I live on a sloped driveway, and use our parking brake to hold the vehicle. Well, I guess the parking brake is frozen, it won't release. It's about 15F outside. Also windy. Wondering what options might be to get it released? Anyone had to do this before?
Frozen parking brake
- Thread starter arbetrader
- Start date
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kcjaz
SILVER Star
are you saying that when you disengage the hand lever the park brake doesn't release at the rear drums? Like the pads are stuck to the drums?
- Thread starter
- #4
Yeah it could very much be that. Not sure. Yes I tried putting it in reverse/drive a few times... Didn't free them up
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- #5
NOPE It's not that at all. The cable itself is frozen. I ended up "hoping" that it was just the inner shoe frozen to the drum, but definitely not that. I guess I have to either wait until it warms up, OR overheat the inner drum while driving to a shop to have them park it inside overnight.
Sorry to hear that. I generally don’t put the parking brake on when parking overnight in sub freezing temps for this exact reason.
First time hearing about this on the 200, but my past chevy’s were notorious for locking up when frozen.
First time hearing about this on the 200, but my past chevy’s were notorious for locking up when frozen.
Is the mechanism rusty? Do you live where they salt the roads in winter? Do you use the parking brake often?
I use my parking brake every time I park to keep everything moving freely. And i fluid film the mechanism every year to prevent rust. Been super lucky - none of my Land Cruisers parking brakes have ever had issues even after decades. Not that they have ever held the vehicle very well, but they work.
Hmm. The parking brake on the 200 is much less prone to corrosion than on previous generations. Possible points:
-frozen shoes (or broken shoes) (described above)
-Broken cable, or rust around the cable-to-rear-brake housing (4650560220), allowing water ingress and rust
-pinched cable? (I doubt it, but worth tracing the line to see if there are any obvious signs of damage.)
-rusted parking brake shoe lever sub-assembly (466010C010)
-frozen shoes (or broken shoes) (described above)
-Broken cable, or rust around the cable-to-rear-brake housing (4650560220), allowing water ingress and rust
-pinched cable? (I doubt it, but worth tracing the line to see if there are any obvious signs of damage.)
-rusted parking brake shoe lever sub-assembly (466010C010)
As a youth I was taught to not apply the parking brake in the winter. In the Lower Rainland where the OP lives we have a lot of water and seldom get freezing temps so that when we do the possibility of water freezing in the cables is pretty high. My guess is that the water in the cables has froze and the return spring isn’t strong enough the break it loose. The only suggestion I have is to try and yank another click or two on the hand brake to get the cable to break loose enough for the return spring to release the cable. Other than that a heater underneath is probably your best option or wait until Saturday. Boy am i glad that our two weeks in Belize came at the right time. AIM the heater at any low point that looks like it would hold water.
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- #11
Hello, no it did not free up, I took it to a brake shop and they told me it needed all new brakes, including new parking brake levers etc. I ended up doing a full rear brake job (pads/rotors initially), and drove it home. The rear brakes overheated on the way home. They told me it needed new calipers. I got new calipers and they installed. Then it did it again - doh!! So they tried adjusting things, and I just brought over to the Toyota dealer to find out the brake shop didn't adjust things properly. The reason I took it to that brake shop (independent) is because the owners had been so great to us over the years, but they unfortunately sold to new owners recently, and it was a horrible experience. Toyota Abbotsford gave me friends/family pricing, so I did a complete fluid change too, and they adjusted it. Works perfectly now! Sheesh, what an ordeal!
