Frozen Handbrake Alert!

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet but temperatures are set to drop tonight all over the UK and so frozen handbrakes should be expected tonight and over the next few days.

Hair driers to the ready

I dont have a turbo

Shabba??

porto owners???

It felt as if it was going to freeze, so left my handbrake off in preparation

This is the official start to ignoring my handbrake until the warmer weather next year now

Only problem is and what I've had to face tonight and have had to put up with the last couple of years, are the stupid door handles freezing up

I have to admit I left the handbrake off tonight, Im sure it wont freeze, no point kicking fate in the balls however if there is no need.

I went to collect the misses tonight, I was going to go out in the bravo but it was frozen solid, I took the coupe, oh the irony...

Oh it will freeze

I took great pride of being very aware of the problem and made sure the cables and rubber boot, springs, etc were all greased up, to help prevent freezing.

A couple of years ago, mine froze on, while I'd been in work. It was midnight, so it was dark and cold and I just wanted to get home.

I tried deicer on it and it didn't work, so decided to drive home with it stuck on. I only live about two and a half miles away, so took a chance


This is what it was like when I got home

Toasty!

Baz

Mines is stuck on this morning! Whats the best cure?

Leave the car running to warm through, although don't leave it unattended as it could get pinched, although with the handbrake on it won't go too far!

FCCUK Frozen Handbrake FAQ

Grab your spare keys, use one to open and start the car, then get out and lock the car up with your spares. Go and enjoy a cuppa.

Do *not* follow this advice if you wish to remain a law-abiding citizen.........

Thats Truffs not mine

both locks and fuel cap frozen, handbrake ok though. Should have filled up last night 40 minutes to fuel up, then the flap would not shut. Why did I sell my Merc

ooh really? how come? I did that a few times with my 16vt back at uni when i worked at Yates bar and would come out at 3am to a frozen solid car.

Except replace a cuppa with a pint of the black stuff....


Bovril

Book him Stanno

Oh dear, at work i HAVE to park with the handbrake on. Not looking forward to 5pm tonight.

Handbrake was fine, passenger door was solid...better get the lube out tonight

park with it in gear?

congratulations "Dezbhoy81" first reported handbreak frozen of the year, you win a can of de-icer, hammer and a pint of swear words to use first thing on a dank Monday morning when your car will not move

my two are looking sorry for there selfs, the bravo much more than the coupe though!

Because it was boring?

I wish I'd read the forum in the last few This morning was my first frosty day with the coop. Couldn't even get the keys in the locks. Took me 15 minutes to get into the car, then the missus decided to open the boot using the lever. Obviously this meant the boot opened slightly but was frozen shut. I didn't fancy driving off in case it suddenly decided to open on the way to work.

Probably a daft question, but what's the easiest way to open the doors when you can't even get the key in the lock (remote locking doesn't work)

Snap! I had same experience this morning although to be fair didnt make a difference having remote locking as the actual locking mechanism wasnt working too good either mine wouldnt actually unlock at first i could just hear a slight click. What a nightmare and it will get worse no doubt! Ive seen something before about putting something on the door seals and the felt bit to stop it freezing shut,anyone know what that is?

oh and i forgot to say robcal to un freeze my locks i poured barely warm water over the door edges and over the lock and that un stuck things within a couple of minutes

A liberal coating of petroleum jelly on all door seals will help stop them freezing

A liberal coating of petroleum jelly on all door seals will help stop them freezing [/quote]

He's dead right, bit of the ol' vaseline on the door seals, helps loads

I should have read all of this topic. Fine and dandy about the handbrake, the issue was getting into the car! I'm now educated in the art of petroleum based door lubrication. Got funny looks off my mates when they got in the car and saw zed lube product

My handbrake was OK Fri AM but the passenger door was frozen. When I went to unlock the car off the fob the central locking would not work? Had to open with the key.
To be fair the handbook does state (Page 95 I think!) if theres ever a component failure on the door locking system (including a frozen one!) the central locking system stops operating for 2 minutes. Sure enough later in the door once the door lock had thawed all was well again!

As above this is a quick fix, the water only needs to be warmish.

As far as handbrake is concerned I'd be interested in Stan's pro view about parking in gear with the handbrake off and the front wheels facing into the kerb - when I was in New England [admittedly a long time ago] the latter was mandatory on a slope.

as I have had painful experience in the past... don't stop using the handbrake... I did, and it seized in the off position!

