My car has been parked since November. When I wen t to move it yesterday the rear wheels would not turn. I think the parking brake is stuck i the on position. The lever in the passenger compartment is in the off position though. What do I do to:
1. Make sure it is the parking brake that is keeping the car from moving.
2. Free up the stuck brake if that is the problem.
Thanks in advance for the assistance.
We had a wet, cold winter down here in the South, and reported similar across the country. I can only guess it was where you are as well. The parking brake components probably have a coat of rust on them causing them to stick on. You can probably help free them up by tapping on the back side of the rear brake dust shield with a hammer. Keep the e-brake lever down, and you should here the brakes release with a POP.
If you’re lucky and they do pop loose, do not use the parking brake again until after you have it serviced.
Usually you can get them to “pop” Good Luck. I guess you know now not to put your car in storage with the parking brake on. Use it for every day parking, but not for months at a time parking. In that case put the transmission in park or if manual set it on the highest gear.
If hitting the backing plate with a hammer doesn’t work try bending the outer cables near the rear wheels, running penetrating fluid down the inner cable into the outer cable and pulling on the bare inner cable. Good luck.
It could be the pads are rusted to the drums. We have 1 vehicle that seems to happen consistently on, As I don’t own it we accelerate in reverse until it pops free. Is it the parking brake or the regular brakes?