Need some help, i think the rear brake has either seized or is stuck on, 2008 Focus Titanium.

[The Joshua Tree]

I went to reverse the car off the drive around tea time this evening and the car wouldn't move, as you give it a bit of power in reverse the rear passenger side seems to dip down as if that's the brake which is stuck on. The only thing i've done since last driving the car is i washed it on the drive yesterday and it hasn't moved since, the car is a 2008 Focus Titanium 1.8 petrol. Any help would be appreciated.

[sucofdrof]

Does the car have drum brakes? 

 

If so mine does it in the winter time when it's left wet and not used for a few days.  A few more revs than normal and they make like a pop sound, it's just them sticking 

[The Joshua Tree]

Hi, yeh the car has rear drum brakes.

The problem i've got is the car is parked on the drive and it's only 3 feet from the front wall of the house and it's facing forward towards the wall. 

[Russ]

Happens to mine in the wet (same as it did with my fiesta) I've tried new shoes to no avail so just learned to live with putting only one click on the handbrake and leaving it in gear!

[Tdci-Peter]

3 hours ago, The Joshua Tree said:

I went to reverse the car off the drive around tea time this evening and the car wouldn't move

I park on a sloping drive, front of car to the road, and often leave the car unused for several days.

On my drum brake cars this happened often. I found by using reverse (up the gradient), it freed the drums easier. If really stuck, alternate forward & reverse attempts may free it. Just be quick to dip the clutch if parked 3 feet from the house!

I do not know of any real cure. It seems to be the shoes sticking to the drums with rust, where the usual remedies of WD40 or grease are unfortunately not allowed!  But if the brakes have been on a while, a service to check that the parts that should have some copper slip on them (ends of shoes etc.) do have it, and the corrosion is not too bad. If the drums are badly worn with scores & lips, new drums might help.

No problems at all now with the disks all round on my current Focus.

[TomsFocus]

The only cure is to fit discs!

I try not to get water in the drums when washing, or drive it immediately after to dry them out.  They're awful tbh, discs just 'thunk' straight off even after weeks stood still in monsoon weather but drums seize solid from a splattering of water.   

[The Joshua Tree]

With the front end of my car being parked so close to the front wall of the house do you have any suggestions as to how I can try and free it ?

I've tried in reverse but it's not budging, tried forward as much as I dare but again it's not budged.

[trailertrash]

Chock the other wheels, let the handbrake off and tap the drum with a mallet? Jack up and remove the offending wheel to gain better access for said mallet? Tap all around the circumference and between the studs. Not too hard, you don't want to crack the drum.

Only ideas, I'm no mechanic! 

Good luck

[Tdci-Peter]

49 minutes ago, The Joshua Tree said:

parked so close to the front wall of the house do you have any suggestions as to how I can try and free it

Put some bricks or concrete blocks about 150mm in front of all 4 wheels, and repeat the forward driving with a bit more force.

If that still failed, I think I would chock the front wheels, and jack up each rear in turn to find the sticking one(s). Then use a wheel wrench with a long extension tube to apply as mush force as I could in both directions alternately, without loosening or over-stressing the wheel nut, while bashing the tyre with a big lump hammer in various directions. Needs 2 people really, as force and vibration combined at the same time is much more effective than separately.

If this does work, loosen & re-torque any wheel nuts that have been abused like this.

I guess the next stage is to take the wheel off, and heat up the drum evenly with a blowtorch. Then repeat the force & vibration technique, though ideally using a soft faced hammer on the drum. Have you got AA/RAC home call?

[TomsFocus]

Give it a few more revs in reverse would be easiest, or are the fronts slipping?  I did once do about quarter mile in my sisters Corsa with both rear drums locked before admitting defeat, jacking up, wheels off and whacking with a lump hammer lol...

[The Joshua Tree]

Thanks for the advice above.

I managed to free it up, I started off with the handbrake off and rocking the car backwards and forwards the vest I could, that didn't appear to work.

What did work is I pressed down on the foot brake quite hard, I then heard a clunk and it freed itself. The rocking back and too may have helped, it was pressing down quite hard on the foot brake that freed it eventually.

Would that possibly eliminate it being the handbrake cable and more likely to be the rear shoes that have stuck on for whatever reason either due to moisture or a bit of corrosion/rust ?

I'll get the rear shoes changed anyway.

While I'm here, what size rear drums are on a 1.8 Petrol Titanium on a 2008 plate, I rang a parts shop earlier to order some rear shoes and he said it's coming up with 2 types for my car, he said he needs to know if they are 8 inch or 9 inch.

[TomsFocus]

I wouldn't just change the shoes for the sake of it.  They do stick in the wet, it's just a flaw of drum brakes, washing it will always cause the same problem unless you can drive them dry immediately afterwards.

What you could do for free is remove the drum and clean out any brake dust in there as that won't help.

[The Joshua Tree]

Tom

I can occasionally hear a creaking/grating sound from the rear when i brake, you hear it more when your reversing. If i add this sticking into the equation as well their is a good chance that these are the original brake shoes and my car has done 85k now, i think the shoes i read somewhere will last 100k so their approaching the point when they would need changing anyway. 

[TomsFocus]

Fair enough.  I've never seen a set of brake shoes wear out from age, either the friction material falls off or the slave cylinder bursts and coats them in brake fluid lol.  I'm really not a fan of drum brakes as you can probably guess lol.

It sounds like yours may be over adjusted.  You are of course welcome to change them but don't be surprised if they start sticking again afterwards.

[TangoDaz]

Mine does the same after washing the car just take it for a quick drive to dry out the brakes then it should be fine

[Russ]

Another 'trick' I found that worked was pouring hot water over the drums (heat makes the drum expand) then drive the car for a bit to dry the drums off.

[ScaniaPBman]

On 20/10/2016 at 5:00 PM, Russ said:

Another 'trick' I found that worked was pouring hot water over the drums (heat makes the drum expand) then drive the car for a bit to dry the drums off.

+1.

That did the releasing job for me as well on my 05 Focus on several occasions till I sold it a while back.

[The Joshua Tree]

Cheers for the hot water tip, i'll try that if it happens again before they are changed.