E-brake sticking

[Tommy6312]

Hi! I own and drive a 2005 Subaru Legacy GT MT, And yesterday night I encountered a weird phenomenon. This car was stored in a garage and not exposed to outdoor weather for the first 5 or so years of its life but afterwards was never in a garage. I live in Minnesota where the winters are harsh and summer are hot so this car has seen a lot of rust and all that good stuff. So I have been parking it in a heated garage since the start of this winter for once in its life, but last night I was leaving a friends house and it was parked outside for about 2 hours in 5 degree weather, and when I went to release the e-brake and drive off, I heard a squealing noise coming from the passages rear side brake. And I then noticed that the E-brake handle had a lot of play and was not firm to pull like it always has been. I could tell the left side was functioning properly, but something from the right side was stuck. I drove back home, first doing about 40 for the first mile and then realizing it was burning up, I slowed to 20 the rest of the way. When I made it back to my garage, I could smell it burning and was letting off a lot of heat from that area. I left the car overnight with the E-brake off and just had it sitting in first gear. And I come back the next morning to see if anything has changed and sure enough, the E-brake handle was firm again and nothing was sticking as far as I could tell.

 

I am no car expert, I’ve only replaced front wheel bearings and front pads on this car, along with the clutch with help from a retired mechanic, and I am seeking help from hopefully people who have a better idea of what may have happened.

 

I suspect that something seized, and I think it had to be ice, due to it working perfectly after being in a heated garage overnight, but that still does not make sense, because if it was ice it should have melted and freed itself along the drive back home when the assembly became so hot it was burning. I also suspect that maybe Ice somehow formed in the E-brake cable and caused it to stick, somewhere farther away from the assembly causing heat to not be effective to melt it on the drive home, but then in the heated garage it was able to melt? Just some ideas I had, not knowing much about cars and how that assembly works.

 

Any ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Edited December 29, 2020 by Tommy6312

[All_talk]

Sure sounds like water/ice in the brake cable, its a common issue on some cars, tho I dont think it happen to much with our models. In any case, the water is getting in where it shouldn't, that means the outer cable housing is damaged letting in water, or the seal where the cable enters the backing plate is bad.

 

Either way replacing the cable should solve the problem. Its a bit of a bugger to change out, you have to disassemble the brake assembly at the wheel and center console inside.

[Max Capacity]

Inspect the cables, see if there are any breaks in the shielding. If not may be spray some PB Blaster on the ends and see if that helps. You may need to spray it a few times over a few day's.

 

My wagon has never been garaged and has never had this problem. It's driven a lot in New England Winters.

[delbon]

I had the same experience and ended up replacing the cables.