Help! Wheels locked up?

[dales]

Greetings! Am looking for help with my wife's 1991 Eagle Talon Tsi AWD. We purchased a new car over 2 months ago, and haven't been using her car (we plan to sell it).

Yesterday she tried to take the car to work, but it wouldn't budge. You can put the car in forward gears and in reverse, but when you press the gas pedal, it "squats" as if its trying to move...but the wheels are locked in position. (I tried when I got home...she's right, it won't budge.)

The emergency brake is off, so...any ideas? Thanks in advance,

Dale

[Prpul90]

Will it roll in neutral ??

[dales]

Nope -- doesn't roll and couldn't be pushed while in neutral either.

Originally Posted by Prpul90

Will it roll in neutral ??

[BluFalcon]

It's possible the car sat for so long, that the emergency brakes seized onto the rotor, or the caliper is stuck and won't release. If the calipers are stuck, you won't feel any resistance when you pull up on the emergency brake handle. My friend bought a 90 AWD that had this problem. We had to pull the wheel off and replace one of the calipers on the passenger rear wheel. Have you had any issues with the transmission? Problems shifting, unusual noises etc.?

[Prpul90]

Ditto on the Emer. Brake cable.

[turboawdgsx]

That's what I was thinking, if it's squatting, one of the rear brakes isn't disengaging. Try that out.

Rob

[boosting20psi]

my car did the same thing and it ended up being the trasfer case my car would not budge so i had to replace it. let me know if you need a transfer case i can get one for pretty cheap

[Talon007]

Yeah I would second the T/C problem. Go check the fluid in it, if its dry, guaranteed thats the problem.
Your lucky it didnt lock up the wheels while crusing on the highway.

[DSM-Owner]

if you have ABS then it could be a ABS sensor problem, but i dont think you do. Could be in your master cylinder. Loosen the 2 nuts securing your master cylinder to the brake booster. After that see if the brakes are still locked up. If they arent then the problem is in your brake master cylinder....

[Talon007]

I highly doubt it is a brake master cylinder problem. All it is is a diaphram, and it works off the difference of manifold vacum and atmospheric pressure.

[DTalon]

eyy every1 i juss purchased a ''92 eagle talon TSI front wheel drive, all i relle kno is the timing belts gone on it. The main probelm im having is after i towed it back 2 my drive way i shifted it into neutral and attempted to move the car.....WOUDLNT BUDGE....so i got 5 guys 2 help me still no go...i was tempted 2 use my moms ford explorer 2 give it a lil tug since ryte now i cant get it started do 2 a dead baterry...n even if i did it woudltn mateer cuz the timing belts shot..
when we ateepnted 2 push the car i notcied that the bac tires were slidign on the snow while the front tires were actually turning...
so in order 2 get the car in my gaarge i jacked up the back end n we pushed from the front..this worked pretty well..but i sitll dnt kno y the rear wheels arent Turning...NE suggestions??????

[MrZ]

dales:
Sounds like the rear brakes to me too. Here's a thought, jack up the front corner of the car (either side will do) and see if you can turn the tire. Next do the rear. They should both turn, even if the car is in gear. This is because you have both a front and rear differential. So, if both tires turn, it would indicate the transfer case is the problem. If the front turns and the rear doesn't, it's the emergency brake.

The emergency break is actually mechanical, and you can use a hammer to tap the lever on it back if it is stuck. That is assuming the cable isn't frozen.

Mark

[MrZ]

dales:
I was thinking more about this on my way to work. To be sure, you need to check both back wheels. Either of the two could have the caliper locked. All it would take is for one wheel to be locked for the car to behave the way you describe. If they both turn freely, then I would look at the transfer case. If one turns but the other doesn’t, it is probably just the caliper stuck, and you should be able to free it by tapping the lever (you’ll see the cable attached to it) with a hammer. If both back wheels are locked, it is possible the cable is frozen, and that will be a bit more difficult. Someone else mentioned that you will feel it when you pull the emergency brake handle, and they are right. If either of the calipers is locked you will feel no resistance when you pull the handle up….it would probably behave the same way if the cable is frozen.

Just one comment on the emergency brake. I’ve been driving standard transmissions for over 27 years now, and I remember reading in my owners manual many, many years ago that you should avoid using the emergency brake in freezing weather. I personally rarely ever use mine at all, in fact, the only time I use it is when I’m working on the car. All other times I just leave the car in gear when I shut it off.

Mark

[DTalon]

eyy well i juss finished workin on the car b4 i got ur reply thanx 4 the advice n i took off the 2 back tires but i found there was resisitence when i pulled up on the hand brake, takin the back tires off was a real experience i had to kick them several times b4 they came loose when i finalyy got them off we saw the problem....The caliper was literally seized/ RUSted right onto the rodder n i coudlnt get it off....so basically there was no pad AT all.......so i had 2 take the rodder off with the caliper still stuck 2 it...which took quite a while once i did that i found that the bearing turned freely...so i dont think its ma tranfer case which is good looks like i need new back brakes...2morrow im goin 2 check the front one1 out...they look ok but wont kno 4 sure till i get the tires off...thanx again
Also the timing belt shot on ma car would u suggest a new engine or rebulid the engine with a new timing belt, valves and head gasket??

Originally Posted by MrZ

dales:
I was thinking more about this on my way to work. To be sure, you need to check both back wheels. Either of the two could have the caliper locked. All it would take is for one wheel to be locked for the car to behave the way you describe. If they both turn freely, then I would look at the transfer case. If one turns but the other doesn’t, it is probably just the caliper stuck, and you should be able to free it by tapping the lever (you’ll see the cable attached to it) with a hammer. If both back wheels are locked, it is possible the cable is frozen, and that will be a bit more difficult. Someone else mentioned that you will feel it when you pull the emergency brake handle, and they are right. If either of the calipers is locked you will feel no resistance when you pull the handle up….it would probably behave the same way if the cable is frozen.

Just one comment on the emergency brake. I’ve been driving standard transmissions for over 27 years now, and I remember reading in my owners manual many, many years ago that you should avoid using the emergency brake in freezing weather. I personally rarely ever use mine at all, in fact, the only time I use it is when I’m working on the car. All other times I just leave the car in gear when I shut it off.

Mark

[MrZ]

DTalon:
I think you need to consider a few things before making a decision.

First, how many miles are on the car? Are you the original owner? Does it burn any oil? Is it a turbo? How do you drive it? By this I mean, do you drive it hard, or do you only occasionally give it a work out? When you say the belt is shot, does the car still run? Did the belt break or slip, is there any chance you bent any of your valves? How much money are you willing to sink into it?

Just the fact that the belt is shot tells me the car has some miles on it, probably close to 100,000, yes? If it's a non turbo, and it hasn't been driven hard, and it doesn't burn oil, I would recommend checking the compression, and as long as it's ok, just take care of the timing belt. I never recommend to anyone to only have the head done on a high mileage car, particularly if it has been driven hard, or you plan on driving it hard. If it's a turbo, and you aren't the original owner, assume it has been driven hard, unless you have good reason to believe otherwise.

Mark