My RX8's brakes locked wouldnt budge!!
 

Hi. Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem. This morning, I went into the garage, cranked my RX-8...opened the garage door, let the car warm up for a few minutes...shifted into reverse, released the parking brake...and the car wouldnt move! I then shifted into first, still wouldnt budge. I engaged/disengaged the prking brake several times, still no movement. I called the Mazda dealership (45 miles away). They sent roadside service to tow my car in. When the tow-truck got here, the driver couldnt figure out what the heck to do. Even when we put the car in neutral, it still wouldnt budge! He called the service dept at the dealership and asked them if it was ok to "drag" the car from the garage! Watching him hook the chains up to my "baby" made me sick! As he started to drag the car from the garage, the brakes made a loud "pop" and dis-engaged. He was then able to drive it normally onto the flat-bed. He took it in to the dealership...saying that it would probably happen again if it wasn't fixed. Has anyone else heard of this problem with the RX-8....or any other car as far as thats concerned?!?! I called the dealership back this afternoon and they didnt know if it had even been looked at today. Any info anyone has would be greatly appreciated! Oh, I also told the tow-truck driver that I saw a silver RX-8 being towed into the dealership in Winston when I was there last week. He said that it was he who towed that one too...that it wouldnt start! My car is 3 months old with 5,000 miles. I got the car totally loaded.....this is very frustrating...to put it mildly!

Sorry to hear about your car... and welcome.

Best guess: Frozen Parking Brake

How cold was it out? You mak have froze the rear brake pads to the rotors.

The car was parked indoors...couldnt have been below 50.

Mine sticks sometimes too. I think it is the rust on the rotors that makes it stick into place.
It rains alot here in the NW and tends to make the rotors rust if it has been sitting for a couple of days.

this happens to me after i wash the car, and park it in the garage, the next day, I start the car, release the break, than I hear a loud pop as if the breaks were stuck? didn't really think much of it until now.

I've seen the same thing when the brakes are wet. In those instances I try to remember to not use the parking brake. This time of year that seems more often than not. :(

I had the exact same thing happen to me this morning except mine was parked in a carport, not a garage. Mine broke loose and "popped" as soon as I put it in reverse and started backing out.

There must be something pretty severe holding the pads to the rotors. I stupidly forgot and put my parking brake up after coming back from the car wash a couple of weeks ago (it was under 10F out at the time) and they had froze on in the garage... but it took very little pressure from putting it in reverse to "pop" them loose the next morning. If you couldn't get them to pop from backing out, I would guess that the fronts were locked up as well or instead of the backs, which obviously isn't from the e-brake.

I'm curious to hear the dealer's diagnosis...

I'm sure this is pretty normal if it's real cold out.

Yes, I have had this happen as well. Now I do not use the parking break in the garage if I won't be driving it for a few days.

Oh, my garage is heated too so I know it's not freezing. It must be from being wet and rusting a bit.

This is why I always take the car out for a quick drive (around the block) after washing to clean and dry off the rotors and pads.

Happens every day just about. Ahhh...you have to love the constant rain in the NW. :( CJ

I have an MX-6 which occassionally had this problem. Evidently there is a worm gear that is integral to the brake caliper which engages the parking brake. This gear would get jammed and the parking brake would not release. Eventually it was replaced with a better part and it hasn't happened in years. The car now has 230,000 miles on it.

boyj my 8 and my wifes tiburon do this all the time. It is normal I guess, as a lot of my friends cars do this also.

I got my RX-8 back fromt he dealership today. They found nothing wrong...and decided what everyone else has said...that the parking brake was engaged and had frozen the brakes. I still am not sure if it was that cold in the garage, but from what others have said...rust can be a problem too. I bought my car on the coast...and the wheels were already rusty-looking when I got it....and it had just gotten to the dealership! I wont engage the parking brake again!

The times I've run into this with other cars were due to rust, which is not an RX-8 issue but for disk brakes in general. The disk rotor will easily develop a light coating of rust if it is left thoroughly wet. Typically this will usually only happen if you've washed the car and left it parked, or gone through a large puddle right before parking. Otherwise, normal brake application is enough to dry the rotors.

Applying the parking brake with wet rotors allows the bonding to develop since you're trapping some moisture and it doesn't have a chance to evaporate. Usually a bit of power pops it free and then you'll hear a little abrasive sound the first few times you apply the brakes. Fortunately the rust layer is usually very thin and wears away after only a few applications of the brakes. It is possible for the pads to get truly stuck to the disks with prolonged storage though I've never had it happen.

This problem particularly affects private airplanes which tend to sit parked for extended periods, often outside and the disk rotors are more exposed to rain. The problem can be severe and result in very short service life of the rotors and pads and unacceptable braking, in addition to badly stuck pads. In these applications stainless steel rotors are sometimes used. The material is less suited to cars due to the poorer braking and thermal performance of stainless steel which would make them fade much more easily with the repeated stops that cars encounter.

Front left brake seizing
 

This happens while I'm driving. The front brake hoses were recently changed because of this. It happened today again. The brakes are normal after sitting awhile. The front left brake gets smoking hot, but leaving it for an hour or two makes it normal until it happens again. Mechanic was going to replace the caliper, which was less than a year old, but now wants to see if it could be an ABS problem.

Just because it's less than a year old doesn't mean it doesn't have a failed seal.. especially if it has been overheated as you describe. In fact it should have a warranty on it, right?

I can't think of how ABS could cause a single brake to stick or what one would do to the ABS to correct the issue.

I'd suggest starting with simple things: remove the brake pads, examine the caliper piston, clean and grease the slider pins and put everything back, making sure the caliper isn't holding the pad too tight.

I'm with the above. It maybe a caliper binding up, may be stuck slide pins, buildup in the caliper bracket causing the pads to stick in the bracket, could be rust forming under the metal clips in the caliper bracket, causing the clips to squeeze the brake pads, seizing them in place. Its time for a major brake service all around and more than likely a brake fluid flush. If the brake is sticking, its no doubt wearing the pads on that hub, so when you solve the problem, and depending on the extent of the wear, you may want to replace your pads and rotors on that axle or all around.

wow,

that is the best search ever! ~ 13 years.. :)

if you search cailpers you will find some gold if you have to replace them..

beers :beer:

I had the same problem. Brake would get smoking hot because the piston didn't return into the caliper after releasing the brakes. The piston had very bad pitting on one side and the rubber ring was in bad condition. Materials cost me 15 bucks, replaced the piston and seals which took me about an hour (damned dust seal!), 10 minutes to jack up the car and remove the caliper, another 5 minutes to put it back on. Bleeding the brakes took me no more than 30 minutes. So you would be looking at a 2 hour job costing you 15 dollars. Or you just buy a new caliper for 150 bucks and just swap it, or you send it to the local stealership and waste atleast 300.

Would this cause the car to pop out of first gear with gas on the pedal. My car isn't moving in first gear because of the stick popping out of gear.

Thanks,

Chad