Brake Problem

[johnz3]

Not used the car for a week. Started her up, fine. Tried to reverse out of the garage and thought the hand brake was still on. Car would not move. Tracked it to the passenger rear wheel and when you try to push by hand the car just rocks and you can hear a, for want of a . better word knocking noise. Spoke to my son in law and without me saying much he asked if I had washed the car recently. The answer was yes and I has washed the car and the wheels last Sunday around 3pm. Just dried it and it began to rain so I put her in the garage. Started her up tonight and here we are. Son in law said to take the handbreak off, leave overnight and then rock gently to see if it frees itself. Hopefully will. Potential problem is that if does not what to do. Car is in the garage and if I may not be able to get the wheel off. Any advise would really be appreciated.

[Southernboy]

If you can loan a hydraulic jack you can raise the car from the rear center.... it will raise both wheels off the floor though and you'll need jack stands under both sides for safety. Once up, you can approach the problem via the handbrake cable entry point on the inner side of the wheel... You'll need to have the hand brake off, so secure the car from being able to move forward also.
Go inside the car and remove the handbrake leather gaitor, and using 2 spanners, slacken off any tension on the cable on the passenger side under the leather gaitor...Count the number of revolutions of the "holding" nut as you slacken off... the locking nut isn't important... then using a copper mallet or similar, get under the car, and tap all around the brake drum whilst having someone else try to rotate the wheel... keep tapping until it frees itself... Once you have the wheel free, re-set the cable tension inside the car as it was before by turning the holding nut back the same number of revolutions you slacked off... set the locking nut to the cable. Then, go for a drive and use the handbrake very gently whilst the car is in motion so as to wear away any rust etc that has formed inside the drums... I would advise you allow the brakes to cool on your return, without the handbrake applied, then remove both drums and use some fine sandpaper, or other scouring method to really clean up inside the drums. Also lightly paper the brake shoe braking surfaces, clean out all traces of rust, dust etc and refit the drums...

[johnz3]

Thanks Southernboy. I will be on it today. Just one more thing if anyone knows please. I have looked in the manul but cannot find a central jacking point. Only aware of the two on the sides just before the rear wheels.

[mnbrennan]

When the next time door neighbours got stuck on, I had them start the car and press the brake pedal as hard as possible. That popped it

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[johnz3]

Thanks I will try thst first. Any ideas where I could use the trolley jack so as to lift from the middle

[Southernboy]

place it under the diff carrier...not on the diff...

[Brian H]

Before jacking etc. I would try rocking the car backwards/forwards several times 1st gear and reverse to see if it shifts.

[johnz3]

Hi Brian. Tried that thanks (and pumping the foot brake). The car starts to 'rise up' slightly so I stop at that point. Re Southernboy's post I am not sure if I can get a trolly jack underneath. Not even sure if I can get a side jack in due to the space between the car and the garage. Going to destress and cut the grass before I try.

[mwpe]

This is quite a common BMW problem and is usually fixed by applying a bit of power. It happens more frequently on my E30 although it has occurred on the Zed.
If you apply a bit of throttle it should free up

[t-tony]

It can and will happen to any car with drum type rear brakes be it parking brake OR service brake. Applying some power to make the wheels would appear to be your possible only option. Some times the lining can come off the steel brake shoe on either type of brake which then entails a full strip and replace. I know this is closing the stable door after the horse has buggered off but I never use the parking brake on my Auto if parked when "wet" or for a long time, I wouldn't on a manual either. I would leave it in reverse gear.

[johnz3]

Thanks for all the advice. Tried a few suggestions and in the end used trolley jack, took wheel off which was difficult given space in garage and then tapped the drum brake cover a few times. Heard something and wheel was free. Took her for a ride and applied the hand break as advised. Will keep the hand break off in future. Thanks for all the advise.

[Southernboy]

Well done ! you really need to remove the rear disc / drums and give them a good cleaning..

[Robert T]

This used to happen fairly regularly with mine when it was put away after washing or after it had been out in the wet. It would free itself by driving the car forward, but I never liked doing this, as it went off with an almighty bang. One method that helped was to apply the handbrake gently whilst the car was moving - this cleaned up both the handbrake pads and drums and helped prevent the problem recurring. As a matter of course I now leave the car in gear with the handbrake off when it is in its own garage - there's only me that drives it, so no danger of anyone else getting in an starting it in gear. It is worth checking the condition of the handbrake, as mine let me down a while back on a steep hill when trying to reverse into a passing place - shoes now replaced and it feels like it will properly hold the car - everything was cleaned out, so sticking should be less likely now.

Cheers R.