Handbrake Seized On - a little help?

By Sir Topham Hatt
in The Neobahn

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

Sir Topham Hatt

Posted
Posted

Ford Focus MK2.

It's not been moved for a couple of weeks which is usually okay but this time the brakes have really seized on.

I tries giving it a good pull in first but then the engine started very lightly smoking and smelt a bit burning.

Any advice on what I can do? Unfortunately to make it worse, I can't access the left hand side of the car as it's next to a wall. Also can't really reverse it because that side is also close to a wall (I put it in an end space in a car park).

Thanks

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1060212-handbrake-seized-on-a-little-help/
Share on other sites
Grand Master

Detection

Posted
Posted

I remember the old brakes before the disk type (The round rusty cylinder ones) my friend was car mad, and getting them off was a right mess on, but a couple hard bangs with a hammer onto a piece of wood resting on the brake cylinder would usually free them off

Grand Master

Sir Topham Hatt

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I'm no mechanic, but this does not sound good -- take the car to a professional garage, before something worse happens.

Yeah I think it was just because I was revving it (at 6/7 out of 8) for about 20 seconds. HOwever, can't move the car = no professional garage.

However there is one round the corner who may pop round.

Still might try towing it tomorrow, see if I can budge it a little.

Proficient

srbeen

Posted
Posted

jack it up, remove the tires and see if you can free it by hand. Get it freed up (maybe WD40 help) and then clean and coat with some good spray on lubricant. be VERY careful not to get any on the pads/routers/hub!!

Most times you can jack up centre of rear of car with one jack. Then secure with jackstands.

Its usually a cable like a bike uses (bit thicker of course) that runs direct to the brakes. There should be videos on youtube or somewhere about the focus emergency brake system.

If you cant do all this - you may be able to tow it to a garage. I wouldn't pull it. you can warp things that way.

usually its only the rear tires but a flatbed would be optimal.

Use a rubber mallet or similar. don't beat on the brake system with metal one if you can avoid it. Also most braking systems have asbestos inthem. consider wearing gloves/mask.

Grand Master

Detection

Posted
Posted

jack it up, remove the tires and see if you can free it by hand. Get it freed up (maybe WD40 help) and then clean and coat with some good spray on lubricant. be VERY careful not to get any on the pads/routers/hub!!

Most times you can jack up centre of rear of car with one jack. Then secure with jackstands.

Its usually a cable like a bike uses (bit thicker of course) that runs direct to the brakes. There should be videos on youtube or somewhere about the focus emergency brake system.

If you cant do all this - you may be able to tow it to a garage. I wouldn't pull it. you can warp things that way.

usually its only the rear tires but a flatbed would be optimal.

Use a rubber mallet or similar. don't beat on the brake system with metal one if you can avoid it. Also most braking systems have asbestos inthem. consider wearing gloves/mask.

Yea this is what I was suggesting, usually a few whacks with something heavy but soft enough to not crack anything will free them off

Grand Master

Sir Topham Hatt

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Update from today: Had a go at towing it with a thick rope and other vehicle, but it wouldn't budge, even with a little revving from the car itself.

SO, looks like a garage call out. Although I do have a large jack which would fit and stands and such, I can't remove one wheel due to it being so close to the wall.

I've left it in gear with the handbrake off (maybe it'll ping off over the next couple of days). If it's not okay by Tuesday I'll contact the garage.

Experienced

StevenNT

Posted
Posted

I've left it in gear with the handbrake off (maybe it'll ping off over the next couple of days). If it's not okay by Tuesday I'll contact the garage.

To me that does not sound like a wise idea, what if it "pinged off" as you put it overnight and the car for what ever reason rolled into the road or somthing. Not somthing I'd be doing, I suggest get a garage to come and let them take it away to see what up.

Proficient

surrealvortex

Posted
Posted

To me that does not sound like a wise idea, what if it "pinged off" as you put it overnight and the car for what ever reason rolled into the road or somthing. Not somthing I'd be doing, I suggest get a garage to come and let them take it away to see what up.

