When I got in the car this morning, the in-car temp. meter was reading 25 degree F with my windows all forsted up . Then when I let off my handbrake I noticed it was very very loose like the cable had snapped. Blaming it on the cold weather i started up my car as usual and let it warm up. Now comes the interesting part, when I drove the car off the lot i notice the car was very laggy like it was unwilling to move. Balming on the stupid weather again, I continue to drive slowly (15~20 mph) for like 1000 ft. and then notice a BIG BIG BURNOUT from the rear wheels. First I was like "COOL! I never know I have the one-off OEM RWD Max ", then my common sense told me it couldn't be right. So I got off the car and checked the rear wheels, HOLY POOP! the rear brake clippers were still clamped on the rear rotor even with the e-brake off, and that's what was doing the burnout ..... it was like the rear clippers were "glued" to the rotor. As the weather got warmer in the afternoon (I couldn't go to school cause of my "muscle car burnouts" ), the car was fine again and the e-brake is again tight as ever. How could this be?? Does it mean I cannot pull my handbrake in cold weather or it will get glued oevrnight ? BTW, I have a 2k2 with goodridge lines, axxis semi-matellic pads front and raybestos semi-matellic pads back with OEM rotor all around. Sorry about the long post. Any comment or advice is greatly appreciated.

 

was there any precipatation last night? the same thing happened to a friend on a ski trip. it got to about -10 under with wind chill and the caliper froze with the parking brake pulled up. there was also snow packed inside the wheel. he was able to drive it into a garage and allow it to thaw and it was fine. i wouldnt pull it up if you know its going to get real cold.

 

I would not call it a burnout as much as I would call it dragging a*s. More than likely, there was some moisture on your pads and rotors at some time before you engaged the parking brakes. My pads stick to my rotors just sitting in the garage after I wash the car. It does not even have to be cold either. You probably have some flat spots on your rear tires now.

 

NO!!!!! Tell me it's April and you are just joking!! Flat spots on my pilot sports!!?? OMG! I think I need some vodka to ease off my pain now~~ It's dark as crap out now but I am definitely gonna put my car on the lift tomorrow and check for flat spots on tires. Hopefully it won't be bad since I drove for only about 1000 ft. at 15~20 mph. Tire GD anyone?

 

At least your brake calipers didn't seize like mine. I had one rear caliper seize while driving. No damage to the tire but they had to replace the caliper, rotors and pads on the back. Now I'm having other brake problems.

 

That must be bad.... did they conver it under warranty? I wonder what I can do to fix the brake gluing problem. It's insane to not able to pull e-brake when park at a steep hill, even on a slight incline. It's gonna be crazy when I go to friends' houses with steep driveways and find out that my car has gone paying their neighbors' livingrooms a visit.

And speaking of other brake issues, I have this very annoying grinding sound from the rear when I step gently on the brakes. Guess I should have waited and got those raybestos ceramic pads instead.

 

musta been frozen water. Its amazing what that stuff will do in the wintertime

 

I'll pray for ya, but 1000 ft should be plenty to flat spot them at least some! This is pretty common on rear-disc brake cars. They do not have as "postive" of an e-brake release as a drum model would have. It's happened to me too...

 

so if handbrake is not needed in cold weather, do not use it? The Maxima stays in a garage usually and is used 2-3 times a week only...should I lower the handbrake since the temp is under 32 here now on a daily basis

 

I never had it lockup in the garage, always outside. It's happened quite a few times to me because I am in the habit of ALWAYS using my e-brake before putting into park. I swear my parking pin does not have a scratch on it I bet.

 

I do the same, put the ebrake up before shifting into park and releasing it after I shift into reverse or drive - I thought this was the proper way? What is a parking pin?

 

Wow, remind me not to apply the e-brake when it's cold... I noticed some brake noise coming from the rear rotors this morning too. and I always keep my e-brake on whenever the car is parked, even overnight (in fact it's set right now)... will have to watch for that from now on...

 

I'd hardly worry about flat spots. Don't even think twice about it.

 

That's the proper way...

