Mechanical Problems & Technical Chat - e-brake

ok, more problems with the civ.

Today, it snowed. On my way home from sledding (haha yes i know, it IS still fun) I saw a local school had a big empty parking lot with about 2 inches of snow and absolutly no tire marks. I couldn't help myself but to do a couple donuts. Everything seemed ok and I went home as usual. Just now, i went outside to pull my civic out to let my girlfriend out, and it seems like the e-brake is stuck; Not very hard, but it seems like it is on. I use the e-brake everytime i park (5 speed) and i was using it while doing a few donuts. I also notice now that there is very little tension when i do go to pull the e-brake and It feels as though it is stuck on and the e-brake handle has no function at all.

Any idea what would cause this? it obviously can't be a broken cable because then there would be no e-brake. It could possibly be frozen, but I am not sure if that is possible. I am not too familiar how the e-brake is rigged up and how this could happen, but any advice would be great before I have to get up and investigate in the morning (it's 1 A.M.)

Anyways, thanks for any help in advance!

No one has any idea?

come on guys i need some help with this.

Any suggestions?

1) Drive responsibly.

2) Jack up the rear of your car. Remove the wheels and then the drums. Inspection of the parking brake mechanism (pictures) should reveal the problem.

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/304/picture0291cx7.jpg

http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/3101/picture0292lb9.jpg

sounds to me like its just froze... driving like that forced some snow/moisture into the drums and just locked up the pivot points...... if you can get it into a garage thats above freezing it should thaw and free itself up..... been thier done that.... ;) you can also just try driving the car alittle.... the heat from the brake pads should melt the ice and free itself up. no need to take the brakes apart.... cause most likely if it is frozen you wont be able to get the drums off anyways.LOL

ORIGINAL: addiction2bass
sounds to me like its just froze... driving like that forced some snow/moisture into the drums and just locked up the pivot points...... if you can get it into a garage thats above freezing it should thaw and free itself up...


If ice is your problem, then you might consider blowing hot air from a blow dryer on the backside of the rear wheels to speed up the melting process.

ORIGINAL: addiction2bass

sounds to me like its just froze... driving like that forced some snow/moisture into the drums and just locked up the pivot points...... if you can get it into a garage thats above freezing it should thaw and free itself up..... been thier done that.... ;) you can also just try driving the car alittle.... the heat from the brake pads should melt the ice and free itself up. no need to take the brakes apart.... cause most likely if it is frozen you wont be able to get the drums off anyways.LOL


+1 If your brakes aren't locked up (i.e. dragging your back wheels when you drive through the snow) the cable could be stuck somewhere along the way, such as where it runs under the seat too. (if warming it up don't help)