Brake jammed on

[Eff_One]

Hi all,

Pushed the car into the garage on Boxing Day as it wouldn't start, so got that little problem sorted today. (Fuel pressure regulator)

However, my smile disappeared when I went to reverse out and....left rear brake is jammed on

I hardly laughed at all.

Probably my fault, I forgot to take off the handbrake when it was parked (it's still only been 2 weeks though!)

My next big problem is access, typical that it so happened I parked close to the wall on that side so I could get in and out of the car easier! So now I can maybe just about get the wheel off!

Any ideas boyos?

[Rtaylor2208]

In all seriousness have you tried giving it more beans to get it going. It happened to mine last year after I forgot to take the handbrake off before leaving in in the garage for 6 months.

A few attempts and it broke free.

[Topblag]

Get a rope on it and pull it out with another vehicle. That'll either release it or remove it from the garage so you can work on it.

[Eff_One]

Haha yea I assumed initially it was just a bit sticky but it definitely isn't budging.

Well I also didn't want to go too hard and end up breaking something completely

[daimlerman]

Well I also didn't want to go too hard and end up breaking something completely

Disc brake or drum brake?

I guess either way the shoes have rusted to the drum,so the worst thing to happen is a problem removing the drum or the combined drum/disc.

I would remove the wheel and belt the drum with a big birmingham spanner until it gives in and either breaks or the shoes release.

[Eff_One]

It's disc brake mate.

[daimlerman]

It's disc brake mate.

Unlikely to be a stuck caliper,but it will do no harm to remove the caliper before getting serious with the birmingham spanner,that at least,eliminates the footbrake.

No other way,that I can think off,to free the handbrake drum shoes other than belting it.Disc/drum unit is a casting,so will shatter....health and safety will ask why you were not wearing eye protection.
Given reasonable luck,a few smacks will be enough to free the shoes off.

[Eff_One]

Ok, I'll get a better look tomorrow and hope it's something simple like that!

Cheers!

[Brianmoooore]

Happened to my son in law at 5 AM yesterday morning on his 330i E46! He freed it of in the afternoon by taking the wheel off and knocking seven bells out of the drum/bell with a large hammer.
Hasn't been checked yet, but the theory is that the expander is completely devoid of any lubricant and the surfaces rusted together overnight.

[daimlerman]

Happened to my son in law at 5 AM yesterday morning on his 330i E46! He freed it of in the afternoon by taking the wheel off and knocking seven bells out of the drum/bell with a birmingham spanner.
Hasn't been checked yet, but the theory is that the expander is completely devoid of any lubricant and the surfaces rusted together overnight.

EFA.....

[Eff_One]

Resolved! Managed to get the wheel off, hoked at the brake pads for a bit and they freed up

[mcbonio]

As Brian says, I'd get the wheel off and with some WD40 and the little straw attached blast loads into the handbrake mechanism from behind the wheel/plate. I'd do this rather than trying to free it by force.!