Siezed calliper(s), or handbrake cable problem?

[Critical_Mass 10]

ah ok, ill bear that in mind :salute: cheers.

[SIMONG 0]

couldnt be bothered trying to "service" the cables so got two new ones. thought might as well do both whilst the centre console is out. driver side off no probs (unsiezed side). came to get the passenger off bit of a nightmare. it had sized into the metal guide which runs from the outside to the base of the handbrake lever. think that may have been my problem as the end of the cable looked pretty good.

[Jim 2]

Popped over to see Dave and Graham today - and a bit of investigation revealed that the boot on the cable on the drivers side had indeed given up and was full of water.. the likely culprit. They changed that cable for a new one and Dave greased the backs / sides of the pads as they were dry.. seems to have cured the awful binding noise when reversing and the handbrake seems to go on and off OK now.. so fingers crossed that did it :)

[Kempy 0]

sounds good. Ive been investigating my handbrake issue today. disks and pads are fine, piston come in and out. Must be the cable been stretched or something. Does it say somewhere in this thread where that boot is that you got water in?

[colinstubbs 0]

where that boot is that you got water in?

 

The boot is on the caliper end of the cable mate.

[4eyes2wheels 0]

Got a call from the Mrs half an hour ago. She's driving the VR in the snow and called to say smoke coming from back wheel. I quick diagnosed handbrake stuck on (thanks to this thread) and told her to get it safely off the road. Ten mins later she's on the phone saying an AA van was passing and he got under the car had hit it with a hammer and she is sorted. So thanks to the AA!

[Ben-B 0]

Go out to the car at 4.30 this morning to go into work for 5am, handbrake is stuck on (passenger side).

 

Wheel just about rotates on the dry road surface, but on the wet/icy surface it is completely locked up. Made it to the top of my road and just had to turn back... Sprayed de-icer in the general area, but was too dark to see anything like if the caliper mechanism is seized... and I was in a suit so didn't want to be crawling around.

 

Unfortunately it looks like the temperature is set to DROP throughout the day, so no hope of ice melting if that is the cause. And I don't have any money left this month to take a taxi... only got today/tomorrow/wed to work then I'm off til after xmas, but not sure how I'm gonna get into work

[Jim 2]

Could try what I did try to do, which was a hair dryer on an extension cable out to the caliper.. might free it up if you sit there long enough. Alternatively throw some hot water in there.

 

Once it's off, just remember not to put the handbrake on again and always park in gear!

[SamG40 0]

I've had this after putting the car in the garage for two weeks (handbrake off) and not using it. It is the passenger side also. I put new cables on and Mk4 rears about two years ago so a bit annoyed as this is what I was hoping to avoid.

[Ben-B 0]

went back out to the car after half an hour, had a fiddle around with the handbrake mechanism got the cable releasing slightly, and it didn't lock the rear wheel up anymore, or cause (too much) resistance, so I drove to work.

 

30 seconds after pulling up at work, after a 15-mile drive, the rear brake disc was just cool enough to touch without it being painful, but was still pretty hot (I hadn't "used" the brakes for at least 5 minutes either, as I can just coast down the drive at work into the parking space)

 

Left the handbrake off, left the car in N too, as I noticed last time whenever you leave it in gear it always clunks as you drive off again.

On the way home, no problems, and the rear brake disc was barely warm when I got home. Handbrake is off but car is in 1st on a flat surface.

[4eyes2wheels 0]

went for a quick drive to test road conditions and reckon the OSR brake is still partly on.

 

sprayed de-icer on the caliper and then went out again, going over some speed bumps at 30 odd and "clunk". Seemed to have fully released now. Not using handbrake any more!

[Critical_Mass 10]

Yeah i dont now, not until i either get to chance to change the handbrake cables or the weather warms up.

[yellowdfp 0]

Just had the very same issue. I had noticed the handbrake becoming a little 'floppy' in the colder weather recently, but then last week, on releasing, it remained totally loose, and after reading this forum I suspected the rear brakes were now stuck on. Driving a few miles confirmed this (drag and hot wheels!). I had hoped that a gentle drive would free them up, but no.

 

So the other evening, whilst dodging snow showers, I got the rear wheels off and discovered that on both sides, the bottom of the rubber cable gator had become detached from the cable caliper mount, exposing the the cable. As this thread suggests, this was no doubt letting moisture in, which in recent -5 to -10 degree temperatures must have frozen.

 

DSCF3567 (Large).JPG[/attachment:32wwoz1n]

A few taps with a hammer on the cable ends where they join the lever arms had them freed up. A tiny squirt of WD40 and some grease around the cable under the gator (which I re-located onto the cable caliper mount as in the pic) will I hope help. The handbrake does now seem to be working better, but I'm not risking using it much until the temperature stays above 0 degrees for a while, as I suspect that only then will any remaining moisture start to disapate.

 

Update 02/01/11: The weather has been warmer (above freezing at least) over Christmas and New Year, so I have started using the handbrake again and it is currently working very well and smoothly, so happy :). Will need to keep an eye on those cable gators.

[MonkeyVR6 0]

Shittums. Think this has just happened to me.

 

My passenger-side rear caliper has seized and the alloy wheel is HOT as hell. Guess I need to call my local VW dealership tomorrow. :?

[Jim 2]

Seems to be the season for it! :)

[MonkeyVR6 0]

Found out that it wasn't the handbrake cables at all (which are working fine), it was the rear discs that had somehow done some crazy shiz after all the mental weather we've had over here...I get the call tomorrow on how much its going to cost me!