Oops. Alfa handbreak fails...

[AlfaRSpider]

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you parked an Alfa on a steep drive and the handbreak failed? Wonder no more! I just found out...





Made a hell of a bang. Fortunately doesn't seem to have caused too much damage. Although it has managed to somehow make the boiler conk out! And the tiles in the kitchen on the other side of the wall fell out! Car eventually got towed away and it's in the insurer's hands now. Time to get in to the habit of parking on steep hills in gear, me thinks.

Anyone who has found this topic educational and wishes to donate a few quid to my cause, feel free to do so (all proceeds will go toward my insurance renewal next year).

Edited by AlfaRSpider on Saturday 8th December 19:02

[AlfaRSpider]

petrolveins said:

Well since my handbrake only works on one wheel at the moment, I've taken to parking in gear, always start cars with my foot on the clutch too. Annoyingly my Dad doesn't, and almost launched it through the garage door.

This is something I clearly need to get in the habit of doing! Especially seeing as the clutch has to be depressed to start the car anyway, ruling out the possibility of a jump start even if I do forget it's in gear

Edited by AlfaRSpider on Saturday 8th December 19:57

[AlfaRSpider]

Chunkychucky said:

This, was a well-known problem with Audi 80s and their derivatives, would be interesting to hear if this was related. Sorry to see the car damaged OP

Is very possible as it was sitting there for about 5 mins before I heard the crash, although the handBRAKE was pulled up as high as I could get it... I assume it'll get diagnosed as part of the claim process?

[AlfaRSpider]

A lex said:

As the brake discs contract when cooling they lose friction with the pads, hence the time delay period between applying the handbrake and the car rolling off

There's no 'fault' as such, its just physics and the consequences of the design - its a problem common to all cars that don't use a separate handbrake mechanism on the rear disc.

I agree, seems likely to be the problem given the circumstances. Only thing that seems weird in my mind is that the handbrake was applied fully... I actually got it the car and checked and I could barely pull the brake up any further. I could understand if it was applied only a little and lost grip as the discs cooled.

Edited by AlfaRSpider on Sunday 9th December 10:48

[AlfaRSpider]

Ordinary_Chap said:

My old Civic Type R always rolled if not left in gear if I parked it with the brakes hot.

The first time it happened, I was very luck. My old driveway was very tight, wall on one side and house on the other.

It rolled back and very luckily the back wheel hit the step outside the house and stopped the car. The only thing it did was remove some paint from under the rear bumper as the height of the curb meant the car just had clearance. So I was lucky it hit the step rather than the house or wall and lucky the rear bumper had just enough clearance otherwise the rear bumper would of taken damage.

It happened a couple of times after until I twigged what it was doing, both times it moved a little back and hit a kerb behind the car.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune anyway.
Lee

Phew, if only I'd had a warning like that! No worries chap.. I'm quite excited on what courtesy car I'm gonna get actually (fingers crossed for a lambo)