Handbrake issues

[Mitchen]

My handbrake cable or something has gone, because when I lift the handbrake it keeps going up to where it's almost vertical! Although this isnt the end of the world as park mode on the auto gear box is pretty good for keeping the car still.. but it's also had a knock on affect on my brake pedal! I need to push it all the way down to get any sort of stoppage, and even then it's not exactly strong. How are the two related?

[Grrrmachine]

The handbrake and pedal mechanisms are usually entirely separate. However, if you've got rear drums then I think the handbrake cable works on the same set of brake shoes as usual.

If the back plate on one of your rear wheels has rusted then your brake shoes will have come adrift - this is the only thing I can think of that would affect both the hand and pedal brakes.

More info here:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/Handbrake

[Brianmoooore]

It's important that you tell us what car you have when posting in this forum! We don't all have working crystal balls.
Presumably this is a car with rear drums, and it looks like there has been a failure inside one of the rear hubs - probably something to do with the automatic adjuster, which has appeared to have backed itself right off.
Lift the gaitor off the handbrake lever, and you should be able to see which off the cables isn't doing its job as you pull the lever up.

[Mitchen]

Apologies , it's a 1990 320i saloon, and yes with rear drums. I'll have a look at them