Preventing the rear brakes from freezing?!

Gee

Gee

Member +
Is there any way to prevent this?

2 days in a row mine have frozen now! I run the engine to get some heat through the exhaust, which musy help defrost them, but I don't like to idle when cold, due to piston slap (forged engine).
 
stuart

stuart

Member +
Mine did this, this morning, had to sit for 10 mins for them to defrost also!!

Any info would help :D
 
Gee

Gee

Member +
gv1.3 said:
you could park the car with the handbrake off... just leave it in gear.
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I don't know what I am missing here, but I have tried to park the car, handbrake off and in gear, but the car still rolls?

I am parked on a slight hill thou...
 
Dave.

Dave.

Member +
Won't roll much, leave it in first, and it should roll forward (mibbe a foot?), then it'll stop and be totally solid mate.

I had this once, and wd40's f*ck out of everything, never had it since :)

piston slap is what you get with forged engines, until they come up to temperature (literally the pistons slapping off the sides of the bores i think)
 
Dave.

Dave.

Member +
Piston slap? Don't think so, its just excessive wear and tear, better to heat up the car while driving, idle takes far to long, and the oil doesn't circulate properly.

all cars should heat up being driven sensibly to avoid excessive wear and tear, only more true for forged engines :)
 
Gee

Gee

Member +
dave-gtturbo said:
Won't roll much, leave it in first, and it should roll forward (mibbe a foot?), then it'll stop and be totally solid mate.

I had this once, and wd40's f*ck out of everything, never had it since :)
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I used WD40 yesterday and this morning. Hopefully it will help for tonight!

Ahh, I see what you mean...it started to roll so I jus thought "that aint working" LOL
 
Dave.

Dave.

Member +
lol, it'll roll a bit before the gears lock or whatever happens :p

Think that'll do the trick mate, but just in case, keep handbrake off and keep it in gear :)

Dave
 
R

Ryno

Member +
aaahhhh the good ol' freezing rear brakes, i don't miss that one bit! :p

tbh i use to just keep an eye on the weather and leave it in gear too!

think it's just a common problem with Starlets!

not sure what it's caused by....moisture in HB cable? :confused:
 
Dave.

Dave.

Member +
I think so mate, only thing that makes sense.

I've had starlets for over 2 years now, and this has only happened once!
 
S

sdutton007

Member +
I've been having this problem for the last few days too - its just my rear right brake though...


Ages ago, shortly after I got my starlet, i had problems with all 4 brakes getting excessively hot (but the back right was the worst) until it wouldnt physically move and i had to wait 20 minutes for them to cool down until I could drive it again..... also warped my discs to fcuk :mad:

then I got told by a mechanic that the handbrake ratchet in the rear-right caliper had seized, so replaced it with a 2nd hand one I bought off someone on here, and until now I've had no problems

This morning, i left my house and then like 2 mins later my rear-right wheel just started skidding down the road past all the mums walkin their kids to school, I must have looked like a right twat lol!!!

Anybody got any ideas? I don't like driving my car like this - can't help thinkin that if i take a corner and the brake decides to lock on then im gonna spin out into a 3 tonne 4x4 coming the other way!
 
Gee

Gee

Member +
Mine froze on this morning, did not get the car going for 30 minutes! It is the left one I am having a problem with. It starting to defrost slowly, so I tried driving it a litte..wheel was moving but brake was still on. Parked up and smoke was coming from my rear caliper!

Eventually it become unstuck. Real pain in the arse!

Dont think any damage has been done. Parked up afterwards no probs and handbrake still works.
 
S

sdutton007

Member +
Gee said:
Mine froze on this morning, did not get the car going for 30 minutes! It is the left one I am having a problem with. It starting to defrost slowly, so I tried driving it a litte..wheel was moving but brake was still on. Parked up and smoke was coming from my rear caliper!

Eventually it become unstuck. Real pain in the arse!

Dont think any damage has been done. Parked up afterwards no probs and handbrake still works.
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Yeah, smoke was pouring out of my caliper as well..... I've spoken to 2 mechanics - one has never heard of it happening, and one said it used to happen decades ago when the handbrake cable would freeze over, but then both wheels would lock up, not just one...
 
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