the back left brake locks in the cold weather. after driving for about 5 minutes, it unlocks. any advice?
Absorbed water in the brake line could do that. Bleed the brakes, when the weather is above freezing.
is this a pricey job?
its not too expensive, but the trick will be finding an honest mechanic who will simply bleed your brakes. (with out bleeding your wallet.
you dont mention the age of the car, or any other info, but after a while, it is a good idea to change the brake fluid anyways. this would also accomplish this brake bleeding too! so maybe to kill two birds with one stone, having your brake fluid replaced would solve both issues.
HOWEVER, the brakes could have a hanging caliper, or cylinder. when was the last time the brakes were done? recently? any other info about the car maintenance?
it’s an 04 hyundai elantra. i just had the brakes done. when the brakes are done, is the fluid usually changed? car has been great with 70,000. no other problems. just paid it off so i would like to keep her a few more years.
see, more details help! if you just had a brake job done, then i would suspect one of the calipers is sticking. the brake fluid is not usually changed, but since it is suspect in this freezing weather it is easily removed from the list of possibilities just by changing it.
since you just had the brakes done, i would suspect something related to the recent brake job. one of the issues when doing brake jobs is deciding if brake calipers are needing replacement, or just the brake pads. this is one of those times, that it is possible the sticking caliper should be replaced (or at least looked at closer to see if it may need replacing) i am not sure if hyundai brake calipers are known for longevity, or if they are of questionable quality. possibly some others who respond here have knowledge of these parts?