handbrake stuck - not impressed!

[beetroot]

hello

not been on for a while....

my car is stuck! :giveup:
drove it out of its parking spot, put it into reverse, got so far (doing a three point turn see) and the hand brake got stuck on, on the near side. the hand brake had not been on overnight, standing or whilst it was parked ont flat. the lever is fine as my dad loosened it a little but the drum is well and truely stuck. the offside wheel can move alot more freely than the near side one.

as had no manual to refer to (cant find it!) when we had a look at it, we had no clue what it was, we think it is rust as the brakes havent been changed since i had the car (ive done about 30,000 miles in it). WD40 and a hammer, pliers and other tools could not free it and driving the car forward and backwards didnt shift it either. :banghead:
cant get it to a garage as the wheel just slides and i dont know anyone with a recovery truck (and my funds are'nt overflowing!)

any advice anyone...or else she is free to a good home (with the aid of a recovery truck)

ta

[E_T_V]

Oh dear. That really is an unusual problem. The handbrake sticking on overnight is common and can usually be free'd by driving the car backwards or forwards. If it has become stuck whilst driving there may be something stuck in the mechanism (I recently found a broken shoe return spring in my drums and it made an aweful racket)
If the handbrake cable isn't seized then it must be something going in inside the drum or even a failed wheel bearing. To free the drum in an emergency remove the wheel and tap the outside of the drum with the hammer. Be careful when doing this as sometimes the drum may crack/shatter but this method worked for me when the one in my avatar was parked up for 6 months in damp grass. The tapping helps release the shoe from the drum and then you can take the drum off for a good look. When I did had to free mine the gentle taps with a small hammer didn't work but the large bashes with a sledge hammer did!

[beetroot]

ta for the advice!
the drum has been hit with a hammer both gently and very hard with little hammer and a big hammer. there is a little plastic kinda thing that is on the back of the wheel which is currently sticking out and wont go back in (can't really describe it!) ive been advised to snap the little plastic thing off and the brake should free. im gonna try it tomorrow n see what happens! :rolleyes:

[Fast Guy]

If the brakes were working correctly upto this point, the drum will be worn and the brake shoes will be sitting under the groove and holding the drum on, unless you can get the shoes to retract on the self adjuster. I just kept bashing it once until I broke a holding down clip, but I don't recommend that method unless you have spares available ;)
I'm sure there is something in the maunal about releasing the rear brakes, but without finding mine, I can't remember what it was. :(

[e692wtt]

... there is a little plastic kinda thing that is on the back of the wheel which is currently sticking out and wont go back in (can't really describe it!) ive been advised to snap the little plastic thing off and the brake should free. im gonna try it tomorrow n see what happens! :rolleyes:

Just had a look at a Haynes manual for the Maestro 1983 to 86 (the earlier ones always have more useful info than the later ones, I have found for Maestros and Montegos anyway), this 'plastic thing' is the 'handbrake lever stop' and its removal (prise it out , the manual says) is recommended if you can't get the drum over the shoes (and mention is also made of slackening off the handbrake cable a bit as well to allow the brake shoes to retract a bit more at this point in the game, if needed). You'll need to remove the brake shoes to refix/renew the plastic stop anyway, if you remove it as above.

Hedging my bets, I bet one of the brake shoes has fallen apart, and the brake drum will come straight off and a new set of shoes will see the job done. ;)

But I would say don't remove the plastic 'handbrake lever stop' unless you have to - ie if you can't shift the brake drum with the handbrake off... hopefully it won't come to this! :)

[dutch-van-driver]

Hi,

I had something simular(?/). In my case the brake "tube" was blocked. Just try to loosen the pipe into the brake cylinder of the wheel itself. If this works you just need another hose. Mine got stuck during driving and KwikFit loosend the brake by letting some fluid out.

Sorry for my Englisch technical terms.

link to my post about this:
http://www.maestro.org.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1540

Marc