e-brake cable frozen (ice)

[jblueridge]

It is actually well below freezing here in Virginia and my parking brake cable is frozen "on".
The parking brake lever/handle is free to move but the rear brakes are on and some tapping and even bashing the bellcranks with a hammer won't loosen them.

Given that one day the ice will melt or I will melt it, how do I go about lubing the cable up in the housing?

Do I need to disconnect it?

 

[LDowney]

Because the cable can not be removed from the housing and has a relative short throw, I am not aware of a effective way to lube the cable for the length of the housing. You could pull the cable out of the truck, then manually move it from max-in to max-out and liberally lube the exposed cable. Repeat this dozens of times until the resistance to movement is gone. Without being able to remove the cable from the housing, it is unlikely that the middle of the cable will benefit from your efforts.
My solution was to replace the cable with a new one from Toyota (which comes with a new housing).
To free your brakes now, the cable connects to an actuation lever on the outside of each rear brake housing. Pull the pins that connect the cable to each lever and you should be good to go. Retain the pins for re-use when the cable is well lubed (or replaced).

Good luck.

 

[roscoFJ73]

Drive a short distance with the handbrake on. The heat should melt it fast. I don't think it is normally lubed.

 

[ozcrusier]

Steam clean to get back on the road then strip and clean with some antifreeze what temps you talking.

 

[jblueridge]

About -13C. No steam cleaner here but I have a heat gun.

I like the anti-freeze idea.

I did drive a short way hitting every rock and bump on purpose.
Brake drums got very hot, cable stayed frozen.

Ironically, my lowly MGB had a grease nipple on the brake cable to lube the housing. That brake never worked either however because the cable had stretched too far.

 

[ozcrusier]

Strange for the cable to freeze at -13 there must be condensation wicking into the cable somewhere for it to ice up. Maybe pull the cables and have a good look over them to determine whats going on as it might be a simple rubber gomit install to solve the problem.

 

[jblueridge]

There is a ford in the river (well, Stream, anyway) that I drive through fairly often.
That is the source of the water/ice in the cable.

I used a heat gun to melt the ice and I have not used the hand-brake since.
Good enough for now as snow is coming.

 

[kbushnz]

Are you sure its the cable... have the brake shoes stuck inside the drum? If they are don't drive it.... I had one stuck due to it being slightly rusted on.... really just silt... Reversed it up to break it free and ended up bending the trailing arm.
I would suggest if you live in a cold climate and have an auto... Utilise the park feature for your hand brake... If manual.... Chock it..

 

[ozcrusier]

My old dirt bike days we used to clean and oil the cables and get as much marine grease you could in each end off the cable to keep the water out. Maybe melt the marine grease in a pot and submerge the cable and try and soak it through the cable to help disperse water before entry.