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Frozen Parking Brake: -1 F

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YYZ-IAD

Member
Supporting Member
Jun 4, 2018
513
1,329
Buffalo NY, Toronto ON
Hi

First winter with MS. Was parked outside last week in -1F temps with considerable snow.

Next morn, I could not drive car F or R. Wheels just felt locked up. A warning message on dash about parking brakes - and seek Tesla service. On second try five mins later, brakes did release and I could drive. No more message.

Has this happened to others in cold climates? Even in warmer temps, the parking brake makes a "clunk" sound when it releases as I first drive in R.

thanks
 
My brakes appeared to be locked a couple of times this winter. Though the car was in the garage so temperature never went below about 40 oF and I never got a warning message. The only indication was that when I attempted to reverse out of the garage, the car hesitated for a moment and then there was a rather loud clunck which I interpret as the brakes releasing. Disconcerting.
 
I think there are two separate issues here....I've had both.

-If your car feels "stuck" when you try to drive after being parked for a while, your pads are probably "rusted" to your rotors. This happens, generally, when there is moisture and/or salt on the rotors and then you park the car for a while. You just have to cycle between D and R and eventually you'll get a big clunk, the rotors breaking free from the pads. This is not a problem.

-The S/X have a separate little parking brake on the rear rotors. This is electronically actuated and you can sometimes hear the little servos noise going in or out of P. I just replaced this entire assemble on my 2014 S, 70,000 miles, live in salty MN. The little pad that squeezes the rotor to put the car in P slides on two metal pins/shafts. My shafts became so badly corroded/fouled that the pads could not slide freely. I got dash messages saying "Parking Brake Failed to Release," or something like that. I made a short thread about it a few weeks back. Anyway, I suggest cleaning and greasing these pins if you ever have the rear wheels off and live in a salty environment. When the parking brake is stuck, you can't really feel too much drag, its not like the car feels locked down, as it does when the main pads are stuck to the rotors. Clean them with a scouring/brillo/Scotch pad and grease with some hi-temp grease.
 
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I think there are two separate issues here....I've had both.

-If your car feels "stuck" when you try to drive after being parked for a while, your pads are probably "rusted" to your rotors. This happens, generally, when there is moisture and/or salt on the rotors and then you park the car for a while. You just have to cycle between D and R and eventually you'll get a big clunk, the rotors breaking free from the pads. This is not a problem.

-The S/X have a separate little parking brake on the rear rotors. This is electronically actuated and you can sometimes hear the little servos noise going in or out of P. I just replaced this entire assemble on my 2014 S, 70,000 miles, live in salty MN. The little pad that squeezes the rotor to put the car in P slides on two metal pins/shafts. My shafts became so badly corroded/fouled that the pads could not slide freely. I got dash messages saying "Parking Brake Failed to Release," or something like that. I made a short thread about it a few weeks back. Anyway, I suggest cleaning and greasing these pins if you ever have the rear wheels off and live in a salty environment. When the parking brake is stuck, you can't really feel too much drag, its not like the car feels locked down, as it does when the main pads are stuck to the rotors. Clean them with a scouring/brillo/Scotch pad and grease with some hi-temp grease.
The other reason this can happen is that the solenoid that actuates the park brake can also freeze, a tap with a rubber mallet is helpful
 
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The other reason this can happen is that the solenoid that actuates the park brake can also freeze, a tap with a rubber mallet is helpful

I am still not sure what happened in my case, chicken or the egg. Did the solenoid stop working, so the pad stopped sliding, so the corrosion took hold? Or, did the corrosion eventually lock down the pad, which then stressed the solenoid while it pushed against a stuck pad and caused the solenoid to fail?

Either way, I think keeping those shafts clean is cheap insurance.

Here is a picture.
 

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It happened again the other night. Parking brake locked up after sitting for about 3 hours. It was close to 0 F out - and snow was around wheels. Warning on dash to get parking brake serviced. I was able to go forward - although brake was still partially engaged for a distance of about 20 feet -- then released. Will get it to service when I can - but not easy to get to closest center and they have full calendar for weeks.
 
My brakes appeared to be locked a couple of times this winter. Though the car was in the garage so temperature never went below about 40 oF and I never got a warning message. The only indication was that when I attempted to reverse out of the garage, the car hesitated for a moment and then there was a rather loud clunck which I interpret as the brakes releasing. Disconcerting.
Same is happening to me and service wont touch it!
 
I think there are two separate issues here....I've had both.

-If your car feels "stuck" when you try to drive after being parked for a while, your pads are probably "rusted" to your rotors. This happens, generally, when there is moisture and/or salt on the rotors and then you park the car for a while. You just have to cycle between D and R and eventually you'll get a big clunk, the rotors breaking free from the pads. This is not a problem.

-The S/X have a separate little parking brake on the rear rotors. This is electronically actuated and you can sometimes hear the little servos noise going in or out of P. I just replaced this entire assemble on my 2014 S, 70,000 miles, live in salty MN. The little pad that squeezes the rotor to put the car in P slides on two metal pins/shafts. My shafts became so badly corroded/fouled that the pads could not slide freely. I got dash messages saying "Parking Brake Failed to Release," or something like that. I made a short thread about it a few weeks back. Anyway, I suggest cleaning and greasing these pins if you ever have the rear wheels off and live in a salty environment. When the parking brake is stuck, you can't really feel too much drag, its not like the car feels locked down, as it does when the main pads are stuck to the rotors. Clean them with a scouring/brillo/Scotch pad and grease with some hi-temp grease.
Crazy to see so many solutions on this site and yet Tesla service sweeps it under the rug. Our S is still under warranty and they wont touch it!
 
