Brake Lock After Washing Car

[mickandjanet]

Hi , After giving my Yaris a good wash / shampoo and Chami including Wheels and then leaving on my drive overnight found that the next day when trying to reverse out found the brakes were locked, I pulled the handbrake lever up and down a few times also pumped on the brake pedal to see if they would release, had to rev up and reverse hard and when they released was with a loud bang, checked visually for any damage and found nothing untoward, only thing I can think of was that the pads or discs became rusted together, anyone else had this problem, next time after washing the car will take it for a short run using the brakes to dry off.

[Aceshigh84]

Yeah, always get that on rear disc based cars when the hand brake had been on when washing. Not to the extent that I have to over rev the car, I usually just catch it on the bite point, but you will hear a crack as the rust releases.

I tend to just leave the car in gear and not use the hand brake when washing.

[Geoff Peace]

Hi , After giving my Yaris a good wash / shampoo and Chami including Wheels and then leaving on my drive overnight found that the next day when trying to reverse out found the brakes were locked, I pulled the handbrake lever up and down a few times also pumped on the brake pedal to see if they would release, had to rev up and reverse hard and when they released was with a loud bang, checked visually for any damage and found nothing untoward, only thing I can think of was that the pads or discs became rusted together, anyone else had this problem, next time after washing the car will take it for a short run using the brakes to dry off.

This is very common ever since brake linings were made asbestos free. The pads are now metal impregnated which is why disks wear much quicker than before and the pads 'rust' on to the disks.

Regards Geoff Peace.

[Uncle Buck]

Yup, I also put the car in gear instead of using the handbrake in my flat drive. But giving the car a short drive after the wash helps to dry the excess water off & avoids the brakes sticking.

[mickandjanet]

Thanks to all for the advice, will take on board your comments,

Thanks

[Geoff Peace]

Yup, I also put the car in gear instead of using the handbrake in my flat drive. But giving the car a short drive after the wash helps to dry the excess water off & avoids the brakes sticking.

Very sound advice, I do exactly the same. I do not use the handbrake, I put it in gear and use wheelblocks but my car is in a garage so this is not possible for many people who keep their cars either on the driveway or the road.

Regards Geoff Peace.

[Richard Davies]

I had a similar problem after my car had been parked up for a few days in cold weather. At the time I assumed some road salt inside the drums had made the pads stick.

A careful bit of clutch control managed to free them.