I have posted in other threads and have been following some posts about the e-brake getting stuck or moving back to tension when it was released in cold weather.

I had this problem but due to the fact that I park on a steep hill I was unwilling to leave my car with out setting the e-brake. I know that I have read about many other people who have stated the same.

Well a few weeks ago I went out to start my car in -20F+ temps. As I started the car I took the e-brake off (I noticed that when I do this it usually fully disengages by the time I start to drive). As I pushed the e-brake down there was a huge snapping sound. I thought "Oh $#!t I snapped a cable". As I looked down inside I could see that in front of the e-brake handle going down inside the console I could see the gears and cables that the e-brake handle controls. I thought to myself that I had not noticed these before when I was detailing the interior of my car. Sure enough down inside there was a plastic piece that was connected previously to my e-brake and was designed I am sure as a dust cover. Now the e-brake doesn't stick on me anymore. I took it to the dealership and they are replacing it under the warranty. But it has me thinking, is this a design flaw? If you reach down there and push on this plastic piece it is quite flexible when it is warm but as the temps cool it becomes quite rigid and as I experienced in extreme cold it becomes brittle.

In my area blocks placed around the wheel will not work since we get quite a bit of snow. If I put blocks down in the snow there is a good likely hood that they would work their way down further and not do anything to keep the car from rolling. Also if someone hit the car and pushed it over the blocks (also not hard to do in the snow) then there wouldn't be anything to keep the car from further rolling. I would like to here Mazda's response to this and I am thinking about writing to them.

 

Usually you would not want to use the E-brake in the winter (extreme cold) because the pads would have a tendency to freeze to the rotors. It would be better for you to just leave it in 1st or 2nd gear and that would alieviate the freezing caliper problem.

 

Haven't had any problems with the brake pads freezing to the rotors. The issue I was having was that the plastic dust cover that is molded to the e-brake handle in front becomes rigid in the cold and doesn't let the e-brake disengage all the way keeping a bit of tension on the wire. As the car warms up the tension magically disappears even when I haven't driven the car. If it was the calipers freezing shut or the pads to the rotors then haveing the plastic piece snap off wouldn't have made a difference nor would it be remedied with out heating the rear calipers and pads or driving. I understand what you are saying but the only time I have ever had my pads freeze to the rotors was when I was here 12 years ago and we were experiencing -40F+ temps and the car was left for 3 days without driving. And it took me 15 min. to get the car started because the oil was thicker than a milkshake (the brakes weren't my biggest concern). I moved as soon as summer came.

 

I see. I am wondering if this would be an issue that Mazda may need to look into. Check with the dealer service dept. It should be covered under the warranty. Again all the more reason to not use the E-brake untill Mazda looks into it. Just leave it in gear.

Years ago I had one of those 1983 Toyota Tercel 4wd station wagons. I had drove it from Ft. Riley, KS to Ft. Wainwright, AK (Fairbanks). The first winter I sheared the outer CV joint boots completely off both axles. It was found that the rubber that Toyota used was no good at temps under 0 degrees F. They installed all new front axles complete with new thicker silicone rubber boots on it all under a secret warranty. The car was well out of warranty at the time but Toyota didn't charge me a dime.

 

The owner's manual recommends not using the e-brake in freezing weather, I believe. I agree with 93rdcurrent that I would hesitate to leave the car parked on a hill without it. I've used the handbrake to park all my stickshift cars in the winter over the years -- never had a problem. I did notice a little sticking on my 8, though.

 

I read in the manual not to use the e-brake in freezing temps. I've been parking it in gear it's been -25C to -30 C (-13 F to -22 F) on flat ground. I put the e-brake on in neutral when I start it to let it warm up for few minutes.
Which had been working fine until today. I released the brake fine, but when I went to reverse, it struggled and then snap. It seems the brakes froze to the rotors in just the few minutes I left it warming up. There doesn't seem to be any damage.

 

Pauletta,

There shouldn't be any damage to the brake system because of the pads freezing to the rotors. The only possibillity that I know of would be that the rotors would warp of they were driven for periods of time with the e-brake engaged. However that shouldn't be the case in your situation. I would guess that they released fairly quickly. I am hoping that this issue does get addressed since it is pretty annoying. I have had plenty of cars in cold conditions that didn't have a problem with the e-brake in cold temps.

 

93rdCurrent,

I recently installed the accessory leather e-brake handle on my 8. I noticed the way the dust cover was incorporated into the handle and that it must flex as the handle moves. I wondered what would happen in the cold and now I see from these posts. In addition to breaking in extreme cold I suspect the reduction in flexibility on cold days is enough to prevent the brake from reaching the stop without assistance.

