Bare with my typing. This is from my blackberry.

Today I come to the train station parking lot and parking brake would not disengage. The ebrake handle felt without pressure and did not disengage the brake itself.

I called my mechanic and he says that they may be frozen. To turn on the car and let it warm up. Wiggle back and forth as well as press and depress the brakes. It took a while but it eventually loosened up enough to allow me to drive home(40 min). Although it was still a bit engaged I drove 5 miles home nice and slow.

Now, it was cold, real cold today in NY but damn its been colder. Should I expect this again. Has this happened to anyone else? Is there something to prevent this in the future? I will be going to my mechanic tomorrow to make sure all is fine. Anything I should tell him to look for specifically, maybe better brake fluid?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

The lines weren't frozen, more likely the pads were frozen to the rear calipers. This happens if condensation gets on the pads/rotors and then it gets cold and they stick. In the winter, it's a good idea not to use the ebrake/parking brake when parking for more than a few minutes if it's very cold out. Just put the car in gear and no ebrake unless you park on a big hill or something.

 

You think I need to waste my time going to my mechanic?

 

I was thinking the same thing. Cause brake fluid has a a really high freezing point and it has to be, I think around -40 degrees or more to freeze brake fluid then again I might be wrong.

 

no. Take a hair dryer to it (seriously).

 

Well., at nights it stays in my semi-heated garage. Temp in the garage right now is like 62. So hopefully it unfreezes overnight. If it stills feels funky I'll just drive by and have him look. He's a good guy and have not seen him since I did my shocks... Thanks irish...

 

I agree

 

So I passed by my mechanic anyways since I was in the area. The Driver side EBRAKE cable seems to have been replaced recently. It also seems that whoever did it did a ****ty JOB. The rubber thingy used to protect the bare parts near the caliper was broken on that side and the clip used to ensure it did not move up was non-existant. My mechanic rigged a new rubber thingy and also rigged up a clip. All else was normal. Total price: a six pack and $5 dollars for his troubles.