Grit lorry just driven past my house...the council around here generally wait until it's too late so drive carefully and leave those handbrakes off!
Forecast suggests snow by Wednesday, so god only knows why they decided to grit today...probably after a bit of Christmas over-time

From previous experience, no amount of waiting in the car, whilst it warms seems to help. (Maybe if the weather is just below, but anything colder and it all stay frozen solid).

The best prevention is to leave the handbrake off. If you can't, then new cables will help, and covering the end rubber bushes with a weather barrier solution will normally work.

Don't be tempted to start the car, and leave it 'warming up'. It's an offence to leave a car with the engine running. Plus, it'll be easier for someone to take the opportunity and it's gone!

Think I may have to just get up earlier and...


...steal the wife's car and live with the consequences!

I did that yesterday and it worked fine, defrosted the car, moved it to get the other one out, put the car back in the drive then had to do the water thing again to lock the car

Tempting fate here, but I've never had the handdbrake freeze in 5 winters.

Very frosty this morning I used my new club membership card to scrape the ice off the inside of the windscreen!! Handbrake was fine

My handbrake was frozen this morning

"Tempting fate here, but I've never had the handdbrake freeze in 5 winters."


Ahhh!


But the 6th is always the one to watch out for...

Guess who's handbrake has actually frozen off

That was after it was sat outside and running for 30mins and after a 10 mile drive!

Hand brake fine, door locks fine, handles fine. Doors opened fine. Was minus 7 last night too.

Vaseline on all moving parts and oil in the locks (plus new cables).

Handbrake left off in winter as a habit for me!!

frozen solid this morning i will NOT be leaving it on again

It's no fun lying under the car in subzero conditions with a hairdryer. One morning of that last year prompted me to order the new cables!

my hand brake also frozen on solid. i decided that to day was a good time to put some anti freeze in after finding it half frozen!!!

Thats all I have to say on that matter

I DESERVED THAT... been running water only while bedding in new shells, found rad tolaly solid this morning. opps. to make it worse had to get down town this morning at 8 for new tyres, tracking, drop links and yes some anti-freeze. interesting trip thanks to stuck on rears and iced up roads."when its slideing james is smileing!!!"

God I love my coupe!!!

Woke up about seven o'clock this morning feelin great after a good nights kip,left for work to find my windows were covered in ice!no worries tho I'll just open the car go into the glove box and get my scraper out.only to find iv had serious lock and central locking failure!!!!

So went back into my house got some warm water and poured it over the locks job done,now I'm running about five minutes behind schedule,that's ok tho!

Now I get in the car start the engine sounds abit rattly I'm sure purely because it was minus five last nite I'm sure!so put it in reverse and try to drive away and the front end is just spinning on the snow,strange!so then I find my handbrake has frozen on!!brilliant!

Go back into the flat to boil the kettle to try and release it and this seemed to have worked ok.now I'm a good 15 minutes behind schedule and I still need petrol!I think we know where this is going.

So I get to the petrol satation try and open the cap that's frozen greeeaaaaat times!!a simple phone call to the manager,why are you late?I'm driving a fiat coupe in the British winter!!

Anyway the reason why I'm writing this pretty boring pointless story is to let you all know even tho I turned up a good 45 minutes late for work,I don't think Id have it any other way honestly!!the sound of the five pot the sexy looks and the sheer power of my coupe make up for all of these minor stupid characteristics of the coupe!!!!!!and I'd sooner get into my 20v turbo than step into say a Toyota prius knowing that it's going to open first thing of a cold morning!!long live the coupe!!!!!!!

AMEN to that, i totally agree

great post

Good luck for tomorrow with all that water you poured on.

And just to think...all of them problems could have been prevented (possibly, well hopefully, well...who am I kidding)

Great post, we have all been there, the weather was a factor in my filling the car ever 2 weeks instead of just dropping £20 in, Its cold on them forecourts and I didn't want to beat the fuel cap up...again

i normally pour water on and the following day i just repeat the same thing, it only takes seconds, not had a problem yet door or locks wise. saying that im just about to go defrost the coop so i have probley just temted fait.And also i did get froze inside my car a few days ago so thinking about it i should stop the water pouring, whoops.

got home last night and the remote locking wouldn't work.
Left handbrake off and went to bed, got into work this am and the remote locking had fixed itself.........

