Frozen Parking Break
 

In the Owner's Manual 4-9 it says not to use the Parking Break in freezing temperatures. For manuals, put it in 1st or R. This seems unusual. Do other cars recommend this?

Hot damn. As I type this my dealer called and says my Brilliant Black 6 speed just came in!!!! I can pick it up TODAY! Ordered 1/10/2003. Oh happy day!!!!

Re: Frozen Parking Break
 

Don't know about other cars' manuals, but that's long been common practice AFAIK. If left with the handbrake on, it's possible for the brakes pads or shoes to freeze to the disk or drum. Whenever I've gone skiing and parked on-mountain, I've always parked in gear, handbrake off, wheels turned to the kerb and chocked with a rock.

At least they tell you about that one. I doubt you'll find them mentioning the solution to a frozen door lock: pee on it; the warm liquid will thaw the lock. You can clean it up later. :)

Oh, btw, congrats on delivery!

Depending on the design of the parking brake (which works with cables, similar to the cables on the brakes on a bike), it is susceptible to getting frozen. This has happened with other cars, and you can do some damage to your rear brakes and other driveline items if you drive around with them locked up.

We've seen this with several cars, where the slightest bit of moisture gets into the cable and/or mechanism of the parking brake, and then freezes overnight. It's very hard for the brake caliper itself to freeze enough that it can't be broken loose with a couple of jabs at the brake itself (otherwise, there would be a danger of the front brakes freezing open, which would make for a very long drive off of a short driveway). But with the leverage employed for the parking brake, it doesn't take too much frozen water in the cable to lock things up. And it's not anywhere where it will warm up with the car, or where you could "heat it up".

And on snowy, icy streets, where the car will feel very different, and where you will be driving very different, it actually is hard to notice right away that it happened (if you aren't aware of the possibility to begin with).

And one trick that sometimes works (depending on how the parking brake is adjusted) is not to set the parking brake fully, back it off a few clicks. Then, in the morning, a couple of yanks to the fully locked position is enough to jar it loose, which is all it takes.

---jps

Yeah I'm lazy with my brake and only put it up a few clicks, and always leave it in gear. I used the brake on my previous car always, and never had an issue.

Do I really need to use it? Probably not, mostly I park on flat surfaces with very minimal inclines.

I think it's only a problem where you have close to freezing temps during winter. If it's very cold like here in MTL you can use it pretty much all the time when it's cold. it's the fall-spring time where temp is around freezing that could be a problem. Or maybe a 40F day followed by a 10F day like we have up here too often... I envy you guys that see 3 flakes at most in the winter.

I'm a Miata owner about THIS close to pulling the trigger on an 8. (only becasue the wife and I had a baby and I need those rear seats). Anyway, on the Miata boards, I've seen discussion of not using the parking break after you've done some hard driving when the rotors may be hot. Something about actually warping the rotors. I don't know if this applies to the 8 or not as I don't know if the p-brake is the same type of mechanism on both cars. Because of the posts I've seen at Miata.net, I never ever use my p-brake unless I am on a huge incline. I just leave it in gear - no problems so far.

This is a consideration on ANY car, even one with rear drum brakes. And it's just as much a matter of hurting the pads as much as the rotors/drums.

Mind you, you REALLY have to have driven the car very hard (as in on a road course race track, or Deal's gap), and have immediately stopped after the hard run (as opposed to getting a cool-down lap, or driving a couple of miles normally). Most of the time, this isn't even necessary after an autocross. And it would be very difficult to even intentionally get your brakes that hot in city driving.

---jps

Thanks, all, for the advice. I picked up my car yesterday and I just love it. Better in-person than in the photos.