That doesn’t make sense. What is their reasoning/excuse? Car is not safe/driveable with a seized caliper…
We called roadside assistance and the Rep said they are aware of the problem and he sent an update to the car.Stating if it happens again take it to service. Tesla service wont touch it now they are very angry with me and I cant get anything fixed! We also have a faulty fan to the battery that is way to load they wont touch it. The service department made it clear they had the part to fix it but chooses not too. What a nightmare, we left the car at the dealership asking for the district service manager to contact us. They said no and told me there lawyers will be in touch with us because we refused to pick it up. Best car in the world and they wont let us enjoy it!
 
We called roadside assistance and the Rep said they are aware of the problem and he sent an update to the car.Stating if it happens again take it to service. Tesla service wont touch it now they are very angry with me and I cant get anything fixed! We also have a faulty fan to the battery that is way to load they wont touch it. The service department made it clear they had the part to fix it but chooses not too. What a nightmare, we left the car at the dealership asking for the district service manager to contact us. They said no and told me there lawyers will be in touch with us because we refused to pick it up. Best car in the world and they wont let us enjoy it!
Again, I don’t get it. They won’t touch it or service it and are angry with you all doesn’t make sense. Why???? Why will they not touch it? What is a faulty fan to the battery? Is it the warranty they won’t honor, ie want you to pay or something claiming it was self inflicted?
They want you to retrieve the car that’s undriveable?
How long have you been without the car?
 
Again, I don’t get it. They won’t touch it or service it and are angry with you all doesn’t make sense. Why???? Why will they not touch it? What is a faulty fan to the battery? Is it the warranty they won’t honor, ie want you to pay or something claiming it was self inflicted?
They want you to retrieve the car that’s undriveable?
How long have you been without the car?
somehow I don't think we are getting the full story ;)
 
You're right none of this makes sense.

Our first two MS's (2013,2017) would often seize up in the winter after a wash or even rain. None of our previous vehicles (Honda, Lexus, Acura) had this problem. It was a rusting problem. Can't say whether the rotor or brake pad composition caused it or what. It was never so bad that we couldn't back out of our garage but definately would hear and feel the breaking free. It didn't hurt anything but kind of scary if you didn't know what was going on.

Wondering if our Plaid will be the same. Guess we'll find out in a month or so.
 
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Again, I don’t get it. They won’t touch it or service it and are angry with you all doesn’t make sense. Why???? Why will they not touch it? What is a faulty fan to the battery? Is it the warranty they won’t honor, ie want you to pay or something claiming it was self inflicted?
They want you to retrieve the car that’s undriveable?
How long have you been without the car?
It goes back to when we picked up the Car new. They Shipped it to Southern California during one of their end of quarter pushes on a flat bed. When we picked it up there were lots of problems they didn't detail it because of the end of quarter push. They asked we bring it back the next day the 1st and once they got it, It stayed in a body shop because of the body and paint damage. Then the repairs came after that I believe the dealership up the coast had to pay for it or some of it and it came out of the service department bottom line. The First year It took them awhile to get it right lots of repairs from the end of quarter build issues. The Dealership up the coast started giving us a hard time. What i learned was the service writers were deleting parts of our warranty repair requests from the work orders forcing us to return 4,5 6 times to get anything fixed. The Dealer in Southern California gave us a Two or Three Thousand dollars in free repair and maintenance vouchers and $600 in Parts Department coupon. When we returned to our home town dealer and stared using the vouchers they were pissed and its been hell ever sense. Everytime we go to service they want to make us suffer. Tesla mounted faulty front suspension parts and 4,5,6 trips to the dealer before they admitted there it was a national recall fix. They Had my wife drive around on a broken suspension for months. I`m done with it The best car in the world and they wont let us enjoy it. Really crazy, Now Tesla 24 hour roadside help says they know the fixes of our issues and the dealer wont fix it. The worst is its not safe to drive. Oh yes the service manager called me yesterday and Teslas legal department will be in contact with us... Crazy, what happend to this planet? Yes it the warranty they wont honor! Its all mechanical we have done nothing to damage the car. we have been in our 2nd or 3rd week without a car. 2018 75 awd S
 
Sorry for the typos, cardiac arrest survivor.........
No worries. Crazy history of ownership so far. You def have more patience then I do, but being a survivor certainly gives you perspective and appreciation vs normal life BS.
Hopefully you have full documentation for f everything that’s transpired. I’m thinking buy-back is the next step.
 
This week I spoke to someone from Tesla Customer support and he agreed they need to take a look at this and wrote it up. Stating they have an upper manage department that works on eternal adjustments and training. I`m hopeful they are willing to continue grow and evolve.
The Survice department called monday to say it fixed one of the outstanding three issues then called my wife the next day to either pick it up immediately or they will be charging storage fees. LOL
 
We were in N Ontario CA last eve. Woke up to -27F. Parking brakes frozen again. After many failed attempts to move car, I wacked calipers with butt of my hockey stick (seemed the right thing to do in Canada). That fixed it. Seems similar advice given from @doctorwho to use rubber mallet -- but I used what I had in hand, plus the stick butt fit just right through the wheel spokes.