Brakes sticking

[gothguydante]

You ARE joking, right?

yeah i figured as much... i was hopping it was some weird festiva thing that with the parking brake on it just locks up the front... well i guess my back brakes are shot in this one to... my festiva rear end was completely shot also....

[Pgh5spd]

Famous last words: "I'm going to fix my brakes tomorrow." All newly-acquired Festivas have sticky brakes because the people you buy them from have run them into the ground, or at least never do maintenance in the last year or so. Take the adjusters out, and if you can't get the two pieces moving freely by gentle force, douse the pivot with Liquid Wrench, PB Blaster or equivalent - transmission fluid is good too - put one end in a vise and grab hold of the other with channel locks. If you still can't get any movement, tap gently with a hammer. They'll start moving. Eventually with continued lubricant they'll pivot freely. I've never met one I couldn't free up.

Another best friend when working on brakes is a plain metal file, to scrape rust off the drums and rotors, and also in the cradle of the steering knuckle where the caliper rides, behind the little stainless slippers. Rust scale can build up there enough to keep the caliper from floating. Also, when installing new pads, it's the edges of the pad plates that travel against those stainless pieces. Some pad plates have rough edges that also cause binding. Just keep scraping and filing away - it doesn't take much time, and you get much extended life from your brake job.

[gorgonheimer]

yeah i'm having the same problem so what i did is pushed the lever in on the drum to release the brake and then took the cable off and i'm just doing without it till i can get around to fixing it... also is you rear tires suppose to spin when it's in park? i had it on jack stands and they just kept spinning when i spun them...?

do wha?

[Omgloltokyodrift]

yeah i'm having the same problem so what i did is pushed the lever in on the drum to release the brake and then took the cable off and i'm just doing without it till i can get around to fixing it... also is you rear tires suppose to spin when it's in park? i had it on jack stands and they just kept spinning when i spun them...?

You ARE joking, right?

[gothguydante]

yeah i'm having the same problem so what i did is pushed the lever in on the drum to release the brake and then took the cable off and i'm just doing without it till i can get around to fixing it... also is you rear tires suppose to spin when it's in park? i had it on jack stands and they just kept spinning when i spun them...?

[jglutz]

It probalby would not hurt to realy clean the rear brake hardware or better yet just replace it. A spring kit is <$15 and the adjuster/boot is also <$15.

The ebake cable should be cleaned and a coat of cable lube applied. Sold at the parts store. Black tar like stuff.

Front brakes....would be best to pull the slide boles and check that they are also clean.

Then again maybe just some regular driving will free the apds up.

[geo2slow4u]

I tried that when I first took them apart. That arm moves free. I couldn't get it to loosen them up. I had to take them all the way apart.

[nonamekid]

the little swinging arm inside the drum assembly that the brake cable attaches to, has a pivot point in it. This tends to rust and get very stiff. When one applies the parking brake on a festiva with this problem, it will tighten the rear brakes, but will not release them, because the springs in the brakes are not strong enough to overcome the rusted pivot point. I have had this problem with almost every festiva I have driven. I just quit using the parking brake. You can disengage the brake without taking the assembly apart, and even without taking off the wheel (these can be a pain because they will rust to the drum). If you get behind the drum backing plate, you will see where the brake cable attaches to an arm that comes out of the backing plate. If you tap this arm toward the outside of the car (opposite of the way the cable pulls it), it will loosen the brakes back up.

[m715]

Make sure the strut/brake adjuster is free at the pivot point. (the bar betwwen the shoes the parking brake cable is attached to)

[geo2slow4u]

Yea I will its pretty simple. We tore it down one time already. But it stuck again. I will try and get pics this time.

[mie7528]

geo2slow4u

it seem's we had the same problem, the Hand break (rear drum break). can you take picture on what's the real cause of stuck-up since i'm planning to do DIY repair of my car. thanks..

[geo2slow4u]

I found out its just the rear. E-brake from what I'm reading. Working on correcting the problem now.

[geo2slow4u]

Seems to be front and rear. They are stuck a lil bit. You can move it a lil bit and they will stop it with out hitting the brakes. If you hit the brakes they will completely lock up. I have not had time to look at it much. The car is not here with me. I had to leave it at a friends house.

[mattswabb]

front or rear or both?

[MeeMo]

I just picked up a 93 festiva. The brakes are sticking on it. It has been satting for years. But it was cranked up regularly over the years but wasn't driven alot. Any idea's what it could be?

Had the same problem with mine when I got it. It had been sitting for a year and a half. Surface rusting most likely. A few miles of driving and some well placed shots of lube and I'm fine now.