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E-brake freezing?

S

Snipey

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Dec 12, 2004
Messages
819
Location
Springfield, Ma
it's been getting cold lately (20ish) and when i get in the car to drive it (after ~10 min warming up) i disengage the e-brake and it feels very tight. when i try to re-engage it, its Very hard to pull up on and a struggle to just get 1 or 2 clicks on it.
Also, after it's disengaged the car stays 'locked' in place. for example i am parked on a slight incline and it wont roll back once i take off the e-brake. if i try to drive there is noticable friction slowing me down. I let it warm up for a bit longer and the problem subsides or disappears, but was back the next day.

Is there any easy way to temporarily cure this until it warms up a bit? I plan on letting it warm up longer than usual already, but anything else would be beneficial.
Taking it through a car wash maybe?

thanks..
Snipey
 
Snipey said:
it's been getting cold lately (20ish) and when i get in the car to drive it (after ~10 min warming up) i disengage the e-brake and it feels very tight. when i try to re-engage it, its Very hard to pull up on and a struggle to just get 1 or 2 clicks on it.
Also, after it's disengaged the car stays 'locked' in place. for example i am parked on a slight incline and it wont roll back once i take off the e-brake. if i try to drive there is noticable friction slowing me down. I let it warm up for a bit longer and the problem subsides or disappears, but was back the next day.

Is there any easy way to temporarily cure this until it warms up a bit? I plan on letting it warm up longer than usual already, but anything else would be beneficial.
Taking it through a car wash maybe?

thanks..
Snipey
Click to expand...

For the moment, until it gets warm enough that you can get under the car and address the problem without your fingers freezing off, don't use the e-brake. Once the brakes warm a bit (which they'll do in a hurry if they're sticking a little) the caliper should back off and the resistance should subside. For now, leave the car in gear and call it a day. :cool:
 
thanks! i dont know how i didn't mention that in my post, because as soon as i posted it, i went outside and rolled it to a flat area and left the e-brake off. (in gear of course though :-X)
 
dude i hate the cold that same crap happend to me today (2nd time this year) it killed my right rear rotor, not too bad but its got some rust now...
 
thanks for the faq. i guess what i was really looking for was a short term solution until i can actually get under it.
luckily the rear rotors are being replaced soon so that shouldnt be too big of a worry. i'll just be parking on level areas for a while and relying on good ol 1st.
 
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