After last night's freezing weather (it's still -5 outside now) by rear brakes seem to have frozen up and are binding - I drove a couple of miles and the right rear disk was hot enough to instantly boil snow to steam when I chucked some at it as a temperature test.

Other than throwing lots of warm water at the wheel and hoping it loosens up , is there anything else I can do to get my car drivable again?

I'm hoping it is just the cold and not some grit stuck in there as I don't fancy stripping brakes in this weather.

Edited 6 January, 200917 yr by Dr Zoidberg

The only thing I can think of, is that the grit may have become stuck in the caliper carrier, I drove to work this morning (30 miles at around -6 and the brakes were fine all the way.

Had you washed your car the night before and not taken it for a drive afterwards? In truth there shouldn't be enough moisture around the brakes after you've been for a drive to suffer any problems with freezing weather

if there is grit surely it will wash out? hot pressure wash at the local garage????

Yes, and drive it for a while afterwards, braking every now and then to burn off the moisture. And don't park it with the handbrake on when there's high moisture, they sometimes jam.

I'd driven home last night and there didn't seem to be any problem then , but it was pretty obvious when I set off this morning that something wasn't right.

I've chucked a few kettle-fulls of hot water of the offending wheel and taken it for another drive and it's again getting much hotter than the other three wheels.

I might try a hot jet-wash , but failing that it will be a trip to a garage as I don't fancy DIY-ing it at the mo and I need it fixed for work pretty sharpish.

Oh, another useful tip. In bad weather park next to a hedgerow, building, or anything not letting the wind through. You still have the outside temp acting, but not the wind chill factor, which is sometimes more important.

imo its gotta be some foreign object in the gap between disc and pad,

im in germany, where we have been hitting -12 at night with the high temps of -6 during the day, and my brakes havent done that once. strange though cos i would haver thought you would here grit on the discs scraping??

My handbrake was very stiff and heavy this morning. I thought the brakes might be binding but did not notice any noise or change in performance. I figure the cable grease might be a bit solid in this weather?

My handbrake was very stiff and heavy this morning. I thought the brakes might be binding but did not notice any noise or change in performance. I figure the cable grease might be a bit solid in this weather?

Looks like you might have answered the question i had in another thread about a very stiff handbrake and assuming it was down to the cold with a large wind exposure.

Just had a call from the garage and it seems the right rear caliper had just seized up - a combination of crud and the cold - so they have stripped it and reassembled and it's now operating as it should do.

Refreshingly , for a chain garage , they haven't tried the usual trick of saying that pads and disks (or something else) needs replacing when they are fine which is also very good.

Fingers crossed it's all ok now

Excellent, good result.

Mine was stiff to release again this morning but was operating as normal after the 30 mile drive in.

Just been and picked it up , and after a five mile detour the brakes seem to be at a normal temperature - warm enough to melt a handfull of snow thrown at them , but not so hot that it boils immediately as they were on one side.

They just charged me for an hours labour which seemed entirely reasonable to me.

I'm always a little wary using a garage I don't know , but would be happy to go back there again (Formula 1 autocentre in Lye , in case anyone cares)

Sounds promising Alex, can't moan at just an hours labour really.

I'm always a little wary using a garage I don't know , but would be happy to go back there again (Formula 1 autocentre in Lye , in case anyone cares)

My local F1 (Canterbury) are also very good.

It's the adjuster on the rear of the caliper wd40 and a hammer to free it off