Help. Rear tire is locked.

[naDintheHat]

So it snowed a good 6-8 inches up here and my car has been driving like a champ in it. I go outside to go pick up my lunch and i put it in reverse and it feels like there are sandbags behind the wheels ( no snow). I dont know if something might be frozen due to the fact the person next to me piled the snow up against the rear tire, so it was covered. Any suggestions at all, i do believe that the e-brake only locks one tire (correct?) so that might have failed?

-Dan

[specVogel]

the ebrake locks both rear wheels and its probably frozen. you can try to drive and drag the tire until the e brake comes loose. or you can take the wheel off and smack the brakes with a hammer.

[77F-150]

if you have drum breaks,i always use a flame to heat them up. the best part is when they let go. it always scares me

[naDintheHat]

Sorry i should have included more info. They are disk in the rear. I tried to drive it and let it break the ice if frozen. All it ended up doing was rotating a bit then locking hard again. I think the brake isnt releasing because the the rotor is very hot, i pulled over and walked around back and could feel the heat.

-Dan

[naDintheHat]

Bump for the broken.

[Evo8kid]

well the ebrake is a drum, on the inner part of the rotor, so if anything is stuck, its the ebrake,inside that drum

[xEJ20x]

Bearing could be seized.

[TROLL]

if the rotor is hot, then a piston in the caliper is probably seized. its not common on stock brakes but it does happen. the other possibility is that your ebrake is seized up and creating friction there which is creating the heat.
but if you say there's heat then it must be turning, reluctantly.

[naDintheHat]

Yeah it turns maybe half a turn, then relocks. I think i am going to check the ebrake first.
:update:
After reading a guide on MKIII parking brakes, i think it is safe to assume that the problem is the ebrake.
Thanks everyone for your help on this i just now need to find a place to work on it or have the work done up here.

The link to the guide if anyone is interested.
http://faculty.ccp.edu/faculty/dreed/Campingart/jettatech/fuelparkbrake/index.htm

[SmokeyBandit]

well the ebrake is a drum, on the inner part of the rotor, so if anything is stuck, its the ebrake,inside that drum


Not all manufacturers use a separate drum for the e-brake (my old Camry did). VW's uses the caliper itself. This is why you have to push and turn the piston to retract it (instead of the usual C-clamp).

Also, since the ebrake is all locked up, the caliper itself may need replacing, since the e-brake mechanism is faulty.

good site to buy parts is www.germanautoparts.com

[specVogel]

i would check the ebrake cable first before condemning the caliper. alot of the time water gets in cracks in the casing and freezes the cable and causes it to lock up.

[naDintheHat]

Update on the situation:

I got pissed off today and just decided to disconnect the right rear parking brake cable, the caliper was stuck after i disconnected and and i just popped it open with a screwdriver. Hopped in turned her on and put it in reverse and ...magic.. no more feeling of driving over a large rock behind my wheel. I am going to replace it at some point in the near future but cash is super tight.

Thanks alot for everyone's help.

-Dan