Yesterday I had to do an emergency stop for an ambulance to pass and did it with brake + handbrake from 60-70 km/h. The pedal immediately started to feel spongy and the handbrake needs to be pulled to about 8-9 teeth to produce the same effort as 3-4 before.
Car is Renault 11 '85. Disks on the front, drums on the back.
I usually work on my own car and the brakes were consistent, very good and firm for months. Disclaimer: I never stop with handbrake as I have a lot of driving experience and know the dangers of it and how to control it.
I don't have time these days to start taking it apart so I'm overthinking it now. Any idea what could have happened? I guess it has something to do with the drums because it is what affects both pressure brakes and handbrake. Did I wear them down a lot and have to re-adjust them?
Depends on what your pads look like. Most rear drum brakes last longer on a car, especially when that car has front disc brakes. Pads can age and after 4-5 years I have seen them just come apart after a hard use. Could be adjustment mechanism to. Until you pull the drum and see what your pads look like you won’t know which course of action to take.
I thought your year Renault was one of the newer rear disc with an internal drum EBrake. I hate those setups. Maybe it was a few years later.
You probably stretched the E Brake cable when you yanked on it. See if there is an adjustment where you can take up the slack. I would also have the system bled just to make sure there's no air in it.