 

FYI, I've been having this problem a lot more in the past 2-3 days. I've never parked it without using the parking brake, so I don't know if parking it w/o the parking brake would resolve the situation.

After pulling out of the driveway, I notice the parking brake handle has some free-play, where I can pull it up a little bit without any resistance from the parking brake linkage. Sometimes I hear the rear brakes dragging (especially since the rear rotors need resurfacing). When I apply the parking brake handle heavily with the car in motion, after returning the parking brake handle to its bottom position, I can hear the rear brakes dragging more than before, and the parking brake handle has even more free-play. Eventually once the rear brakes heat up, that goes away... the parking brake handle has no free-play, and is a little tighter than usual, but I can't hear the rear brakes dragging anymore. Also, if I apply the brakes using the normal brake pedal, I don't hear any extra dragging/feel extra free-play in the parking brake handle.

What should I check? (once I finally have an opportunity to raise the car and take off the wheels)

I was thinking of lubricating the parking brake linkage, and adding more brake grease to the backing plate and return spring. Does it sound like the caliper itself is stuck?

I figure maybe 3 things could be happening here... either 1. Pads are stuck against the rotor temporarily,

2. Caliper is internally stuck so it won't back off (doubtful, I have all new brake fluid in there, unless there is rust inside the calipers from the previous owners never changing the fluid for 3 years), or

3. Parking brake linkage is stuck, so its return spring isn't working properly and the parking brake linkage at the caliper is holding the piston tight against the pads/rotor, leaving lots of free-play in the parking brake cable.

Right now I have my car parked and held only by the tranny (sitting in 1st gear), so we'll see if I have any problems later.

 

Funny, car drove fine since I parked it without the e-brake applied, but the moment I pulled the e-brake when I got home... it felt like something "gave", i.e. I pulled it, it gave a little resistance then it jerked... now the e-brake handle has some free-play in it. I wonder if the parking brake return spring is still there (or working properly)... I'll have to inspect it with a flashlight tomorrow. I hope it's not something inside the caliper... I don't want to fork out $$ for new rear calipers...

 

Do they use salt for snow melting in your area? If they do, you probably have a lot of rust on your linkages.

 

that happened to me once on my 97 Legacy GT, as soon as I starting to drive off, I hear a loud pop. I thought i blew something. As it turned out the caliper was stuck in extreme cold weather. Subaru had to fix it under the warranty in fact there was a recall. Knock on wood with my Max.

 

Yeah, they do use salt around here.

Think greasing the linkages with something (i.e. synthetic grease or lithium grease) should help?

 

You'll probably need some stronger penetrating oil like PB blaster to loosen the rust. It might help and it might not. If the rust is too far advanced, you'll need to replaced the cables. You also need to wash your car once a week when there is salt on the roads to remove the salt from the underbody.

 

There is a difference between a "skid" and a "burnout"

 

OK, I just pulled my rear wheels and twisted both rear caliper pistons back into their bore... the right-side one seemed a little tight, as the parking brake cable was hard to remove (had to use a socket & ratchet on the hex-shaped bolt the return spring sits on), and I had to use pliers to pry the caliper off the pads, but the piston twisted back into its bore very freely. I coated the piston (and pad backing) with synthetic moly-fortified grease, and put the calipers back on, remounting everything and torque'ing the wheel lugnuts to 85 ft/lbs BEFORE applying the brake pedal. The parking brake lever is looser now, but no free-play, so it seems that all is normal.

I do think my rotors & pads took a nasty toll, though. The rotors look like they have a mirror-finish glaze, and the right-side rotor has some small lines through it like very minor cracks... is it possible to resurface those out of the rotor?

I just bought these pads & rotors new last August, and I REALLY don't want to replace them if I can help it...

Is it also possible to sand the glaze off the pads?

 

Big difference between dragging your rearend around cuz the brakes are locked and the tires actually breaking loose.

 

damnit, you beat me to it (again).

 

i dont see how u could drive 1000ft. glad u didnt go further.

will

 

lol mr. gone i love ur rule!

will