So today I went to leave my house when I realized my passenger rear parking brake was getting stuck up. I know it was only that side because ever since I got the car the drivers side has 100% not been working and I've put off looking at it. Looked at it tonight and turns out it's pretty damn corroded. I little silicone lube later and we're back in business until they can be replaced.

I also took the time to lube up the caliper slide pins with silicone (which desperately needed it). Getting the bottom one out was difficult and upon reinserting it, I figured out why as the caliper that it threads into is stripped out (it's not just the pin, I tested that). However, the top pin is solid.

So question 1. How dangerous is driving like this until I can repair it? Just replace the caliper assembly?

So with the parking brake off while lubing up the other side I noticed the parking brake spring was stuck in the engaged position however the wheel basically spins with what feels like the correct amount of friction as if the handbrake was off. This is when I also noticed that while this side has plenty of pad left, the opposite side has almost no more pad. Insides and outsides on both sides look consistent with each other.

So question 2. Classic stuck piston? Test for bad piston and replace caliper assembly if so?

 

Already an update. I'm fairly certain that without moving it back into the garage I've determined I've got a crap caliper on the drivers side. I just went out and mashed the brakes quite a bit and then temped them with an infrared thermometer and sure enough the drivers rear has the coolest reading, by far, out of all 4 rotors.

Also, my parking brake cable that I lubed and thought would be back in business already restuck itself in the one hour I put it all away. It's currently on a flatter surface in gear without the brake. Pardon my noob question here though, but does the car have any chance of rolling without the brake? Isn't it best for the transmission, manual or automatic, to not let the transmission do the braking while at rest? Sounds like I'm going to need some new parking brake cables for both sides regardless.

Any and all thoughts welcome.

 

On a completely flat surface, the manual gearbox, if put in gear, will keep the car from rolling. Technically, it could roll but on a flat surface, it would require to be physically pushed (with some force) to get it to roll.


It sounds like you are able to drive the car until it is repaired and then it sounds like caliper rebuild or replacement and then adjustment and lube should do the trick. Wouldn't recommend driving too long like that...would hate for a wheel to lock up or have an issue on an emergency stop.

 

Yeah, looks like I'll be doing a set of calipers, parking brake cables, pads and probably rotors too while I'm at it. Already ordered the cables and I'm picking out pads and looking at rotors too right now. Thanks for the input.