He's left it in gear. Should be fine.

Grand Master

Dan~

Posted
Posted

Have you tried going into reverse?

If it was my car, I'd try heating the brake area with a hairdryer or so for ages and with the engine on, get someone to keep pressing and depressing the brake pedal, after a while it should release, it's just the pistons stuck out and probably frozen

But most likely, the wheels will have to come off then push back in the pistons, but if your not too comfy with doing that someone will hasve to come out and do it for you

Mentor

stereopixels

Posted
Posted

who all went in here thinking this was for the encoding software??

I did! :blush:

But to answer the question, as others have said the best thing to do is give the hub a (fairly good) tap with a hammer... sounds like you might burn the clutch out or damage your engine if you keep trying to move the car to free it. Just be careful not to hit the disc itself because you can easily damage that.

Grand Master

Sir Topham Hatt

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Final Update:

Today I went over but the car was still as I left it.

Tried to put the car in gear, rev the car loads then quickly release the clutch thus stalling the car but bumping it forward. No workie.

A work colleague gave the drum on the accessible side a good bash and with a bit of revving, it drove forward. It dragged the other rear wheel (passenger side) but as I drove forward it gave us a bit more room so some more bashing and reversing/forward lark and it finally released.

I'll be getting them checked/changed this week then - but at least I can move it!

Thanks for the help :D

Grand Master

Detection

Posted
Posted

Final Update:

Today I went over but the car was still as I left it.

Tried to put the car in gear, rev the car loads then quickly release the clutch thus stalling the car but bumping it forward. No workie.

A work colleague gave the drum on the accessible side a good bash and with a bit of revving, it drove forward. It dragged the other rear wheel (passenger side) but as I drove forward it gave us a bit more room so some more bashing and reversing/forward lark and it finally released.

I'll be getting them checked/changed this week then - but at least I can move it!

Thanks for the help :D

If in doubt, give it a clout ;)

  • Sir Topham Hatt
  • Like 1
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Posts

    • One of Logitech's best productivity mice is now available for just $79.99

      By TarasBuria · Posted

      One of Logitech's best productivity mice is now available for just $79.99 by Taras Buria The MX Master 3S, formerly Logitech's flagship productivity mouse, is now available at an all-time low price during Prime Day sale. Thanks to the latest discount, you can have this mouse for as little as $79.99. This large-sized mouse has many things to like. From its ergonomic shape to the iconic MagScroll wheel, the MX Master 3S is a great productivity-focused accessory. It has an 8K DPI sensor that tracks on various surfaces, including glass. Its main MagScroll has two modes: ratched and infinite, with the latter capable of scrolling up to 1,000 lines in just a second. Additionally, there is a secondary wheel for horizontal scrolling. The MX Master 3S has plenty of buttons, which can be remapped to gestures, keyboard shortcuts, or other actions in the Options+ app on Windows and macOS. You can connect the mouse to up to three devices (via Bluetooth or the Bolt connector) and switch between them with a dedicated button. You also get a USB Type-A to Type-C cable to recharge the built-in battery, which lasts up to 70 days on a full charge, and a quick one-minute charge gets you three hours of use. Logitech MX Master 3S - $79.99 | 20% off for Prime Members Good to know This Amazon deal is U.S. specific, and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
    • AI is indeed eliminating jobs, and Oracle just proved it

      By leonsk29 · Posted

      Exactly, this is just the beginning. I hope that by that time, our inept politicians devise something like a Universal Basic Income, because unemployment and poverty rates will skyrocket otherwise. And believe me, robots that perform physical work aren't a matter of IF, but WHEN. No career is truly safe from AI/robots, it's just a matter of time.
    • Politically funny images of the World