You see guys you wouldn't get these joyfull characteristics on any other car!!I love it that's another thing the coupe I believe is a very intelligent car!!one day you can have a problem and the next day it fixes itself!!amazing car!!!

A chap at work had problems with his handbrake freezing and guess what car he has...... A vauxhall astra!

Would the problem be - my handbrake won't freeze so I have no excuse not to drive the wretched thing?

LOL this is why my coupe is tucked up in the garage for the winter!!!

My handbrake has been frozen for the last 2 days. It says in the FAQ you can put hot water on the cables - but where are they & how do you get at them with hot water?

I freed mine up (admittedly on an Alfa but probably the same) by pulling the handbrake up & down 100x or so.
It didn't break free, but did start taking up the slack in the cable over a few minutes.

I guess it hasn't done anything for the life of the cable.

Mine was stuck on Saturday morning.. I drove it 5 miles to Sainsburys and then half-way back before it worked free.. Sunday I sprayed a load of WD on the moving parts followed my copper-slip brushed all over the moving parts and a load down into the rubber cover for the cables.. All seems fine now.. Mind you my cars is left under the car-port so it does have a little protection from the frost.

The only time I have ever had the handbrake freeze was on my first coupe 8 years ago.
I remember reading that if you put that heatshrink stuff on the area of the cable by the gaitor this helps prevent water accessing it

Mine was frozen solid this morning, locks the whole lot. Minus 7 in Bracknell at 9am...has to take the BMW into work!

wow that is cold!!
It's really mild up here on anglesey, shorts and t-shirt i think today, joking about the shorts but not the t-shirt!!

Doesn't just geting new cables fix it?

I never had it for 3 years, then last year it froze up every chance it got - didn't notice at the time but the last service had a comment that the hand brake rubbers were shot

I had the cables replaced last summer and I've been fine so far.

Just gotta remember to keep spraying WD40 into the locks

Originally Posted By: snapychapycona... I tried this in years gone by, you must still use the handbrake occasionally, as it will seize in the off position like mine did and it was very costly to replace.

Why is it bad to have it freeze in the 'off' position? Mine froze 'on' on Sunday night so on Monday night I left it 'off' and in gear, and have checked it a few times and it'snow fully locked in 'off' position.

As long as I leave it in gear when parked, it will just thaw out whenever it warms up won't it? Why is it costly to replace? Can't see how it would damage anything if it's 'off'. Worried I should be replacing the cable before I drive it any further now!

Cheers, Jon

i had new cables fitted this time last year, still freezing...it's just a really crap design.

Maybe I'm just lucky - although I think what it goes through makes a difference.

My brothers brand new (under a year old) kia sportage froze last week - I was a bit surprised what with it being new and a 4x4, but he did try to drive through a flooded road when they had all that rain in cumbria (water up to his bonnet) so it wouldn't surprise me if it got in somewhere it shouldn't.

All I know is my handbrake hasn't frozen yet even when it was -6 at night, and yes I've got everything crossed and I'm touching wood

Mikey, if you look at the rear brakes through the gaps in the alloys, you'll see the handbrake cable, it's the lowest cable, in a rubber pipe going into the rear brake caliper from underneath.

My handbrake froze while at the cinema last night, but I was able to drive to the gf's mother's house nearby and using 2 cups of boiling hot water on the lowest part of the handbrake cables on each side, they unlocked

I went from underneath the car from the back, once you know where the cables are, it's easily done.
Wear thick fleece gloves if case you spill any boiling hot water on your fingers

This forum is fantastic!!

Thought I was in for a repair bill when the coop felt like it had chocks under the wheels when I tried to pull away earlier.

I remembered that my old company astra had a frozen handbrake once and after a quick search on here - voila!!

Just unfrozen with hot water and left handbrake off ready for another big freeze tonight.

