Stuck parking brake!

[thaibuddie]

90 Camry Wagon V6 LE with rear disc brakes.

I was letting it idle and noticed smoke coming from the underside of the rear of the car. I let it idle for a while as I looked for the source, but couldn't find it.

Now my parking brake is stuck on. I can only assume leaking brake fluid was burning off the exhaust, but why is it stuck on? Any help to troubleshoot would be appreciated. The brake fluid does not seem to me excessively low, but I am not sure of the exact level prior to this incident.

THANKS!

[HomeGrown]

Rusty parking brake cable?

Assuming you just got the car, a common scenerio would be:

Owner 1 never used the parking brake, which is entirely possible on an AT car.
Owner 2 comes along and decides to use the parking brake, which has possibly never been used before.

A good yank on the handle will pull the cable, but the return spring cannot overcome the rust that's developed from non-use. Hence, parking brake is now stuck.

[thaibuddie]

so i just learned that the car has an internal drum on the disc rotor which is designated for parking brake. the smoke I believe is coming from a small transmission leak oR something unrelated.

HOW DO I GET THE BRAKE UNSTUCK? I am able to get the caliper off no problem, but with the brake stuck, there is no way to get the rotor/drum off. there is plenty of slack in the cable right where it goes into the cable housing, so this is not the problem.

PLEASE HELP

[thaibuddie]

thanks HomeGrown, but I have been the owner for over two years and regulary use the parking brake. I have let too much slack accumulate in the cable (brake handle comes up way too far) but what do i do now?

Maybe i could undo the cable housing cinch bolts and pull on the housing to free it up?

THANKS!

[PaulyJay]

what ever you do remember that if you "break" your brakes you will need to get them looked at asap. in fact, if you can't work out what the problem is i'd be paying a professional to look at the problem. better than a quick fix that will sieze again in the short term.

[thaibuddie]

thanks PaulyJay, but I am confident in my mechanical abilities to fix ( not just rig ).

Since they brake is only partially applied (as opposed to fully locked ) I drove a little and heard a clicking noise from the rear. I am pretty sure that I have broken one (or both) of the return springs. The only way I can imagine to fix is to get some type of puller to pull off the rotor/drum and access the broken part. The puller that I have will not fit between the rotor and back plate and it appears that the rotor/drum must come off prior to the back plate.

How do you pull the rotor/drum???

[Kep]

I am unfamiliar with the combination caliper/drum type brake. However, the "straight" drum brakes have two threaded holes that you put about 3" bolts into and tightened them alternately until the drum is pressed off. You might look to see if there are any similar holes in the drum area that might be used the same. If the brakes are on when you do this you might damage some of the internal parts but it should be repairable.

Kep

[thaibuddie]

you the man kep, i think you are right. i remember seeing some small holes, i will look into it tomorrow
THANKS!

[PaulyJay]

photo? might help to explain the problem. and then i'll know what i'm looking at if i have the same problem.

[HomeGrown]

Normally there are small round spring-metal retainers around a few of the lug bolts. Just break these off. If the rotor is stuck, it's most likely caused by rust on the center hub. A couple taps with a hammer here may break it loose. If it's stuck due to the parking brake shoes being applied to the inner drum, that's a whole different game.

The slack in your parking brake cable which is evident in how far you raise the handle leads me to believe that the parking brake return spring is not pulling the cable back. Sounds like either the return spring may be broken, or simply seized up and unable to return. If it were my car, I would see what I could do to persuade the cable in the return direction, if it's not able to return itself. With the caliper off, I'm assuming that you can't rotate the disc by hand? That would prove it was the parking brake holding it (or a REALLY bad wheel bearing!).

The only thing I can think of that would force a parking brake to be engaged is either by the cable unable to return, or some retaining component fell off & jammed itself in the brake. All the dead travel in your parking brake handle makes me believe it's a seized cable.

[thaibuddie]

so yes, there are two small holes in the rotor/drum assembly which bolts can be inserted to press of the rotor/drum.

indeed my parking brakes were stuck on

the smoke I referred to in my original post was the result of my parking brake cable housings melting for the exhaust heat as it idled (even through the fancy little heat shield toyota provided) everything else was in order

These parking brake cables look quite pricy, any leads on a cheap source?

THANKS EVERYONE

[Kep]

Don't know about a source for the cables.

Something has me concerned. What caused enough heat to melt the cable insulation? I had a 1990 for 350,000 miles and over 15 years. I never had this situation. Have you modified anything that would cause the exhaust to be hotter?

The reason I ask is that if it got hot enough to melt the originals it will probably melt the replacements as well.

Kep

[thaibuddie]

i was afraid someone would ask that, and am embarrassed to admit that i was using one of those magic head gasket repair concoctions.

i had read a lot of good stuff about it online and talked to a few different auto parts stores, all good reviews. It's the K&W brand and requires the car to idle for 1/2hour (i went for 40 minutes just to be safe).

it does seem wrong that the cables burnt, but my car is bone stock and i can only imagine that it was never intended to idle to long.

anyway, as far as i can tell the head gasket repair worked, but it is too early to be sure...

[atobe]

try the local junk yard ???