Ok, here's the long story. My car has been in perfect condition for the entire time that I've had it. I've only had to do routine maintenance to keep it looking and running fresh, and slap on a new exhaust. Otherwise, it's been on point. However, there is one problem that keeps coming up every winter. The parking brake (its a manual) keeps sticking when it gets cold enough. The colder it gets, the more it sticks. I can put the lever down (disengages the sensor), but the brake itself continues to be on for a couple minutes and sometimes gets so bad that I have to "break" it loose in reverse. During the Spring, Summer, and Fall there a no problems. I'm concerned about the issue and took it to my local dealer 2 years ago to figure out the problem. They couldn't figure it out, changed my brake cables and charged me $140 to look at me like idiots. Has anyone ever hada similar problem? Anyone know how to fix it? 2000 Civic EX, stock brakes.

 

it could be the cables geting stuck, or maybe water geting into the drums and freezing once it gets cold from being parked...

you could try to take the rear drums off and spray some WD40 onto the cable and springs and then work the Ebrake afew times and respray the cable again, wipe off any extra spray and try not to spray the brake pads or the drums themselves! otherwise well the obvious brake pads slipping.LOL

and hopefully the WD40 will displace the water enough to keep it from freezing and sticking after being parked...
it worked with my old 86crx

 

If you use WD-40, remember it dries out & doesn't last long. I've had better luck working some grease into the end of the cables.

Does the Civic have those rubber accordion boots at the ends of the cables? Maybe that's torn?

 

It's gotta be either cables, mechanisms, or return springs.

Make sure the cables are lubed, free of kinks, and free of moisture. Make sure the contact surfaces inside the drums are properly lubed. Make sure your return springs on the brake shoes are properly tensioned and attached.

 

Thanks guys, I'll check out the cable ends and see if they have the rubber accordion boots on them. I'll also give the drums a look to see if they need lubed.

 

thats the same problem i have right now except it seems like the brakes are constantly locked. i release the brake but you can tell they are sticking when you start from a stop.