Frozen E-Brake

[sant6236]

Wow, 2 threads in one day, who would have thought.

Issue:

Used the E-Brake for first time in months. Attempted to disengage it and the E-Brake handle successfully went down, but the E-brake continues to function.

Symptoms:

One has to give the car MUCH more gas in order to move forward or in reverse, not to mention you may hear some squeeking other acquainted noise.

I had to take it into LesSchwabs to unfreeze both sides of the brake. They showed me what they did. I will have a write up soon.


Temporary Remedy:

Merely tap on each E-Brake mechanism (one for each rear wheel)that attaches to the drum with a hammer to free it. Bang on the mechanism going towards the outside of the vehicle. This temporarily releives the brake until one decides to use it again.

More later

 

[Greedy]

Have you checked to make sure that your brake fluid resivor is all the way full? I know my e-brake is very sensitive to brake fluid level.

 

[sant6236]

Yes, it is full.

I did not know the E-brake was affiliated with that brake fluid resevoir.

The guy at Les Schwab said it was primarily due to corrosion and the salt they put on the roads. He also said it seems to occur more with the Japanese automobiles.

 

[Greedy]

I actually just replaced my rear brakes and noticed how everything worked in there. There are two main springs that make the brake pads retract when you put the e-brake lever down. They are located inside your rear drum and could have gotten rusten or even snapped causing the pads to stay pressed to the drum.

To take a look is very easy. Jack up the rear, remove wheel and slide off the drum. If yours is rusted, you may need to work with it for awhile to get it off, but it will come off. There are no bolts or screws holding it on - just the lug nuts and wheel.

 

[runnahmike]

I had this happen to me, but under a bit different scenario. It was really cold out, and I decided to clean the interior...wel, of course I needed to clean under the the e-brake lever, and when I went to drive it away, it was like it was in quik sand!

My dad accually came with a blowtorch and unfroze the cable under the chassie near the back tires. I was sure he was going to blow us both up from being so close to the gas tank!!

Lesson learned..dont use the e-brake in the winter!

 

[Mr. Dabadina]

Had that happen to me in my civic. Leave it in gear when ya park in the winter. Especially if precipitation is on the ground