prat and got on with life - whilst grinding my teeth about the damage on my boot.

If you're worried, get it checked by an MOT station.

And for the record, a few female friends moan at me after I've driven their cars as they have trouble taking their handbrakes off.

[robertc808]

I just want to make one thing completely clear here:

The parking brake was fully on

I experimented later on that afternoon with the car on our drive, which is a slight incline. In that case (brakes probably cold), the handle had to be about half off before the car started creaking indicating that the braking force was slipping. I looked at the photos my wife took immediately after the incident and I would challenge anyone to say that the handbrake was not fully on based on the angle of inclination of the handle, which is obviously the only way you can tell.

I am not disputing the wisdom of leaving the car in gear and turning the wheels on any sort of slope, just like I would not dispute the wisdom of driving defensively. However, the parking brake is there for a reason and, in my opinion, if it can fail in the manner I have reported, it is simply not working properly and therefore potentially very dangerous. As someone else mentioned, if you take the line about always leaving the car in gear and turning the wheels, you could argue that we don't need to bother with airbags and tell people to drive more carefully.

My concern is that the car can then be checked at a garage with the brakes in a different condition and ostensibly pass the handbrake test but still be liable to failure - Honda have done nothing to convince me that this will not happen again and I will have to ensure that the car is always in gear etc. when I park, which I have never had to do with any other car I have owned up to now.

• If this is a one-off problem with my car, I want it fixed, but the local Honda dealer says there is nothing wrong.
• If this is a general problem with Civics (there would appear to be some evidence that others have the same problem), it needs to be looked into into more detail by Honda.
• If this is a general problem with any car with discs at the rear, there needs to be a campaign to tell the public that they must always leave their car in gear on any incline.

For goodness' sake, this is 2007!! Surely, if there is an issue with discs cooling, which by all accounts there does seem to be, then all manufacturers (I know some do already) should be forced to put a safety mechanism such as a backup drum or other system to ensure that the braking force doesn't drop off so much?

[Honcho]

Originally Posted by robertc808

I am glad to see other people think this is also a serious issue.

What annoys me so much is how quickly the dealer and Honda CS tried to fob me off and say it was my wife's fault. I am not going to let this one lie, that's for certain.

It's understandable, though of course reprehensible, for the manufacturer and the dealer to fob you off. They always will till they're forced to acknowledge the point. It's a marketing constant, and operates in every field. What isn't understandable is the implication that your problem could somehow be partially self-inflicted. Or worse, simply scare mongering. You're damn right to be scared. If it turns out there's nothing to fear and the fault turns out not to be inherent, that's great. Until that time, I'd have expected full support from a normally wonderfully supportive site.

[robertc808]

I have got onto the insurers and they will have the parking brake mechanism independently assessed.

I am also going to do my own testing by repeating what my wife did - the same journey, park in the same place etc.. I will not jam the handbrake on but put it on what I think is 'firmly' and see what happens...

Er, and I will stay in the car as well

I'll let you know what my findings are.

[Meino]

Originally Posted by robertc808

I have got onto the insurers and they will have the parking brake mechanism independently assessed.

I am also going to do my own testing by repeating what my wife did - the same journey, park in the same place etc.. I will not jam the handbrake on but put it on what I think is 'firmly' and see what happens...

Er, and I will stay in the car as well

I'll let you know what my findings are.

Good luck and don't forget to stay in the car

[allan40alt]

Sorry, Robert, but I think you are going to spend an awfully long time going around in circles and getting nowhere. If they give in to you the flood gates will open. As far as the insurance is concerned you may be right , you may be wrong; either way you lose! Sorry.

[pendlerose]

Hi just lookinga at buying a 1.8 ex Ishift.
does this have a park like a normal automatic or do you have to leave it in neutral.

Mark

[allan40alt]

Originally Posted by pendlerose

Hi just lookinga at buying a 1.8 ex Ishift.
does this have a park like a normal automatic or do you have to leave it in neutral.

Mark

You seem to have replied in the wrong section, but in answer to your question; if in auto you can turn off the ignition and it will be left in neutral; or you can select 1st in manual and turn off the ignition and it will be left in 1st gear, remember though, you have to select neutral in order to restart the engine.

[robertc808]

Originally Posted by allan40alt

If they give in to you the flood gates will open.

If there is a general problem (and I'm not necessarily saying there is - see my previous posts), then so be it because quite simply this could be dangerous. As Honcho said, dodgy paintwork and radios are not going to kill anyone.

[pendlerose]

No sorry what i ment was can you leave it in gear to stop the handbrake giving way as in previous posts.
With a normal auto when you put it in park it locks the wheels as well as the handbrake.

Mark

[allan40alt]

Originally Posted by pendlerose

No sorry what i ment was can you leave it in gear to stop the handbrake giving way as in previous posts.
With a normal auto when you put it in park it locks the wheels as well as the handbrake.

Mark

Just select 1st in manual and switch off. The car will then be left in 1st gear.

i-Shift is a standard gearbox and clutch, it's just that the computer operates the clutch for you.

[Topcat]

Originally Posted by allan40alt

Sorry, Robert, but I think you are going to spend an awfully long time going around in circles and getting nowhere. If they give in to you the flood gates will open. As far as the insurance is concerned you may be right , you may be wrong; either way you lose! Sorry.

He won't lose if the independant company find a problem!! Honda will have to take notice then.

It may just be a coincidence that a few people have had this problem, then again it may not and there could be a fault there but it doesn't mean we will all have the same problem. If this happened to me I would certainly feel uncertain about the safety of the car until it had been investigated properly, who wouldn't?