hey northern guys are you aware of frozen brakes?
12-17-2007, 04:20 AM
#1
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hey northern guys are you aware of frozen brakes?
i was on my way to the dealerhisp this morning and as soon as i backed out of my driveway i felt something wrong with my brakes. I wasnt sure what it was but it felt as if my e-brake was up(but it wasnt)i drove down the street and luckily my mom was behind me and told me to pull over as she smelt something burning. As soon as i got out i saw the back brakes smoking. I spoke to my advisor adn he was laughing because he too had a smiliar promblem coming to work this morning as well, but not as bad. I had no clue that this could ever happen. He told me just let them thaw out and everything should be fine. Has anyone else heard something like this?
12-17-2007, 04:28 AM
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I had it happen in the winter of 2004...
we were seeing -40F regularly and I had the bad habit of leaving my e-brake on overnight. I'd have to slip my clutch like crazy to take off and as soon as I'd let off the throttle, the rear wheels would lock up and I would start sliding sideways.
12-17-2007, 04:29 AM
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Yes very common. These cars have a poor e-brake cable design that freezes.
No real fix to it, just drive it until it warms up enough and it will be ok. For future reference, don't set that e-brake and just leave the car in gear if you know that overnight temps are going to be below freezing.
12-17-2007, 05:06 AM
#4
The latest PN version for the cables is supposed to address water getting into the cables...
and prevent this from happening. If there is water inside the cables, the ebrake cannot be used in freezing weather, therefore is justified warranty replacement, or worthwhile as a paid item if no warranty. "Thawing" the cables is only temporary, as the water will not dry out otherwise, and additional water will get into the original cables anyway.
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12-17-2007, 03:04 PM
#9
When this happens on my '03, I use a 2X2 about 2' long, and lever the ebrake arm on the caliper...
back towards the front, using the wheel as a pivot point, to release the ebrakes. The ebrake lever in the cabin must be released first.
I recommend against driving with the ebrakes frozen ON, as loss of steering control is possible, due to the wheels locking on ice.
I recommend against driving with the ebrakes frozen ON, as loss of steering control is possible, due to the wheels locking on ice.
12-17-2007, 08:46 PM
#10
-40f is pretty serious cold. Do you use a block heater? Dumb question. One thing I do w/ the trans
with the manual trans is to leave it in 2nd gear overnight, to avoid that 1->2 cold shift. I can drive pretty far in 2nd until I need to shift.
