Brakes jammed...

fishfishfish

fishfishfish

fishfishfish

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Joined
30 Jan 2008
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467
Motoring experts - I wonder if you could help, please. The brakes on my parked VW Polo appear to have jammed and I'm unable to move the car from my drive. Any ideas on how I can release it, please?

It's been parked out in the rain for a couple of days with the handbrake on. However, when I put it in reverse the back of the car lifts up (right side in particular) and it refuses to budge. I can't drive it forwards as it's parked 30cm from my neighbours fence, and I can't drive hard backwards because I might reverse it through the other neighbour's fence.

I've tried reverse and first gear, and rocking it backwards and forwards as much as I can, but it's refusing to budge. Anything else worth trying or is this going to be an AA job?
 
Sounds like only one of the rear brakes is binding. If it was fine last time you drove then it's likely just a bit of surface rust binding it. Just reverse and it'll free up.

If you're worried about it suddenly letting go and you flying through someones fence then reverse out of your space with the handbrake applied (perhaps not fully).

Then once in more space and confident release handbrake and drive a couple metres and all should be good
 
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Try spraying WD40 or alike on the brakes and start rocking the car to free them off.
 
probbally the rear drum brake siezed on,
take rear wheel off and tried to persuade it with a hammer,
If that doest work try taking the thing apart, and covering the springs in realease fluid etc, buy a haynes manual tbh
 
If it's only been a few days, you probably just need to be a little bit more brutal with it.
 
Thanks everyone. I've tried reversing and going forwards but the car won't move at all. It's completely stuck.

If I go for the option of removing the wheel and persuading it with a hammer, what should I be aiming to whack?! Is the brake drum the big round thing in the middle of the wheel?
 
fishfishfish said:
I tried this first, but I think I've been as brutal as I can be with the revving in reverse gear. I'm in danger of leaving it parked in nextdoor's fence. I've only got about 10' of space behind me and about 12" in front.
Click to expand...

10 foot behind? Seriously, that's acres - it isn't going to rocket off into the distance.
 
Trying wacking the back plate, not that hard though as it's only thin metal compared the drum. This has worked for me in the past on a few occassions.
 
It's the clutch you need to be brutal with, not the throttle. You're aiming to "crack" the corrosion off in a sharp movement, not ease it off.
 
Thanks, Lopez! That's done it. Gave it a bit of revs then took the foot off the clutch sharply a few times and it eventually went crack and shot back. Now back to normal.

Cheers!
 
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