W202 parking brake problem

[anyweb]

hi all,

i had my bilprovning today (MOT to you guys) and all went fine until the brake tests, when the dude pressed hard with his foot on my foot brake, causing the cable somewhere to snap or come free (no idea which.

the parking brake worked FINE before i took this MOT so either he was too rough or i'm too gentle.... either way i need it fixed asap and i'm wondering should i with my limited technical experience with cars try it, or leave it to my indie

here's a diagram of my parking brake system

http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb2.as...GM=717.417&CT=F&cat=44V&SID=42&SGR=145&SGN=09

from what I can tell by the problem (no brake at all now when pressed fully down) he probably has made the first cable (part 59 in the pic) come loose from it's connectors to the other two cables, OR snapped it

so, how hard is it for me to

a:/ figure out whats wrong
b:/ fix it ?

i'm no mechanic !

cheers
anyweb

 

[television]

You have an inspection panel under the rear seat, where you can see it all. The brake wire that connects the two rear wheels is easy to check, just pull one side and it should be tight, if its tight then it is the one from the parking leaver

 

[Myros]

Niall, best of luck

but after the fun we had with your ARB, I'm never advising you to do anything again, on the grounds it might jinx you

 

[anyweb]

thanks Myros and Malcolm,

this inspection box under the rear seat, is it easy to get to ? is the rear seat easy to remove (and likewise easy to refit) ?

cheers

anyweb

 

[jberks]

Hi Anyweb,
If you look at the bottom front edge of the rear seat swab where it sits on the car, you see a red buttton at each end. Push and lift and it will release the swab. Then just lift the whole swab out. Its really easy, I used to take mine out regularly to clean it. You may even make a profit - there's normally a few coins under there

 

[anyweb]

thanks jberks

i feel somewshat guilty, perhaps because of my experience recently with the ARB, i saw my indie yesterday and scheduled the car to go into him,

i just dont have the patience to deal with this right now :/

cheers
anyweb