Yay, what fun...

...I tried to leave for work this morning only to find that the parking brake on the right side is seized. Yes, it's cold here right now.

I disengaged the parking brake lever inside the car. Then went to the rear brakes and reached under the left side, there is some play on that parking brake wire...the right side parking brake wire is not budging.

I searched and found that some people had a problem with their wire after it was jacked up, suspension cutting the wire or whatever. But mine is stuck. I checked out motorvate and I don't see any cuts.

Anyone got any suggestions? This really isn't cool.
Thanks for any help...

 

I really want to get it fixed - i need e brake to prevent torque-lockup's of my auto tranny .
If You find any answers how to fix it - please let me know !!!

V/R
Nick
97 se black on black
auto - collecting parts for 5spd swap
kyb agx/sagging sprints/bent fstb/rusty rsb
noisy frankencar/rusty budget y/rice boy fart can
illegal tints all over the car
clear corners all around
shaved butt

 

Don't use ebrkae in the winter unless you are on a hill...

Anyways you need to heat that up so it will thaw. If you can drag the car into a heated garage that would work. Also try rocking the car back and forth and it might free itself.

Happened to me once in my Sentra years ago and I vowed never to use the Ebrake again unless on a hill...

 

I have 2 tips, as I am experiencing the same problem. My parking brake doesn't disengage fully either. It's evident by the brake pad wear in the right rear tire (it's super fast!)

1) There's a TSB for this. They recommend a new parking brake line and adjusting it. And they recommend putting in new brake pad shims (this's only necessary if you get a "groan" when stopping, then moving 5mph)

2) A few members have had their rear calipers seize. this can be fixed either by buying new calipers, or rebuiling them. Rebuilding them requires a $20 "kit" which is just 4 or 5 o-rings. You take apart the caliper, clean it, put in new o-rings, lube, and you're done.

I hope this helps you. I'm gonna do both methods once things get warmer around here. Good luck dood!

Jae

 

Maybe try removing the wheel and hitting the caliper with either a heat-gun or a hairdryer for a bit to see if that loosens things up.

De-ice, dry it all off under there, & if you should get it working, whatever you do, don't use the e-brake in sloppy-cold weather unless ya just GOT TO!

-And make sure you don't drive the car w/ a stuck caliper, or you'll be in the market for a new rotor & brake pads.

Good luck!

 

Coming from England and living on a hill, this was a big problem for me in the winter if the car had not moved in a week or so.
You can drive to get a friend to rock the car, somtimes this will work, or just try driving it backwards and forwards, this worked for me, more then one time, trust me, you will know when its free again by doing this, just be ready to brake

 

next time around don't yank the e-brake so hard with your super-hero strength...I had the same prob in a VW Passat VR6 I had and all I did was leave it in gear(I always do anyways...), gave a small tug on the e-brake and that was it...

 

Thanks for the replies...as it really doesn't get 'too' cold here in Dallas too often I think I'll try not using it if it's going to freeze.

I got home last night and the car was fine...I left the parking brake off while I was at work. I was thinking maybe there was some moisture on the line (rust soon most likely) and it froze overnight. I'm going to replace it when the weather gets warmer in a month or two. I heard it wasn't too hard for a regular person to fix...and I'm not going to pay someone $200+ to fix it when I can get the part myself for around $85.

Thanks again!
-Jeff