      By +primortal · Posted

    • Subtitle Edit 5.0.0

      By Copernic · Posted

      Subtitle Edit 5.0.0 by Razvan Serea Subtitle Edit is a powerful, free, and user-friendly subtitle editing tool designed for creating, editing, and converting subtitles for videos. It supports a wide range of subtitle formats, including SRT, ****, and SUB, allowing users to easily modify and adjust subtitles for accurate timing and formatting. With its intuitive interface, Subtitle Edit provides a variety of features such as waveform audio display, spell-check, subtitle synchronization, and real-time video preview, making it an ideal choice for both beginners and professionals. The software also includes powerful tools for batch processing, translating subtitles, and converting between different subtitle formats. Subtitle Edit features: Create/adjust/sync/translate subtitle lines Convert between SubRib, MicroDVD, Advanced Sub Station Alpha, Sub Station Alpha, D-Cinema, SAMI, youtube sbv, and many more (300+ different formats!) Cool audio visualizer control - can display wave form and/or spectrogram Video player uses mpv, DirectShow, or VLC media player Visually sync/adjust a subtitle (start/end position and speed) Audio to text (speech recognition) via Whisper or Vosk/Kaldi Auto Translation via Google translate Rip subtitles from a (decrypted) dvd Import and OCR VobSub sub/idx binary subtitles Import and OCR Blu-ray .sup files - bd sup reading is based on Java code from BDSup2Sub Can open subtitles embedded inside Matroska files Can open subtitles (text, closed captions, VobSub) embedded inside mp4/mv4 files Can open/OCR XSub subtitles embedded inside divx/avi files Can open/OCR DVB and teletext subtitles embedded inside .ts/.m2ts (Transport Stream) files Can open/OCR Blu-ray subtitles embedded inside .m2ts (Transport Stream) files Merge/split subtitles Adjust display time Fix common errors wizard....and more. Subtitle Edit 5.0.0 changelog: Subtitle Edit 5 is a major new release and a big step for the project. For the first time, Subtitle Edit runs natively on Windows, macOS, and Linux from a single, modern, cross-platform codebase. The builds are self-contained, so no separate .NET installation is required, and on macOS and Linux the needed media components (mpv/ffmpeg) are bundled in. Please read before upgrading: Subtitle Edit 5 is a new application, not just an update of Subtitle Edit 4. It has been rebuilt from the ground up to be cross-platform, so: It is not 100% the same app. The look, layout, and some workflows have changed. Some things are in different places, and a few behave differently than in SE4. Not every SE4 feature exists in SE5 yet. SE5 covers all the core editing, conversion, sync, video playback, OCR, and online services, but some of the more specialized SE4 tools are not available yet. Features will continue to be added. If you rely on a specific SE4 feature that is missing, please keep SE4 installed alongside SE5. The easiest way to run both side by side is to use the Portable versions of SE4 and SE5, which keep their settings separate and do not interfere with each other. Which version should I use? Subtitle Edit 5: recommended for most users on Windows 10 (22H2) or newer, macOS 12+, and Linux. Subtitle Edit 4: please continue to use SE4 if you are on an older Windows version (Windows 7/8), or on older / slower computers where SE5 may not run well. SE4 remains available and is the right choice in those cases. To run SE4 and SE5 at the same time, use the Portable versions - you can try SE5 while keeping SE4 as a fallback. Download: Subtitle Edit 5.0.0 | ARM64 | ~60.0 MB (Open Source) Download: Subtitle Edit Portable | 103.0 MB View: Subtitle Edit Homepage | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Google Pixel 11 series: Here's what to expect

