The parking brake cable is the cable that is used to engage the parking brakes on numerous vehicles. It's normally a steel braided cable covered in a protective sheath that's used to activate the vehicle's parking brakes mechanically.
The cable pushes on the calipers or brake drums when the parking brake lever or pedal is depressed, engaging the vehicle's parking brake.
When stopped or stationary, the parking brake is utilised to keep the vehicle from rolling. This feature is particularly useful while parking or halting on inclines or hills, where a car is more likely to roll and cause an accident.
This is why it is checked during a MOT testing service, and if it is found to be defective, it will result in a MOT test failure.
When the parking brake cable breaks or gets too loose, the car loses this important safety feature. A bad or failing parking brake cable usually causes a few indications that warn the driver to a potential problem that needs to be addressed. If you check MOT history of your car, an applied handbrake that does not stop the car from rolling will fail a MOT test.
The following are four symptoms that your parking/handbrake cable is broken:
1. Parking/handbrake does not hold the vehicle - A handbrake that does not effectively hold the vehicle is the most prevalent indicator of a problem with the parking brake cable. The parking brake cable will lose its ability to draw the parking brake as tightly if it becomes overly worn or strained. Even when the parking brake is fully engaged, the parking brake will not be able to support the weight of the vehicle, causing it to roll or lean. If you discovered your car previously failed a MOT owing to the handbrake while conducting an online MOT history check, a loose cable was most likely the culprit.