 

Thanks to 93rdcurrent for his post about the broken plastic chunk in the front of the Emergency brake handle. I have had a fair amount of trouble with my emergncy brake not going down in cold weather - sort of below 20, and this sounds exactly like the problem.

I will bring this up with my dealer when I take it in next. Thanks again. - Haze

 

Isn't this hard on the transmission, though?

 

Nope not at all.

 

I had the exact same thing happen to me a few days ago.
My hand brake has been stiff and wouldn't fully disengage for a while. It annoyed the hell out of me. Then, one morning I heard that snapping sound and "Oh ****." Now there is no resistance on putting my hand brake down. I think I like it better this way. I haven't noticed the missing dust part. I will look for it and if it isn't too bad I think I'll just keep it like this. Thanks for the info.

-JiM

 

the cable itself is freezing and becomming stiff.

the only way around it is too not use the e-brake in cold weather and stick the car in 1st or reverse.

 

I have had the same stiff problem when it gets below freezing here. It disengages but it likes to not rest quite all the way down thus giving a light until it warms up or if you barely press on it.

 

One thing to keep in mind with your RX-8, since the drive shaft doesn't get as much resistance from the engine as a normal piston engine leaving the car in 1st or Reverse doesn't have as much holding power as a normal manual would. This is just as I understand it and from my own experiments.

 

Huh. I just noticed yesterday the portion of the emergency brake handle mentioned by 93rdcurrent has fatigued and is soon to break off on my car. I wonder, why was it (cost) designed this way?

Mazda could have used a plastic strip as a seperate part that was made to slide unhampered instead of being forced to flex.

As far as not using the parking brake in the winter; ludicrous! They should have provided a pair of nice aluminum wheel chocks with teeth that dig into the ground then. It is true that the Wankel just doesn't have much incline-holding compression at rest.

Yes, there is a potential for the cables to freeze if moisture gets in there, but in my experience, moisture usually causes rust or freezing to cause the brake pads to stick to the disks, but just for an instant. I get the resistance to moving, then the pop as the pads let loose when backing out of the garage after the car has sat overnight after driving in the wet, then parking with the car in gear, not even using the emergency brake.

Oh well, off to the dealer soon, to replace the handle and fix some other piddly things that have come loose, or weren't installed in the PDI, as well as doing the airbag and heat insulator recall.

God, how I long for the simplicity of my old Festiva sometimes. (but not the performance!) That car never broke.

 

Okay, I haven't posted in a while, so I just gotta throw my "me too" into this fray...

Me too. There I did it.

Okay, what I meant is that I also had the resistance, heard the snapping sound, and no longer have resistance in the cold. If Mazda provides a better replacement part at some point, I'm sure I'll get it 'fixed', but until then, I think I like it better this way.

Whew, glad to get that off my chest, :D

 

jdaled - the only problem now is that you can build up dust and other things down in that space. I am really not sure what Mazda was thinking with this type of dust cover since it really is the only thing that causes problems in the cold (as far as braking is concerened). It took my dealer a while to get it in and I just had mine replaced last week. All that time and never had any issues using my e-brake in the cold. Maybe by next year they will have a recall or something.

 

I didn't use the ebrake all winter, left it in gear. Started using it when it got warm. I've had no trouble releasing the brake, but just recently noticed that dust cover piece missing from the front of the handle. Warranty covered?

 

I dunno...but mine just broke off this morning releasing the handle in 2 degree weather.

 

I'm pretty sure this will be changed to a different kind of cover in the 2006 model. Sorry to hear it. I've been parking my car in the garage overnight and I haven't had any problems this year. Still it bothers me that they haven't really tried to correct it.

 

I would highly recommend to use the e-brake on any incline, my 79 RX-7 StreetPort could be moved while in gear, the rotary will turn freely. I'd rather deal with the issues of the e-brake rather then take a chance on finding my car has rolled into something or been hit because of it.

 

I agree and to answer the previous question about it being covered under warranty is a yes. MNAO knows it is a problem and will fix it for free.

 

Mine just broke for the second time. The dealer broke it last year while, didn't tell me. I avoid using it in the winter when I park but if I start the car to warm up and get out I have to leave on. I don't pull it back all the way knowing the plastic doesn't bend well in the cold. Today I pulled up on the handle not even enough to set the brake and snap I heard it go.

I don't know if I should bother getting it fixed again if it's going to keep breaking.

 

I would because if they have enough break and they keep fixing them under warranty they will eventually engineer a better one. I know it's a pain the *** but we need to let them know it's a problem.