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Parking break seized?

2K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  Myles Cyncora 
#1 ·
I just did an oil and filter change at 170k kms on my 2013 FPIS. When I put my car on the ramps buddy told me to put on the Ebreak. Now after the oil change I am getting much worse gas mileage and I can hear a slight rubbing noise at slow speeds with the window open. So I believe the Ebreak is starting to seize. Any easy fixes? Or do I have to get all the breaks re done?
 
#2 ·
Well, first thing to check would be around rear calipers to see if by any chance the cable or the external ebrake lever is seized. You can see the cable and the big-ass spring lever it's attached to right there. If you put your P/B on/off that should correspond to the compressing/relaxing of the spring (you can see it clearly). The ebrake in your car is not like that of old which operates set of shoes inside of the drum, so I don't see how it would seize on a 6yo car. What might be happening however, is a stuck piston or, quite likely seized slider pin(s). If that's the case, a very quick and cheap fix is to remove the (top) portion of the caliper that holds the piston from the caliper bracket, remove the slide pins (if they don't want to come out, well there's your problem), clean them real good (including the holes they slide into), lube with some proper synthetic lube and away you go. The pins should slide in/out very, very easily and they are prone to cooking off the lube and getting stuck. Technically this is something one should inspect annually.
 
#4 ·
Follow up to parking break seized

Follow up to the EBreak seizing. Since this has happened I've been checking the temperature of my breaks with the back of my fingers, almost every time I drive. I've noticed that the front breaks are burning hot after a 12 minute drive to work, where the breaks are barely above room temperature. That's after sitting all night. I've been checking my Instant fuel more now and its show VERY HIGH numbers like 30L/100kms all the way up to 80L/100kms. Can I get the same guy that replied to my first post, do you think it's still something in the back? Or is that normal and I'm just getting real city mileage now?
 
#5 ·
Checking the brakes (I'm assuming rotors) with the back of your fingers will hardly tell you anything. During quite normal city driving and applying brakes from say 40mph, the rotors will get very, very hot, enough to burn. Likewise, checking fuel economy is a signal something is badly off but you can't tell whether it's your fronts, rears or brakes at all. 30L/100 is definitely not an expected city consumption unless you have a lead foot, mine gets ~18-20mpg (~15L/100) with typical driving style, I can't imagine 30+ being even close to normal. As I said, chances are it is your brakes, and the first and easiest thing to do is to drop the wheels, remove calipers and inspect pins/pistons/pads as well as front/back of each rotor. If all that looks/works good it could be wheel bearing(s) too.
 
#6 ·
The only easy way to check for a sticking brake is to use an IR gun and see if one corner has a much higher reading than the others after a normal drive. Feel doesn't really cut it. The correct way involves lifting the car and seeing how easily the wheels will rotate compared to each other, but that's obviously more annoying to do for most people. I would think a 2013 would set an ABS/wheel speed related code if one wheel was dragging super bad though.
 
#7 ·
Do you have a jack?
Parking brake test is easy. Jack up the rear of the car, spin the back tire. Should spin easily with no noticeable dragging or noise. Apply parking brake and try again. Should be rock solid. Release the parking brake and spin again. If the parking brake is releasing properly, then the final spin should be the same as the first spin. Both sides should be similar. If you have significant dragging on only one side during both first and last tests - it could be either the parking brake or the caliper. If both sides - most likely the parking brake cables.
Your PI is AWD so this can only be done with the transmission in neutral. (Chock the front wheels!!)

Best way to know if ONE caliper is dragging is to start cold and drive several km at speed then COAST to a stop without applying the brakes (or as little as possible) during the trip. If you have a dragging brake, one wheel will be warm (or hot) from dragging while you were at speed. The others will be cool as they have not been used.

Or - jack up the front wheels with the car in neutral (and chocked) and give each a spin. Dragging will be noticeable.
 
#8 ·
Hey another follow up to my breaks. I finally had a chance to jack up my car and spin each wheel in neutral. Every wheel was VERY hard to spin. Felt like was trying to move the whole car on the ground in neutral. I could hear grinding on each wheel as well. I didn't take the wheels off, that will be tomorrow if any one sees this today.
 
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