OK - Mazda b4000, 110,000 kms, auto, 4x4. Transmission flushed about 5000 km ago. No problems in the interim.

My GF took it out last night. It was a warm (for decmber night that quickly cooled to freezing temps). She parked it on a hill, and put on the parking brake.

2 hours later when she was to drive home it wouldnt budge. To drive the thing forward was a battle, high pitch squech and lots of gas to get it moving. SOunded really bad. Reverse was better but still not right.
Idled fine, revs fine. Rolls OK in neutral (hard to get a good sense for this as Im in a parking space, on a hill with parked cars behind me.)

Check the fluids, all good, maybe a little low on oil but Im on a hill. Tried the parking brake. It seems to release.

So I decided to get it to my shop, which is thankfully about 3/4 mile away. I drive it forward with lots of gas to getting to moving. By the time it got to the shop it seemed basically fine. Would roll forward with idle, coast in neutral and so on. No squeak/squeal, so i drove it home (5 miles).

At home I looked it over closer and noticed that the front passenger brakes were a little warmer than the others (but only a little bit, not major).

My thoughts:
-parking brake wouldnt release because of the load on the hill, but it would roll in neutral just fine so that doesnt make too much sense.
- low oil was making the engine run really rough (god I hope not) and once level the oil was moving around the engine better.
-the disc brakes in the front has frozen/seized on? And perhaps they;re still sticking a bit?
-Could it be a bearings/hubs issue?
-Anyway I can pubricate the parking brake / normal brakes to prevent sticking?

So, what are everyone elses thoughts? Its working OK but does seem to be dragging *** a little. Anyway I can check the parking brake specifically? I pulled the cable with my hand and it moves OK.

Thanks for any suggestions! You guys (and gals) on FTE are top notch!

p.

 

i would say that your park break stuck. with the added heat you could have warped your rotors / drums. if i was you i would pull the tire and check things out. you can see the branks and see if you can spin things freely.

Matt

 

Brake shoes froze to the drums, I've had this happen before! Usually if you put it in reverse and dump the clutch it will pop them loose.

 

Yeah just frozen brakes. Ranger's method works fine. I have also seen a hair dryer used, and just letting it sit until warmer temps arise then driving away.
Do not use the e-brake/parking brake in freezing tems. Either put it in park (auto) or 1st/Reverse depending on situation (manual) and let it sit there. It's not going anywhere unless you're on a big hill or your compression just sucks.

I bet it's aight, but you might pull the rear drums and just see if everythings ok. Front rotors will be fine since no parking brake up there.

 

Both Rangers are correct. Both my Rangers (2WD and 4x4) seem to lock the back brakes, especially after a rain storm, snow storm, etc. Couple of miles later, they start to behave.

 

I've also heard of rocking it back and forth. Put tranny in Neutral on a LEVEL SURFACE and literally push it back and forth until it frees.
I don't see why you couldn't move a little in 1st, shift into Reverse, move a little backwards, 1st, R, 1st, R, et cetera until the problem ceased.

 

Funny you say that, the 2.3 in my 91 is so wore out that I have this problem. If I put it in 1st or reverse on a SMALL hill, like maybe a 5% slope, I have to block the tires. If not, It will eventually slowly move back....... and then roll back again.... and then again. People wonder why I keep a log or a brick under my seat... Its my parking brake! Although at one time I used the old exhaust manifold as a tire block LOL.

 

Lol, the exhaust manifold, now THAT'S redneck lol. My friends would be proud. I'm proud *tears to the eyes*.

My 4.0L is still runnin' and holdin' great thankfully lol. I parked on my friend's driveway, which is a good 15%-20% slope (I have no idea what the percent is or how to gauge it honestly) and it sat just fine. I wouldn't like to leave it though, that driveway seems a bit steep to me.

 

Lol oh trust me I got a lot of comments on that one. 309,466 is what I have on the clock right now. Well actually its 09,466, but I've seen that baby crank around 3 times already. She'll still run 75-80 on the highway without a problem, just takes a while to get there!

 

Thanks all.

Ill take a better look at the parking brake later. I couldnt really "rock it back and forth" because i was parrallel parked on a hill. Not much room to manouver.

It did rain a ton the day before so it all makes sense.

Cheers guys!

P.

 

Sounds like that was it.
Impressive mileage there handyman. Gotta love these Rangers.