Volvo 480 Club Europe

Handbrake was sh1te so fitted new cables and it now feels great and holds the car securely....until I took it for it's MOT and they say it's getting 30%/50% effort so there is a problem with the calipers.

Can you get service kits for the 480 Turbo and how much work is it to service them? Do you think this should remedy the problem?

If not, is GSF the best bet for replacement calipers?

Cheers

John

I've jsut done my back pads so had to play with the adjustments etc.

How much did yours hold? I can still pull away with the hand brake up tight, but requires a fair amount of clutch slipping. My old car would drag it's rear wheels with handbrake on, that was drums.

Hmmmm not sure how to quantify how much they hold apart from the 30/50 specified by the garage. Admittedly I haven't adjusted them with the allen bolts yet and I have a new set of pads to put on.

What affects the effort and how do I increase it?

Cheers

John

Hi guys,

Just had a thought.....could the lack of brake effort be due to the pad 4mm adjuster bolts not being setup right even though the handbrake cable is tight? With my old cables on the balancing bar 2-1 thing used to sit at about 45 degrees rather than flat and with the new cables it's a little off level making me think that maybe one cable is having to pull less than the other due to one pads sitting closer to the disc etc.

Just an idea

John

When I put new pads on my handbrake 2-1 adjuster was really slack, but when adjusted, it went slighty wonky.

Mines got better now, I think the pads needed to bed in. Though I notice the car moves slighty to the left before it pulls away if I keep the handbrake on. Kinda suggest back rear right is not holding as well as the other.

I see the allen adjuster as just a setting as to where the pad/piston should rest at when handbrake and foot brake are off. It's a wormdrive inside.

Recently di dmine cos teh 2-1 was at 45dgrees.
Offside piston was a bit tight so freed that up and wound adjuster with handbrake off until disc couldnt move then backed off. Not much chage to 2-1 but then did the same with the nearside and now brakes are even and also had to slack off the 2-1 nut to achieve 5/6 clicks

@John Hi mate-definately yes,you need to adjust up the allen bolts adjusters in the calipers first,then I do the handbrake to tension the cable properly.My handbrake is usually on about 1-2 clicks.

Why oh why though do 480s,even when everythings new,still need the handbrake adjusting sooooo bloomin often???

Its just silly that!

You have to remember, Paul, that making coffee is very much like making love to a beautiful woman. It has to be hot, it has to be strong, you've got to grind your beans slowly... and at the last moment, add the milk.

now that is silly but very funny!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Took the 480 back in and it failed again on effort. They said they presumed the adjuster springs were too far forward and that I should re-adjust.

Slackened off handbrake completely, adjusted the 4mm bolts so the brakes were just rubbing, pumped the pedal and then re-tightened the handbrake cable again...........took it in (for the fourth time!!) and it's still failing.

The pads have about 50% of wear left and the discs seem OK. The car has been sat for most of the past six months but gave them some stick on the way to the MOT.

Any ideas guys? Im pulling my hair out on this one.

John

hi john...

only thing i can think is that the handbrake cables have streched?
i mean the two seperate ones that all hook together under the exhaust.
only way to find out for sure is to change em.
i assume youve been under there and fiddled about with the adjusters there too?
the cables havent slipped, and made the little crossbar bit go lopsided?
happened on mine....so one side was pulling loads, the other hardly at all...straightened it all out, and it was fine.

rgrds
rob

Hi Rob,

Yep, brand new cables and I adjusted the centre screw after adjusting the worm drive adjusters.

I do have some new pads to fit but do you think this would make a massive difference to the effort?

Cheers

John

Mine passed it's MOT last week.

However, I parked it in front of a friends car, It was in gear and hand brake up very tight.

About 10-15 minutes later we were stood around and heard a crunch. Looked over and mine had rolled down the slope about 1-2 metres and smashed my friends headlight and bent the bumper mounts. Not happy at all.

how did it roll if it was in gear?

Whan I had my problem I found the piston semi seized/tight - it was b hard to move any way - so I worked at it till it moved, put the caliper back on and worked it again with a big scredriver between caliper and outside pad, did the adjustable thingys and it passed the test. I had even bought two new calipers from GSF ready to put on - they refunded no problem (within 7 days) and they were the cheapest by far. Now I just need to replace the piston rubbers which are shot - hence the seized/tight piston.

Cheers guys,

I'm going to fit the new pads tomorrow so ill check out the state of the pistons and give the discs a good grind while i'm at it.

John

I was looking to tighten my hand brake today, and i did the tightening where the cables split to each wheel, and it make a little difference. People have sed its not the best way to do it and i was looking again to see where i can tighten it from the calipers. can anyone guide me through it? Pics would help alot.