Vauxhall Astra J 2014 model year

[Deleted]

One of my customers asked me last week to look at his brakes, he said that the hand control was travelling quite a lot further than he normally expected. (He is disabled) hence the hand control.

So yesterday I looked at his brakes and found the front brake pads were deteriorating such that the lining was separating from the backing plate.

The rear pads on the offside rear were wearing unevenly, caliper guides not free enough in service.

So I changed both sets of pads and depressed the service brake a few times, then the hand control felt good with good reserve travel, the foot brake also felt good, but in my mind I knew this was false because the pads were not worn out sufficiently to cause the brake travel concern. 

I started the engine and the foot brake travel was present, roughly as before, the manufacturer through (AD) advise a park brake reserve travel of 5 clicks, I've got about 9 or 10, hence the park brake requires adjustment.

I'm not fully convinced this is the cause of the problem as the car has discs and calipers all round, but I need to adjust the park brake!

The difficulty (at the moment)

I looked at the centre counsel (Automatic version transmission) and could not establish how the counsel is removed, I found two 7 mm bolts one on each side at the rear between the front seats, but can't see anything else!


I found the end trim cover is clipped on and can be removed, but looking inside the cable adjuster cannot be seen, I suspect it is at the front of the lever somewhere. The trim around the park brake lever does not appear removable like the old designs. 

So before I go and buy the workshop manual (Haynes don't do one) does anyone have any experience with removing the centre counsel in these Astra's please?

[valhalla]

Guardian,

I reckon you might have nailed the service brake issue with the repairs you have done; all the items you mention are exactly what I would expect to cause extended travel on application. Delaminating pads on the front will definitely give increased push-back after application on the pistons, so loss of some travel there, and likewise sticking pins on the rear caliper will mean the disc is deflected to meet the stationary pad, rather than the pad being brought back to the disc by the caliper, so loads of sprung push-back.

I don't have direct experience on these later Astra's, but I wonder if they are like some other GM cars I have serviced where the handbrake adjustment is easier through the rear ashtray/coin tray, or down through the centre cubby box? I don't remember ever having to move the whole console to get to the handbrake adjuster on a GM platform, unless the adjuster itself was jammed for whatever reason (in which case it's a nightmare to access.

[Deleted]

Thanks valhalla I have done a bit of research on this model, it's the first one on this model I've looked at. The new Ford Fiesta has got a manual park brake adjuster but the tech has to remove the centre console to gain access, the 10 mm nut is at the front of the park brake lever rather than at the rear.

There is one park brake lever (I can't remember the make and model) sorry Ford I think it was that have a park brake lever that is fully automatic in that there is a type of clutch adjustment system built in that completes the adjustment automatically. When they went faulty the park brake lever had no reserve travel and hence a new lever was required. Some after market manufacturer started making a replacement park brake lever mechanism that used a manual adjuster in place of the fully automatic version used by the original manufacturer. 

I have contacted AD to ask their advise about this park brake lever adjustment, they advise 5 clicks but then are saying it is an EPB, so either they are referring to both types of brake or made a mistake, I've never experienced an EPB with a number of clicks to its operation, the motor just winds the brakes on. 

So either AD will advise me that the centre console has to be removed to adjust the park brake or the lever arrangement is fully automatic, in which case a new lever will be required!

Thanks for the reply and helping me remember how to spell "Console", I'm getting old and tired me thinks 

[Deleted]

AD came back to me and advised that the park brake system on the Astra J is actually an auto adjustment system using the actual cables themselves and not the lever as I thought. They advise that it can also be manually adjusted after servicing the brake discs and pads, so I need to invest in the workshop manual, and I seem to have three options;

• Buy the OEM download
• Buy from eonline manuals
• Buy from Haynes but they only go to model year 2013.

I could also do this by trial and error but at the moment I've no idea how the centre console comes apart to remove it, and I absolutely hate plastics 

[Rhubarb]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhpGcXhY6Cg

Is this similar? I know it's mechanical handbrake console

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eklcn6K4l04

And have you asked/browsed on any Vauxhall forums?

[Deleted]

Thanks Rhubarb no I've not browsed or asked on Vauxhall Forums, didn't think about it to be honest. This is my main forum for asking and helping people to be honest. 

I've watched the videos and can say yes I now have a good idea how the console can be removed, I'd suspect the automatic version I'm working on will be similar.

Looking at the attachment I have loaded, the park brake adjustment mechanism is shown, I'm still no wiser at the moment how that system works?


Attachment Deleted

[Rhubarb]

Jun 13, 2018 0:49:42 GMT 1 @hybrid said:

Thanks Rhubarb no I've not browsed or asked on Vauxhall Forums, didn't think about it to be honest. This is my main forum for asking and helping people to be honest. 

I've watched the videos and can say yes I now have a good idea how the console can be removed, I'd suspect the automatic version I'm working on will be similar.

