handbrake stuck on.

[pinkelephant]

Hi

Hope somebody will be able to help me with this.

I have a 2000 fabia 1.4. I have not used it for about a week and when I got in to use it today the hanbrake was stuck on and the car will not move. The lever goes down as normal but the handbrake stays on.

any ideas what this might be? How I can fix it? and how much it would cost to have it completly fixed?

I have AA but not homestart so I would prefer to get it going myself so I can bring it to a garage.

Thanks for your help

[BigW]

I would be tempted to try driving it, very slowly to try and free off the brakes.

[TommyC]

It depends what type the rear brakes are, discs or drums.

It's possible to unstick the friction material from it's backing (pads or shoes) and leave it stuck to the drum/disc!! Depends on how long the car has been left with the handbrake on.

Try driving away to see if they do free off, but if they don't, don't go much further.

Next thing is jack the car up, take the wheels off and try to fee off the brakes with tools (being very carful not to damage any braking surfaces!!!!)

BUT DON'T, WHATEVER YOU DO, USE ANY OIL OR PENETRATING FLUID (SUCH AS WD40) ON THE BRAKING SURFACES :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

[Tech1e]

Reverse first, then forwards they should release.

Might make a bit of a bang but will be ok.

[pinkelephant]

Thanks for the advice,

I just went back down and rocked it using reverse(couldnt use 1st as was parked in front of a wall). The car was absolutly glued to the ground and would not budge but after a few minutes of rocking i heard a sound and the right side released and the a few minutes later the let side released.

So thanks for all your quick responses.

Do you think this is something I should have checked out?? Probably actually.

[Tech1e]

Its nature especially with drum brakes. Its the lining sticking to the drums as they are held together over a period of time. not a lot you can do about it really.

[TommyC]

Its nature especially with drum brakes. Its the lining sticking to the drums as they are held together over a period of time. not a lot you can do about it really.

Unless you know you're gonna leave the car for any length of time, in which case you could leave it in gear, steering on full lock towards the curb and chock the wheels.....

[Tech1e]

True. but leaving the car with a gear loaded against it isnt really a good idea.

[rum4mo]

As it looks like your car is getting on for eight years old, I'd be very temped to have a look-see inside the rear brakes. It could be that the actuator arm on the shoe is seizing and keeping the brake on all the time - check the rear wheels for hot smells and maybe carefully try touching the drums after the car has been run some distance. My daughter made comments a few times about her 2002 6K Ibiza rear brakes sticking on if it was left parked for long periods ie one or two weeks - it was cold and wet so I ignored her. She went to Kiwi land for 6 weeks and left her car on my driveway, I released the hand brake the day after she left, but when I went to check the car over 4 weeks later both rear brakes were seized on, I rocked the car to release them then went for a run of about 5 miles - rear brakes still noisy and drums very warm. I stripped them down and found all four shoes friction material cracked completely across at the middle riveting point, changed shoes and found that the actuating arms were seized solid. Now her rear brakes are okay but will still obviously jam on if left in wet conditions for a week or so - but I would expect after the initial "bang" they will be completely free again. The other discovery I made about that car was that when Arnold Clarke Seat Liverpool replaced both front discs some time in its previous life, they fitted one correct disc and one previous "thinner" disc - not very professional I don't think - I replaced both with the correct type along with new pads.

[mattjw]

I get this from time to time, on my 06 Fabia VRS.

Mine appears to be my front brakes seizing to the disks if i havn't used it for a week or so...

I just rock it forward and backwards untill there is an almighty BANG as they release and there is usually an imprint of the pad on the disk afterwards.....

My discs seem to just rust up really quickly.

Should i be worried about this???

[jasc1988]

True. but leaving the car with a gear loaded against it isnt really a good idea.

mines had been left in 3rd gear for over a year as the handbrake was fubard... held it well