Another point, folks - unlock your petrol filler caps. Nothing is as embarrassing as getting your lips stuck to the lock at the filling station...

you guys should think your selves lucky. i live in trondheim, norway. it hit -24c yesterday morning. you can guess where this is going cant you. i spent my first morning (yesterday ironically) as a fiat coupe owner with everything that can seize and stick doing just that.

the worst part of my 5am adventure was me pouring hot water on the windscreen only to have it freeze solid before it got to the bottom. then i decided it'd be a good idea to try wipe it off quickly with my bare hand. wont be doing that again. i've now got ice burnt and torn fingers after they stuck solid to the windscreen for 5 minutes and and some very unimpressed neighbors after honking the horn for ages to wake the missus up. should of realised that if hot water can turn to ice in 2 seconds flat, touching it with bare hands probably isnt the best idea.


oh well, let the adventure begin

First time in nearly 6 years the coop has let me down. I can't drive it.
Bloody frozen handbrake cable !!!!!!!
It's never suffered from frozen cables before until the recent cold weather.
My drive is failry steep so I planned on leaving the car parked in street so i wouldn't have to leave the handbrake on.
However there is only enough room for 2 cars to park on the street, a clever neighbour has parked in the middle of the 2 spaces.
So had a frozen cable this morning, load of snow & which ever way i turn out my road 2 steep hills.
Coop parked at the bottom of a hill at the mo & i'm having a day off work.

Youch, that sounds really painful. With temperatures like that I think you have to forget about locking the Coupe or using the handbrake....

i wish you posted that info last night mark i woke up this morning to completely frozen locks. luckily the guy i bought the car off gave me a kind of a survival kit including a can of lock anti freeze, a bottle of lock oil and an anti frost seal stick:) unluckily, i left them in the boot:(

d'oh

Stevo, tried all of those over the years and nothing works. Thieves hate hardship (ie. cold)

I've tried leaving the handbrake off, doors unlocked but it still freezes, last couple of mornings it has felt difficult to engage gear and been unable to drive, even though in gear.
I've found putting it into first and reverse a few times and powering up has freed it, wouldn't want to try it in a crowded car park though!

Hmm no handbrake problems now

Scraping ice off the inside of the car for 10 minutes though

First handbrake freeze in three years. Now I'm off to see if I can get at the cables without crawling under car

So Why is it illegal to leave your car running unattended???

Nevermind found it !

I'm sure stan will be along with an official answer, but it's probably something to do with not being in control of a vehicle, etc.

Whatever the official reason Theresa, we all know it's because it's easier than catching real criminals

Anyway thats my handbrake unstuck thanks my paint stripping heat gun...would hate to think how long it takes with a hair dryer!

here's a link from the daily mail website about a driver getting busted for leaving his car on to defrost.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...tside-home.html

dont really explain much though, the offence is just called "quitting". pretty vague huh. apparently it invalidates your insurance as well.

Not really that vague, Theresa is right. It's to do with not being in proper control of your vehicle.

If that were the case there wouldn't be a woman in the world allowed to drive

John's going to get killed...

I certainly am, my handbrake is now frozen off!

oops, you're right. it does expolain it as clear as day

Thanks darmtb! I've generally been leaving the hand brake off & chocking the wheels in the cold, but now I'll know how to free it up when it seizes off!

We should all ring our insurance companies to get a discount off our premiums:

Hand brake frozen on = ingenious additional Coupe anti-theft device!!

Wish I'd remembered to leave it off last night.

Took me 75 minutes to defrost it with copious amounts of warm water thrown into the wheel arch, and two pans of scalding water directly under the pipe.

Thanks goodness for the FAQ.

hmmmm good post - i'll be back in 5 mins...

If you can grab the missus' hair drier and aim it at the lowest section of the handbrake cable you can have it defrosted in 2 mins flat

just got in the coop to go to my parents

frozen solid

too cold to mess around unfreezing it

back in house

telly on

Thank goodness I read this well before it got too cold to freeze up. I just leave mine in gear now, and completely forgot to the other night and left it in neutral.

Mine was frozen solid this morning. Stayed in car with heater on full and occasionsll slowly rocked back and forwards to try and release. Gave up and called friend to get a lift He ariived at which point tried one last time driving slowly forward and it it released!!

Currently left in gear and handbrake off to avoid a recurrence ....

I have to be out at 6:45am tomorrow, so I thought I'd just check the car was OK

It wasn't

It didn't start, so I had to put the battery on charge for a couple of hours

Once it started, it wouldn't move, so I spent an hour under the car with a hair dryer against the cables and a small hammer to tap the caliper lever back

Now parked against a brick and in reverse, with a woolly glove over the handbrake lever as a reminder not to use it while I'm commuting tomorrow

The joys of Italian motoring.....

Too cold to go out and check...

I will just be late for work!!

Never had this problem, same cable on since I bought it 5 years ago. I believe it was blessed by the handbrake Gods

...Goes out and checks

Good ole girl, handbrake off a little shove and she moves!

