What Can Cause My Parking Brake to Get Stuck?
A number of things can cause your parking to get stuck, including the environment, corrosion, and how or how long it’s been engaged.
- Cold Weather Can Freeze Your Parking Brake
- Your Parking Brake is Rusted or Corroded
- Leaving Your Parking Brake on Too Long Can Make It Stick
- Too Much Force Was Used When Engaging Your Parking Brake
Don’t Panic if Your Parking Brake Sticks
You get in your car, start the engine, and release the parking brake, ready to go – except it doesn’t budge. Usually, your parking brake easily disengages. What’s wrong this time? A number of things can cause your parking to get stuck, including the environment, corrosion, and how or how long it’s been engaged. No matter what your circumstances are, there are ways you can try to disengage the parking brake before getting a brake repair.
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Cold Weather Can Freeze Your Parking Brake
Winter weather can be hard on a lot of parts of your car, including the car brake. If you aren’t able to keep your car in a garage where temperatures don’t get quite so cold, there’s a chance you can come out to a frozen brake. Luckily, if this is your problem, your brakes should be just fine once you’re able to thaw them enough to release the parking brake.
What Can You Do to Fix It?
Basically, you just need to melt any ice that has frozen your brakes into place. You can start by starting your car and letting the engine warm up a bit. This can help melt the ice. To speed up the process, you can gently rev the engine to help it warm up faster. Make several attempts to disengage the brakes once the car is warm and you should be able to dislodge them from the rest of the ice. If none of that works, you can also figure out which brake is stuck and use a hair dryer to speed up the process.
Your Parking Brake is Rusted or Corroded
As your car and its brake system get older, they can get rusty and corroded, especially in more humid climates where moisture can accumulate on metal parts. If the cable that engages the parking brake becomes rusty or corroded, it will be difficult or impossible to disengage your brake without getting the car to a repair shop.
What Can You Do to Fix It?
In this case, to get your brake unstuck, you can try engaging and disengaging the parking break several times. It’s possible this will dislodge some of the rust. Similarly, you can shift back and forth between drive and reverse a few times to see if that helps. Really, the best way to get out of this situation is to not get into it in the first place. You can try and keep your car brake parts from rusting by using them at least once a day to slow buildup.
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Leaving Your Parking Brake on Too Long Can Make It Stick
Especially if you have a car you only use during certain seasons, keeping it in storage with the parking brake engaged for long periods of time can cause it to stick. This is especially true in cold temperatures, though it’s not always frozen brakes causing the problem.
What Can You Do to Fix It?
In this case, to get your brake unstuck, you can try engaging and disengaging the parking break several times. It’s possible this will dislodge some of the rust. Similarly, you can shift back and forth between drive and reverse a few times to see if that helps. Really, the best way to get out of this situation is to not get into it in the first place. You can try and keep your car brake parts from rusting by using them at least once a day to slow buildup.
Too Much Force Was Used When Engaging Your Parking Brake
Whether you had a bad day or just got excited about being back home, maybe you were a bit too forceful when engaging your parking brake the last time. In this case, you likely have a jammed brake, meaning the brake shoes are stuck against the walls of the wheel drum or maybe the cable from the brake handle to the wheels has been stretched. This can potentially only be fixed by a mechanic.
What Can You Do to Fix It?
If this is your problem, your only options are to try releasing the brake several times or try to physically free the brakes yourself. More likely, you’ll have to call a tow truck and have your car taken to an auto repair shop for a brake repair.
Time for a Brake Repair? Call AAMCO Colorado
Found yourself stuck at home with a jammed parking brake? Luckily, the mechanics at AAMCO Colorado can get you out of any brake jam, including a free tow to the repair shop if you aren’t able to free your brakes at home.
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