The handbrake on my 2006 Jazz is very weak and struggles to hold the car on sttep inclines. The lever has to be pulled up high to get it to hold the car. I have to park the car in gear every time to stop it rolling away.

Every time it has been to the garage they have said "we've adjusted to cable as much as we can" and "they all do this". This doesn't sound right to me, as there must be a fault.

The brake discs, pads, lines and fluid are all good

Is there anything that can be done to permanently solve this problem? If it can't be done then we will have to get rid of the car as it can't be trusted on hills.

Thanks

 

it has rear discs

on closer inspection the outer side of one of the rear discs is not as 'shiny' as the other sides of both rear discs. This must mean that the brake is not working as well as it should on that outer side.

If this is just how these car are then we may need to get rid of it. My driveway is on a slope, so we can't accept the handbrake being weak

 

I'm a new Fit owner (a used 2013), so there is much that I do not know about Fits, but this should be an easy adjustment. You note that the car has rear discs, but these hide an old-fashioned drum brake used only for the handbrake if they're like most cars.

The adjustment process is not difficult and usually involves clicking a small star wheel in the drum brake mechanism which tightens the cable slack. Some cars offer a small opening in the rear (covered by a rubber protector) that makes it easy to click the star wheel (as long as you know which way to turn it). Otherwise, you remove the wheel, caliper and brake rotor on each side to expose the drum brake mechanism and everything becomes obvious.

I think your garage is trying the easy way by messing with the cable at the handbrake. This can work, but only in a limited range. This is an easy and inexpensive job for someone at a competent garage. Good luck with your adjustment.

 

If you have regular rear drums, simply find a big open parking lot, and backup up tapping the brake pedal firmly, most drum brakes have auto adjusters that work when backing. If the adjuster gets rusty it may not work.

Disassembly and cleaning usually fixes the issue. And if your rear brake shoes are worn the parking brake can be very weak. There is also an adjuster to take slack out of the cable if the lever is maxing travel before it locks the rear wheels for parking.

 

Non-US Fits (Jazz) have rear disc brakes. (JEALOUS)


I don't know if disc-equipped (Jazz) use the drum-in-the-hub parking brake as some other Hondas do, or if the use the service brake as many cars do...perhaps a picture of the wheel would show it.

If they use the service brake for parking, you may be looking at rear caliper replacement (not too expensive a fix).

 

My Jazz (ony 3 months old) , parked on the nearly flat with the handbrake on ran backwards into a wall. Air temp 23C Garage suggested discs were hot when I parked and contracted on cooling leading to loss of "hold". Dealer adjusted handbrake and took up case with Honda who initially offered via him a contribution to my insurance excess. He had experienced customers with handbrake issues before
honda customer service(???) have subsequently reneged on the offer, claiming it was never made.
I thought Honda were meant to be reliable and have excellent customer service. Some hope!! Will I ever buy another one?? Answers on a postcard

 

unhappyowner, is it a manual transmission model? It's too late now, but always leave the car in gear (1st or Reverse) when parked. There's no way it'll roll with it in gear.

Nonetheless, I share your frustration. A new car shouldn't be suffering from a weak handbrake.

 

Alco RS-1 Yes, manual. I am now parking in gear. However, I've been driving 47 years without doing this and never had an issue (or a Honda!!) before. There is no recommendation in the handbook to park in gear I leave you to draw your own conclusion about where the problem lies!

 

Dunno if it's in the owner's manual or not (a mind numbingly long read), but it's been standard operating procedure for as long as I've been driving (42 years) to put a manual transmission car in gear - 1st or R - after parked and shut down, along with the parking brake, of course....I would never trust parking brake alone....but that's just me...NEVERMIND, just checked my owner's manual, it states to set parking brake and place manual transmission in R....page 344....just sayin' ....nevermind again, mine's a '15 ....how did I get in here ???!!!??? LOL

 

P344 in my manual is about hands free phones!!! No mention of in gear parking on handbrake page. different in the uk??

 

No, no....mine's a '15...3rd generation.....dunno how I ended up in the 1st Gen forum