Brakes are locked, need help

[karugs]

My mom told me her car didn't want to move after parking it for the night (in the street). After watching 24 I went out to check, the transmission engages if in D or R (didn't check the rest) and when I released the handbrake and brake pedal, car didn't move. Put some pedal to it and the car tried to move but was prevented by what seems like locked brakes. My uncle suggested to wait til the cars are gone in the morning and force the brakes by putting more power to it until she lets go.

Now once that is done can anybody advise me on what to do and what to check as a rundown in order to ensure the car's safety? My mom drives alot and she barely checks the car so we might do a maintenance on it aside from the brake system. It needs new axles (CV boots torn) and makes grinding noises, possibly because of the axles. But we'll have the car checked tomorrow (after hopefully successfully unlocking the brakes).

I'll see if I can also find anything tomorrow. I have a MityVac if that helps remove the old brake fluid to unlock the brake calipers but that's as far as I know. I have some tools too since I work on my car, if there are any tools that are specialized for this job kindly let me know. I have a floor jack, two 2 ton jackstands and a hydraulic jack, plus a pair of wheel chocks. This is kinda new to me as brake locks never happened to us until now.

Once again, thanks for your responses in advance. Car's a 1992 DX. Apologies if this has been covered, I didn't know if it's going to be any similar to the ones I found so I posted a new one.

[REN69]

try moving back and forth back and forth from D to R to or from D to Neutral, the brakes should unlock. Sounds like she's going to need a brake job soon.

[karugs]

Thanks, I didn't want to do that since there are cars parked in front and behind the car, it might suddenly give and hit them. I hope they only yield up to that point, but not totally go completely!!

[SR5_4WD]

My other car did something similar after I let it sit for a month. I just tapped the wheel out from the inside edge all the way around. A bunch of rust fell off and then it was good!

[Blackstone]

It's not uncommon in Maine for rust to lock these drums against the back plate, but it probably wouldn't get that severe overnight, considering that rust isn't so much a problem on the west coast. My guess is that the hardware fell apart inside the drum, pinning the shoes against the drum. Either way, she could probably use some new shoes and hardware back there. If the drums are similar to the '94 I had to unlock last week, there may be two threaded holes in the front of the drum where you can use bolts to help you work the drum off the shoes. If the adjusters are siezed, just replace them. They're cheap enough. The spring kit shouldn't be more than $20 for both sides. Even if you are able to free up the brakes by moving the vehicle, something still isn't right and I recommend pulling the drums off to inspect.

[punter]

Originally Posted by Blackstone

I recommend pulling the drums off to inspect.

As a absolute minimum, brakes are important!

[karugs]

Well it turns out that:

Front right brake caliper was stuck because the pad dislodged from the caliper and in between the brake dust shield and the rotor! Two shims were also destroyed! So we got them all out, cleaned it and reinstalled with new pads (they were already metal-to-metal!). Surprisingly they were only replaced last June or May, not even one year! Bled the brakes while we were at it and put in new DOT 3 fluid, took it for a drive and it's now OK.

So check your brakes once in a while! These cars don't have the warning indicators if the pads are running thin...

[punter]

Did you clean and grease the sliders on the calipers, they can get stuck and cause excesive pad wear. (you need to you high temp grease)

[Raddman]

(they were already metal-to-metal!). Surprisingly they were only replaced last June or May, not even one year! Bled the brakes while we were at it and put in new DOT 3 fluid, took it for a drive and it's now OK.

If it was metal to metal I hope you replaced the rotors also ..Sounds like your sliders on your calipers are freezing and not sliding, if that's the case your new pads won't last a year again maybe less especially if your rotors are all scraped up ...As punter said it might take a little more effort but always clean and grease the sliders ...I suggest next time pull the wheels off and check what the problem might be instead of trying to break the brakes free and maybe driving on something that might be dangerous ...Good luck...Radd..