Hi My handbrake is pretty weak in that any slight incline or decline and the car will roll. I have CCB and I am not sure how true this is but I was told on my last garage visit that the handbrake can’t be tightened too much when you have CCB. Was hoping someone here could give me some advice please? Thanks
I've had mine adjusted as it wouldn't stop the car from rolling in neutral on even a small hill. I have CCB and no one mentioned that being an issue in parking brake settings to me. The service guy at my dealer told me that they can adjust it, but the 612 is heavy and will roll with the parking brake set if left in neutral. He suggested always parking it gear (so surprise there), and perhaps being a wheel block on large hills (I am in Switzerland, so we have lots of really steep roads). He said the brake on these cars wasn't really good even when new. My adjusted hand brake is much better than it was and it will hold the car if I park sensibly. Not sure that is much help, but you are not alone.
Adjust the star wheels on the drums first, just like an old Chevrolet. Then adjust the cable. Will get you the most braking power possible. Mine (575M, basically the same) works fine on steep hills. If still no luck, check the brake shoes. Steel or CCM has no effect on the parking brake since it is an internal drum brake in the hub. Always park in 1st gear, which has the highest numerical ratio in the gearbox.
Typically the largest problem is the shoes get torn up from road debris and rust. See attached. Regardless of how you adjust them there is just no surface area left. Replacement of the shoes and properly adjusting the shoes first with the cable fully loosened and then adjusting the cable last will resolve the issue and the parking brake will hold just fine. Same concern happens to all the drum in hat parking brakes. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Guys firstly thanks for coming back to me. Will speak to the garage as they definitely mentioned the CCB possibly being damaged if the handbrake was tightened too much needs to go in for annual service anyhow soon. Also I always leave the car in neutral as I thought that was the normal thing to do, and to be honest I also assumed once turned off the car goes into neutral itself.
I think the manual on the 599 tells you to always leave it in gear. I always leave it in Neutral unless it starts to roll, then I throw it in 1st.
Same here, mine has never worked well, and I had the drum brakes replaced several years ago. All my life I have never left a manual transmission in neutral, always in first gear. I've only used the parking brake if I was on a steep incline.
Leaving it in first gear, then turn off the ignition works fine. Also the car knows if you left it in gear. If you restart the car, before putting it back into neutral, the car will do that automatically, and start fine. You will notice a slight delay, and hear it shift to neutral on its own.
Never start her in gear. Always select neutral before start. If the battery is low, Ferraris have been known to lurch forward on start in gear before the system can select neutral.
I've never heard of the 612 OTO (or 599) having that issue. The owner's manual doesn't say either way, if I remember correctly. I would not be surprised if that were an issue on the earlier F1 transmissions, though.
Don- I would not use the little t lever to select 1st gear either but use the paddles. These are just band-aids to prevent problems others have seen. The less you ask the system to do, the better off you are.
Don- Yup, on mine too. As fragile as the R buttons are on the F430 and 599, probably for the best. Hamfists can still break the T-handle, I guess.
