Handbrake Failure - Help

[AKM]

Hi everyone,

My iQ2 that I bought in September 2009 has just slid down my drive into my house

I had fully applied the handbrake and had been in the house for over half and hour when it happened. No one was near the car and there was no luggage inside. When I left the car and unloaded the boot, there was no suggestion that it would move.

The bumper is scratched and the tailgate badly crumped where it impacted with the wall. I expect the repairs to be costly (sorry no pics as it's dark outside) and I cannot afford to make an insurance claim.

Obviously, I need to get down to the dealership. Has anyone any advice on how to handle to this one?

Tony

[reece]

Always leave it in gear. Reverse when facing downhill and first if facing uphill. When the handbrake is applied on hot/used brakes, when they cool they will contract so losing grip.

Nothing wrong with the car, pilot error I’m afraid.

[AKM]

Always leave it in gear. Reverse when facing downhill and first if facing uphill. When the handbrake is applied on hot/used brakes, when they cool they will contract so losing grip.

Nothing wrong with the car, pilot error I’m afraid.

I've never had this problem with my previous cars which have been Peugeot and Citroen. Is there a warning in the manual to leave it in gear as the brakes will cool? Peugeot/Citroens move straight away if the brake is not fully applied, out of four cars none of them ever rolled away.

[johnan]

Always leave it in gear. Reverse when facing downhill and first if facing uphill. When the handbrake is applied on hot/used brakes, when they cool they will contract so losing grip.

Nothing wrong with the car, pilot error I’m afraid.

I've never had this problem with my previous cars which have been Peugeot and Citroen. Is there a warning in the manual to leave it in gear as the brakes will cool? Peugeot/Citroens move straight away if the brake is not fully applied, out of four cars none of them ever rolled away.

This event of brakes releasing slightly on cooling only happens with disc brakes , which UK iQ2's have at the rear as well as the front.

This can cause problems with handbrakes unless a secondary handbrake/emergency brake system is built into the rear set-up, which some cars do have.

I don't think the iQ has a secondary handbrake system and therefore could be affected by the discs cooling and hence releasing the brakes slightly, but I would have thought the brake discs would have to very hot after hard use to make a difference.

I don't have my manual to hand, but don't remember being advised to leave the car in gear.They seem to do that as a rule in the US, hence having to press the clutch before starting being the norm these days.So maybe we are all supposed to do it, though I never have made a habit of it.

I'll have another read tomorrow!

[AKM]

Always leave it in gear. Reverse when facing downhill and first if facing uphill. When the handbrake is applied on hot/used brakes, when they cool they will contract so losing grip.

Nothing wrong with the car, pilot error I’m afraid.

I've never had this problem with my previous cars which have been Peugeot and Citroen. Is there a warning in the manual to leave it in gear as the brakes will cool? Peugeot/Citroens move straight away if the brake is not fully applied, out of four cars none of them ever rolled away.

This event of brakes releasing slightly on cooling only happens with disc brakes , which UK iQ2's have at the rear as well as the front.

This can cause problems with handbrakes unless a secondary handbrake/emergency brake system is built into the rear set-up, which some cars do have.

I don't think the iQ has a secondary handbrake system and therefore could be affected by the discs cooling and hence releasing the brakes slightly, but I would have thought the brake discs would have to very hot after hard use to make a difference.

I don't have my manual to hand, but don't remember being advised to leave the car in gear.They seem to do that as a rule in the US, hence having to press the clutch before starting being the norm these days.So maybe we are all supposed to do it, though I never have made a habit of it.

I'll have another read tomorrow!

Thanks for your reply. Now that you mention it, my previous cars all had drum brakes on the back.

The car also rolled loose on Saturday morning but this was as I was loading up and so I just assumed that it was the extra weight and the handbrake was not on tight enough, I was quick enough to jump in and pull the handbrake on further. The car had been on the drive overnight. After this, I have been more wary of it which I why I was surprised that it rolled tonight as I was certain the handbrake was on.

[Faye]

Our IQ is going in for a handbrake repair next week, it hasn't failed, but it started off being a small squeak on start up to being a squeak all the time. Worth getting yours checked at the dealer?

[Xtine]

I have Reverse Parking Assist on my IQ2, & the instructions specifically say not to leave the car in reverse gear as it drains the Battery. I even asked the salesman about this as I was so surprised, & he confirmed this. So failure to leave the car in gear can't simply be driver error.

[johnan]

Hi everyone,

My iQ2 that I bought in September 2009 has just slid down my drive into my house

I had fully applied the handbrake and had been in the house for over half and hour when it happened. No one was near the car and there was no luggage inside. When I left the car and unloaded the boot, there was no suggestion that it would move.

The bumper is scratched and the tailgate badly crumped where it impacted with the wall. I expect the repairs to be costly (sorry no pics as it's dark outside) and I cannot afford to make an insurance claim.

Obviously, I need to get down to the dealership. Has anyone any advice on how to handle to this one?

Tony

I had a read of my handbook today and, in case you have not read it yourself, it says "with the clutch pedal depressed, depress the brake pedal and set the parking brake.Put the gears in neutral unless on a hill,in which case put the gears into 1st or reverse and if necessary chock the wheels(!)"