Bloody cold out there

Mine was frozen this morning... but I've been leaving it off and in gear for a few days now

...and it was in my garage overnight, but still frozen pretty solid!

Just read this thread and checked my car....it's a 50/50 result...my son's just called me...his 16v is frozen solid.....fortunately my 20vt free and rolling...

Just been out to the turbo and spent a very cold half an hour pumping wd40 into all the locks adnd hinges and using graphite rubber lubricant on all the door and boot seals....

Front wheels chocked and handbrake off ready for the morning.....thank goodness for this forum!

That's why you did a coupe convoy in a Punto tonight!

Am I the only person who's never had a handbrake freeze on?

Me too and probably will do until around April

My handbrake was frozen in the off position this morning

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v605/theresa0666/?action=view&current=MOV00608.mp4

Video of mine from 2 or 3 years ago, when I had to drive 2 and a half miles home with a frozen handbrake

I don't finish work until midnight, the car was digging down at the back, realised the handbrake was frozen on, tried defrosting it, but gave up and just wanted to get home

Nothing frozen for me - the baby is in the garage staying nice and toasty

I don't mean to rub it in...honest!

Guess who forgot to pass on the "frozen handbrake" warning to Ms RK's little girl when I gave her my Sprinty Apparently she was able to get a lift into work.

To be fair I never had the problem, as I rarely used it in winter anyway.

Note to self - take handbrake off on the Plus tonight......

Handbrakes and everything on both my beasts have been fine. My jag however the door catch froze open last night leaving the gf's flat at 1am, had to take the hair dryer to it in -5 temps

May be I'm tempting fate but starts everytime on the dot and hand breaks not frozen, even though we recorded -14 Sat night

I did have the cables replaced (lots of copper grease added) and car fully undersealed a week ago so it seems that was just in time and did the trick!

Now the door handle is another story........stuck most mornings so at least you lot can get in the car to try the hand brake

The cold is taking its toll.

So far we have:

My turbo (probably not the cold's fault but I'll blame it all the same )

Central locking has developed a new trick. It all works as normal except a bump in the road will trigger it to close.

The dash lights now flicker when you first turn them on (dimmer switch at fault)

And my favourite. The lacquer fell of my headlamp. Not chipped away but as a big piece, which was nice. Nothing freshens up the look of your car like lacquer peel

So who tops that that lot for starters? I'm sure I'll have more by the end of the week

My 16v has been standing still for a week, failed the MOT because of the wheel equilibration (front wheels worn to the wire on the inside).
I wonder if she will start when it's time for her new shoes next week..

Good thing the doors still open and the handbrake isn't turned on.

Doh! Clearly wasn't paying attention, just posted in technical about this... I am leaving handbrake on just one click and in gear, that way 'when' (and i mean when, not 'if') it freezes on, or off, there will be just enough friction to warm the caliper up and free it.. I am not sure which is worse, frozen on or frozen off?

How about this, thermostat stuck open so doesn't warm up, rear heated screen doesn't work so ice inside, turbo seals worn so blue smoke everywhere 'waiting' for it to warm up, handbrake frozen either on or off depending on how i leave it, leaking bootseal providing moisture to rear window thus increasing ice quantity... And that's 'if' it starts! ;-)

Not on my coupe, but years ago in France in a -16C fog the heat from the headlamp bulb focusing on the glass caused so much stress that it blew a small hole in the glass.

The coupe just has a frozen boot lock at the moment but the internal release works OK. Haven't tried driving it for a while though.

My heated rear window only half worked, got this paint from halfords it's ok now. The coupe has developed a good fault, use the alarm to lock it usual beeps yet the car stays open more than likely frozen locks. Yet when I get back from work it's locked hmmmmmm spooky

the cold weather seems to set my alarm off randomly, and the car locks when it wants too, i can barely lock it with the key due to it being so cold

My handbrake froze on this afternoon, but I just drove away with it on, after 20 yards it started to roll freely.

The other problem I have is the wipers, the passenger side one was stuck to the windscreen while the driver side one went up, then when they come back down the passenger side one tries to push itself under the bonnet.

just need a little tightening

Finally after 6yrs fannying about with the pattern brake cables I had Rog fit some OE one's. Yes they are expensive but they work have had no problems this year first year ever.

Leave my fuel cap unlocked now rather than last year having to spit on it to get it to work, wonder if the useless bit of plastic holding the door release will hold this year?