Looking at the attachment I have loaded, the park brake adjustment mechanism is shown, I'm still no wiser at the moment how that system works?


View Attachment

There must be some adjustment on that rod..

Have you tried pumping the pedal hard say 30 times?

If it were mine I'd give it a couple of weeks to bed the pads in and see if the park brake improves(which it should)

[Deleted]

The service brake pedal after depressing a couple of times goes hard, there is no indication of a problem at that point, but when the engine is started and the servo kicks in, the brake pedal travel becomes long, the disabled hand control lever is fouling the dash panel when depressed, clearly indicating to me that something is wrong. 

I've got the car back Saturday so I'm going to remove the centre console and have a good inspection of the park brake adjustment mechanism, see how it works and see if anything is worn and needs renewal. 

I was looking at: www.gme-infotech.com/ this morning, I was going to register and buy the workshop manual from them but became confused over the titles used, I could not make my mind up which link to buy credit from to download the workshop manual, if anyone has used this site and knows, It would be very much appreciated if someone could let me know which link to enter to download the manual.

Thanks

[valhalla]

Jun 13, 2018 20:09:10 GMT 1 @hybrid said:

The service brake pedal after depressing a couple of times goes hard, there is no indication of a problem at that point, but when the engine is started and the servo kicks in, the brake pedal travel becomes long, the disabled hand control lever is fouling the dash panel when depressed, clearly indicating to me that something is wrong. 

Maybe a silly question, and I mean no offense if it sounds stupid, but have you bled through all of the hydraulic circuits yet? I mean, really flush the lot through. This car is coming-up for a full hydraulic flush anyway, but it strikes me that a new load of fluid and a bit of time to get it all settled-down again might be the easy way out on this? I know that it can take a few days for the pedal to firm-up again after I have flushed a system through, hence I never push-back the fluid on a pad-change, and instead use the opportunity to push the old caliper fluid out through the bleed nipple (and a clamped flexi-hose) so I don't have to go through all that hassle....

[Deleted]

Thanks for that valhalla, I was leaning towards the idea that because the foot brake pedal is firm with no sponginess when the engine is off, i.e. no vacuum assistance, I felt the hydraulics were not the cause of the problem! 

However, in saying this, I said the other day maybe the car is ready for a brake fluid change, then I tested it and the boiling point is 265 degrees C. I'm undecided at the moment about the fluid change, my main concern at the moment is the park brake travel, it has significant travel compared to the manufacturer recommendations of 5 clicks.

The car is back Saturday so I'll see how I go with it. 

[Deleted]

So car back today. I have adjusted the park brake as follows;

1 / Slide the drivers' and passengers' seats fully forwards, remove one 7 mm bolt on each side of the centre console.

2 / Slide the drivers' and passengers' seats fully rearwards, using a blunt instrument or your fingers gently pull off each side panel from the centre console. Note, each side panel has an upper panel that also pulls rearwards to remove it, but pay attention to the fact that the upper cover is also clipped to the lower cover on each side.

3 / Remove one 7 mm bolt from each side of the centre console at the front.
4 / Using a small pick and start at the front of the gearstick (My example was an automatic) un-clip the shroud and remove "if necessary".
5 / Remove two philips head screws, one on each side where the gear selector is that secures the console
6 / Remove the trims from the front of the console in the centre, i.e. the cig lighter housing, disconnect the two multi plugs.
7 / The park brake lever shroud can be removed in situ but is difficult, Vauxhall have not stapled the cloth to the plastic trim like they did on the older versions, they have just trapped it between the plastic trim and the console housing.
8 / The trim that locates in the centre dash area that covers the vents area should be un-clipped by gently pulling away from the dash assembly. No support clips are present and therefore nothing will fall off when removed.
9 / Disconnect the electrical wiring to the centre console LEDs
10 / Now working from the rear of the console, lift up over the park brake lever and slide out rearwards. Note; This is no easy task, the console takes some persuading to free it from the lower dash area at the front. When refitting, ensure the fork like guides are correctly positioned prior to fitting, and expect some aggravation when doing the job. If the vehicle is an automatic version you can expect to suffer with the console fitment around the lever guide cable assembly, it will become trapped and cause concerns to release it, but it is not rocket science to do. 

Access to the park brake lever mechanism is now available.

Observations of the park brake mechanism show that it is a self adjustment mechanism but can also be manually adjusted. I don't know the recommended Vauxhall procedure, but I learned today that;


There is a metal tab at the rear of the park brake lever, while the lever is in the off position the tab can be pushed towards the front of the car, not so easy to do. What is supposed to happen is that the cables are attached to a pivot that is located and secured to the lever by a screw threaded bar, this bar has a return spring fitted that is supposed to expand and pull the bar towards the front of the car, this however did not occur in my experience, what I found was that I had to apply the park brake and then using a block of wood I had to prevent the cables pivot from releasing the tension in the cables, and while performing this action I depressed the tab towards the front of the car and operated the park brake lever, the trick here is to be very careful and slowly release the lever only a click or two, then let go of the tab and remove the block of wood, now check the number of clicks in operation of the park brake lever.  Ideally when the park brake lever is in the rest position you should be able to depress the tab and the cable spring mechanism should pull the threaded bar towards the front of the car, thus automatically tensioning the mechanism, however, this did not work for me. 

