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frozen handbrake?


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Hi guys.

Over the last couple of arctic temperatured nights my handbrake seems to freeze on.

When I release the lever, the cable feels slack.

Ive done a bit of googling, and found it seems to be a common problem with water getting in the cable and freezing. I was thinking about spaying some wd40 around where the brake lines meet the rear calipers in the vain hope that itll keep the cable from freezing.

Anyone else have this problem? Any tips etc?

Cheers guys,

Oz

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it's a bit primitive but the only real way to make sure it's not too frozen to drive if you need to get to work (..etc) is to leave it in gear with a brick or two under the wheels!

very common problem with starlets, moisture in cable as you said 9/10 times, alough i'd never recommend using a lube on any part of the braking system!

it can be costly to replace the cables, so most people just keep an eye one the weather anc choose option one! :rolleyes:

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indeed i tend to drag my cars arse down the road like a dog on carpet!

LMFAO!!!

SO you guys just free it up "manually"?

Ive read people put greese/wd40 down the line, you guys think thats a bad idea then? i think the idea is that if you can pack out the space between the line and the cable, theres nowhere the water can get in a freeze.

Glad to hear its not just my glanza. So many little problems with her, startin to get me down.

Oz

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Mate if you accidentally get WD40 on your brake discs they wont work for a good while which could be very dangerous!!!

Bucket of warm water over them before you leave in the morning :rolleyes:

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Mate if you accidentally get WD40 on your brake discs they wont work for a good while which could be very dangerous!!!

Bucket of warm water over them before you leave in the morning :rolleyes:

Fair point mate. :lol:

by the way, met you last year at the RR session, gutted to read about your car. Looked awesome in the flesh and had a lovely exhaust note. hope nows the time to get another starlet and get the 4efte in the bastard lol!

OZ

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No my handbrake got plenty of use in the snow lol.

If you have a garage or driveway just do what Ryno said, I wouldn't risk it out on the street though especially if it's near any hills. :rolleyes:

The other thing you could do is just chuck some hot/warm water over it, just make sure to test the brakes as you drive away.

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Fair point mate. :lol:

by the way, met you last year at the RR session, gutted to read about your car. Looked awesome in the flesh and had a lovely exhaust note. hope nows the time to get another starlet and get the 4efte in the bastard lol!

OZ

I know who you are matey :rolleyes: Wheels look great now!! :lol:

Cheers mate yea tis a real shame when I look back at pics etc going to pick up a GT on sunday though cant wait!!!

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if you do 'drag my cars arse down the road like a dog on carpet' :rolleyes: or feel that it's free enough to drive then just do a short sprint up the road and check your rear brakes!

i thought mine were free until i got out and checked them a mile down the road to find both the rear discs glowing orange and spitting flames! :lol: did look the shit tho!

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I know who you are matey :lol: Wheels look great now!! :rolleyes:

Cheers mate yea tis a real shame when I look back at pics etc going to pick up a GT on sunday though cant wait!!!

Yeah, bit better than the hubcaps on her when you saw it lol!

Gone for a ep82 eh? quality! bet you cant wait for booooooosssst!! :lol:

Thanks for all your suggestions. Was frozen today, so let the car run for 10mins, threw a couple of buckets of warm water over the rear wheels, a bit of rocking back and forward and hey presto!

Cheers chaps!

Oz

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there's not alot you can do realy these are the mains things you can do:

1,leave the handbrake off or on one notch put in gear a leave it like that over nigh

2,get some warm or hot water and throw it over the rear wheels hoping it will free up the calipers

3,get a new handbrake cable- usaly the warn handbrakes suffer more from freezing in the mornings

4,somw put WD40 around all the connections but WD40+Brakes dont realy go lol.

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i had the same problem a few nights ago, i liv on a slope so i tried moving back first n i thought the car was fucked, i tried goin up the hill and the front wheels were spinnin but i didnt worry because i wasnt going backwards because the handbrake was on lol.

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  • 1 year later...

Ok i think i have this problem im trying to change my pads done the frount no problems move onto the back and i can get the piston bit to move back to give me enough room to get the new pads in is this because my lines are frozen dont ask me why i did it today but still.....

Ok i think i have this problem im trying to change my pads done the frount no problems move onto the back and i can get the piston bit to move back to give me enough room to get the new pads in is this because my lines are frozen dont ask me why i did it today but still.....

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ive had this problem, if i leave my hand break off and leave it in gear, it freezes off, and wont go on, first time it happended i hit my rear calipers with a hammer which released it but now it just gets stuck right on lol

so just leaving in gear for the moment! =D

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glad to see we arn't the only ones with this annoying issue.

First time it happend it toom me a while to know what was wrong. Was to early, i drove down the road and couldnt undrstand why the car kept coming to a hault after shifting from 1st to second lol.

Easiest solution , leave in gear overnight......simples :thumbsup:

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