[triedeverything]

I gave my Indica for a regular service. An hour later, I receive a call from the service advisor saying a cylinder has to be changed in the rear wheel as the rear brake was not holding properly. I agree and in the evening on the way home, I just checked to see if everything is ok with the hand brake. To my shock, every time I tried to apply the hand brake, the vehicle was tilting towards the left - it appeared to me that only one wheel was getting stopped in the rear! I took it back the next day and the service advisor tries to convince me that this is normal behavior and nothing to worry about! I KNOW this was not how the car behaved earlier when the hand brake was applied. I was so frustrated with these people that I told him I'd bring it up in the next service. Anyone have a clue what is wrong?

[ilangop]

Mr. Triedeverything,
Be happy that you didnt try that at some higher speed. Else your car would have drifted and made an U-turn. It would have been very dangerous, had you tried this over a bridge. Well, the hand brake cables in almost all Indian vehicles are connected only to the rear brake. Applying the hand brakes would lock the rear wheels and the car would be dragged in the direction of the front wheels. Until you had your steering wheels in the straight ahead position, the possibility to control the car is easier. Else you would end up in some stunts as you see in English movies.
So dont get frustrated with the service person's explanation, and never try this again while the vehicle is moving. Drive safely

[greenhorn]

ilangop, i think his problem is that the rear brake in only one of the wheels is engaging. I suspect a lazy mechanic trying to brush it defective work. I've heard worse excuses.

[gpa]

Sounds like the hand brake is not engaging on the left rear wheel which is why the car tends to pull to the left on engaging the hand brake.

[kannan666]

Easy way to check this out is to jack up the rear of the car, pull up the handbrakes and then try if you can rotate any of the rear wheels ! The handbrake must activate on both the rear wheels of the Indica.

[raajks]

@Triedeverything:
Refer to the following link, How do you fix a handbrake cable? - Blurtit
See if you can talk technical to the service guy and get it sorted.

I think the cylinder replacement would have had some loose ends which needs to be attended.

More over, refer this youtube video and perfect your hand brake turns.
It can be very useful if done correctly, else would cause more damage than good.

YouTube - Puma drifting classes

Cheers!

[SAHIR.KITTUR]

Originally Posted by gpa

Sounds like the hand brake is not engaging on the left rear wheel which is why the car tends to pull to the left on engaging the hand brake.

I suspect that the hand brake is not working on the right rear wheel as the pull is towards the left.

[Hashim]

Few days back I was testing my esteem brakes and everytime I brake hard, the car would do a U turn on left and it was fun. But I got the brakes checked and found that front disc piston were jammed, rear right wheel cylinder was leeking and car was stopping only on rear left wheel. This was the reason.

Test brakes only on clear roads and always look in rear view mirror before braking hard otherwise someone may kiss your rear bumper While braking make sure steering is in middle otherwise even perfect car will tend to drift.

[triedeverything]

Mr Ilangop,

Please read my post correctly. It says the car tilts and not swivels! So it is the vertical axis and not the horizontal axis I'm talking about. I'm not the kind who would apply the hand brake at a high speed. I don't think you understood what the problem is. I agree with Greenhorn and the rest of the folks. This will have to wait till the next service.