Note; Ensure the rear wheels are free to rotate and check after adjustments the wheels are not binding. 

Reassembly is relatively straight forward but the centre console as explained above will cause some concern. See 2nd Video in Rhubarb link and you will see that the guy cuts out the parts of the video where he removes the console and refits the console. It is not impossible to do but is tricky. When refitting the centre console just ensure the guides at the front are correctly located at the lower dash area, then slide forwards and lower the rear section, it will fall into place, everything else is a reversal of removal and is straight forwards.  

Hopefully I covered everything and after doing one you'll not want to do another one soon 

[Rhubarb]

Jun 16, 2018 19:12:06 GMT 1 @hybrid said:

So car back today. I have adjusted the park brake as follows;

1 / Slide the drivers' and passengers' seats fully forwards, remove one 7 mm bolt on each side of the centre console.

2 / Slide the drivers' and passengers' seats fully rearwards, using a blunt instrument or your fingers gently pull off each side panel from the centre console. Note, each side panel has an upper panel that also pulls rearwards to remove it, but pay attention to the fact that the upper cover is also clipped to the lower cover on each side.

3 / Remove one 7 mm bolt from each side of the centre console at the front.
4 / Using a small pick and start at the front of the gearstick (My example was an automatic) un-clip the shroud and remove "if necessary".
5 / Remove two philips head screws, one on each side where the gear selector is that secures the console
6 / Remove the trims from the front of the console in the centre, i.e. the cig lighter housing, disconnect the two multi plugs.
7 / The park brake lever shroud can be removed in situ but is difficult, Vauxhall have not stapled the cloth to the plastic trim like they did on the older versions, they have just trapped it between the plastic trim and the console housing.
8 / The trim that locates in the centre dash area that covers the vents area should be un-clipped by gently pulling away from the dash assembly. No support clips are present and therefore nothing will fall off when removed.
9 / Disconnect the electrical wiring to the centre console LEDs
10 / Now working from the rear of the console, lift up over the park brake lever and slide out rearwards. Note; This is no easy task, the console takes some persuading to free it from the lower dash area at the front. When refitting, ensure the fork like guides are correctly positioned prior to fitting, and expect some aggravation when doing the job. If the vehicle is an automatic version you can expect to suffer with the console fitment around the lever guide cable assembly, it will become trapped and cause concerns to release it, but it is not rocket science to do. 

Access to the park brake lever mechanism is now available.

Observations of the park brake mechanism show that it is a self adjustment mechanism but can also be manually adjusted. I don't know the recommended Vauxhall procedure, but I learned today that;


There is a metal tab at the rear of the park brake lever, while the lever is in the off position the tab can be pushed towards the front of the car, not so easy to do. What is supposed to happen is that the cables are attached to a pivot that is located and secured to the lever by a screw threaded bar, this bar has a return spring fitted that is supposed to expand and pull the bar towards the front of the car, this however did not occur in my experience, what I found was that I had to apply the park brake and then using a block of wood I had to prevent the cables pivot from releasing the tension in the cables, and while performing this action I depressed the tab towards the front of the car and operated the park brake lever, the trick here is to be very careful and slowly release the lever only a click or two, then let go of the tab and remove the block of wood, now check the number of clicks in operation of the park brake lever.  Ideally when the park brake lever is in the rest position you should be able to depress the tab and the cable spring mechanism should pull the threaded bar towards the front of the car, thus automatically tensioning the mechanism, however, this did not work for me. 

Note; Ensure the rear wheels are free to rotate and check after adjustments the wheels are not binding. 

Reassembly is relatively straight forward but the centre console as explained above will cause some concern. See 2nd Video in Rhubarb link and you will see that the guy cuts out the parts of the video where he removes the console and refits the console. It is not impossible to do but is tricky. When refitting the centre console just ensure the guides at the front are correctly located at the lower dash area, then slide forwards and lower the rear section, it will fall into place, everything else is a reversal of removal and is straight forwards.  

Hopefully I covered everything and after doing one you'll not want to do another one soon 

Well done, mission completed

[valhalla]

Many thanks for the detailed description here! Yes, I'm glad I don't have to access one of these......

[Deleted]

Spoke with the owner this evening and he now tells me that the park brake working stroke increased almost immediately without warning!

With reference to the visual inspection of the brake lever mechanism, one must assume then that the threaded bar and lock mechanism inside the pivot area must be getting worn, hence a replacement lever assembly at some point will be required.