emergency brake and abnormal idle

[jdavis1]

hey i have a 92 grand am gt with a 3.3 v6. after letting the car set through the whole winter i went and started it up yesterday. i noticed that while the car was in park that the rmps started off normal but then began to slowly rise to 2500. at this point i decided to put it in reverse and the rpms dropped back down to about 1500 which is still kinda high. does anyone know what would cause this? on to the next problem.....while it was in reverse i tried pressing the gas and it wouldnt go anywhere. it felt as though the emergency brake was on. so i looked down at the er brake peddle but it was in the off position. i pulled the brake release just to make sure and nothing happened so out of curiousity i pressed the peddle down anyway hoping to free up my back end and the tension released in the peddle. im assuming that the cable for the er brake broke. so now my car is still stuck not being able to move backward or foward. i decided to investigate today so i jacked up the backend and took the passenger side rear wheel off and the whole assembly was able to turn. i attempted to take the driver side rear wheel off but it just wouldnt come off because i believe its rusted on there. anyways i noticed that the wheel wont turn at all by hand like the other rear wheel would. so im assuming this is whats holding my car from moving which i believe would be the er brake. is there a way i can fix this to at least get my car to a shop to have the er brake fixed? any help would be awesome. thanks

[Knifeblade]

Could be ER, could be frozen shoes, could be any hardware inside the drum frozen, or the cylinder frozen.

Try this, after ya pull the tire off, take a hammer, wrapped with a rag or two to soften the blow-impact against the drum itself. Tap the drum from the outside all around, on the sides, and against the edges, and also from behind [careful from behind, not much of a lip to hit]. Then try turning the drum, repeat just a few times. If it won't release, two options, get a drum puller from the nearest renat-all center, or get it towed for the drum to be pulled.

Sounds like frozen brakes to me.

[faboloustw911]

I would have to agree with Tam...it really does sound like froze up brakes...best thing to do is listen to what she told ya if you cant see to get it unjumbled with a hammer just have it towed to have the drums pulled and checked inside and out...good luck with it...later

-K.C.

[Knifeblade]

LOL, He not She, LOL

[Knifeblade]

Actually, if ya have a good rubber mallet, that better, can pound harder.

In any case, ya still have to pull the drum to see what's going on.

[jdavis1]

thanks guys! that was the trick. there was alot of freakin rust on there too but i got it all knocked off and turned the drum a few times. that freed it up. does anyone have an idea about the idle problem? i've noticed that similar problems have been posted but im just unsure of where everything is and what to check.

[Knifeblade]

Actually, since the car sat so long, most anything. I'd try some injector cleaner and some water evaporator into the fuel tank first. Could be bad condensation problem. That could also be affecting the electronics, some of the controls, etc.