      By Hamid Ganji · Posted

      Google Pixel 11 series: Here's what to expect by Hamid Ganji Google Pixel 10 series In recent years, Google has successfully turned its Pixel devices into worthy contenders in the smartphone market. The search giant is now preparing to launch the Pixel 11 series in just a few months, and many Pixel fans are likely wondering what Google has in store for them this year. The next lineup of Google smartphones includes four devices: the Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL, and Pixel 11 Pro Fold. This year, we don’t expect Google to bring revolutionary upgrades to its handsets, and the Pixel 11 series is likely to receive modest hardware improvements alongside a slew of AI-powered features. Here are the rumored specifications of the Google Pixel 11 series ahead of its official debut: When will the new Pixel phones be unveiled? The last two generations of Google Pixel phones (Pixel 9 series and Pixel 10 series) were launched in August, unlike the previous three generations that debuted in October. With that in mind, we expect Google to unveil the Pixel 11 series sometime in August 2026. The exact launch date has yet to be confirmed. Google Pixel 11 CAD renders - Image via AndroidHeadlines How much will the Pixel 11 series cost? Predicting the final price of upcoming smartphones has become increasingly difficult. As you may know, RAM and memory prices are rising sharply, leading to significant increases in the cost of consumer electronics. Recently, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that price increases for some future Apple products are unavoidable, suggesting that the iPhone 18 series could become more expensive. Google has remained tight-lipped about any potential price increases for the Pixel 11 series. If the company manages to maintain last year’s pricing structure, here’s what the lineup could cost: Pixel 11: $799 Pixel 11 Pro: $999 Pixel 11 Pro XL: $1,199 Pixel 11 Pro Fold: $1,799 Given current market conditions, it may be difficult for Google to avoid raising prices unless it adopts cost-saving measures, such as equipping the base model with 8GB of RAM. Google Pixel 11 series anticipated specs: We expect the Google Pixel 11 series to debut with a new Tensor G6 processor as well as an upgraded camera system. The overall design, however, is expected to remain largely unchanged across the lineup. Specifications Pixel 11 Pixel 11 Pro Pixel 11 Pro XL Pixel 11 Pro Fold Display 6.3-inch LTPO AMOLED / 120Hz refresh rate / up to 3100 nits of brightness 6.3-inch Super Actua LTPO OLED, 120Hz refresh rate, up to 3600 nits of brightness 6.8-inch Super Actua LTPO OLED, 120Hz refresh rate, up to 3600 nits of brightness 8-inch inner screen and 6.4-inch outer display, 120Hz refresh rate, up to 3600 nits of brightness RAM & Processor Tensor G6 / 8-12GB of RAM Tensor G6 / 12-16GB of RAM Tensor G6 / 12-16GB of RAM Tensor G6 / 16GB of RAM Storage options 128GB or 256GB 256GB, 512GB, 1TB 256GB, 512GB, 1TB 256GB, 512GB, 1TB Camera 50MP main sensor, 13MP ultra-wide, 10.8MP 5x telephoto, 10.5MP front camera 50MP main camera, 48MP ultra-wide, 48MP telephoto with 5x optical zoom, 42MP selfie camera 50MP main camera, 48MP ultra-wide, 48MP telephoto with 5x optical zoom, 42MP selfie camera 50MP main camera, 10.5MP ultra-wide camera, 10.8MP telephoto camera, 10MP front camera, 10MP inner camera Battery 4,840 mAh 4,707 mAh 5,000 mAh 4,658 mAh Software Android 17 Android 17 Android 17 Android 17 The Pixel 11 series won’t be a major departure from its predecessor, with Google instead focusing on subtle improvements and AI additions such as Gemini Intelligence. However, a patent filed by Google suggests the company is working on a removable battery for its smartphones, and we could see this feature make its way to the Pixel 11 Pro Fold. Given that nearly all smartphones today lack removable batteries, such a feature would be a welcome addition to future Pixel devices. That said, it may not arrive with this year’s lineup after all, and the final decision is yet to be made by Google. The Pixel 11 series could also face an uphill battle in the market. In the Android segment, Samsung is performing well with the Galaxy S26 series, while the Galaxy Z Fold 8 lineup is also expected to launch next month. On the other hand, Apple is preparing to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max in September alongside its first foldable iPhone.

  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      timbobit earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      nates earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Almohandis earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Rookie
      dorf went up a rank
      Rookie
    • First Post
      mike_rumble earned a badge
      First Post

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      477
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      171
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      105
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      88
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      70
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!