Wow, it's been a while since I posted here! Lots has changed - I moved from Colorado to Minneapolis and my little 1982 Pickup chugged its happy little way on the 1,000 mile journey. It performed wonderfully on our expedition northward, but his first Minnesota winter has been really hard on him. I've noticed lots of little things; the latches on the door don't catch, so the doors will fly open on sharp turns (moderately humorous), the cold weather busted a fuel line (replaced, all is well there), and a few other small problems.

One of those small problems is that the e-brake light was lit constantly during the winter - I didn't discover this until nearly 2 months after it started happening because an ungrateful roommate was using my truck until he could afford his own vehicle and I was using my car. The second that I discovered that he was not only not doing the regular maintenance, but also wasn't telling me about problems, he was banished from driving my "Old Blue" . Unfortunately, that has meant that Blue has really just been sitting in my driveway for about two months.

I finally started him up (took a little coaxing and he smoked a little while he burned off bad gas) and let it idle for a bit, then went to back out of my driveway and it just won't go. It won't go forward, it won't go backward. The gears engage and the engine responds by bogging down and there feels like there's a bit of rocking forward or back, but I'm not convinced the tires actually move. I tried once to really force it and the tires squealed but he did not budge (it claims not to in 2WD, although shifting it into 4WD does not remedy the issue).

Does this sound like a seized brake issue? How can I check this and potentially fix my poor old guy so that I can get it into a mechanic for a solid tune up?

I was really hoping to fully restore the exterior of the truck this summer - straighten dents, fill rust, primer and repaint everything. I don't want my Ol' Blue rusting apart in two years with these crazy MN winters. Of course, I want to fix any mechanical issues before I focus on the cosmetics, so if this isn't a problem that I can fix, I was hoping someone would have an idea as to what it'd cost for a pro to come and fix him.

Thanks, in advance, for any help

EDIT:
Wow... I did a little research and discovered something that I had completely forgotten about; brake fluid. I feel like such a n00b now I really hope I didn't mess anything up in a major way by neglecting to check on the fluid levels. Ugh... I will check the moment I get home (and pick some up at the auto parts store on the way, just in case).

 

i would start by jacking the all 4 wheels of the ground and see which wheels are stuck, and i dont know how cold it is there now but i have gotten water in the rear brakes and the truck wont budge because they are frozen.

 

Thanks for your response, 85-in-va! I don't current have the capability to jack this guy up - I have to go buy a replacement jack tomorrow (turns out, I forgot my jack back in Colorado when I moved).

I did, however, get some brake fluid and filled the reservoir up to just below the MAX line - but it was still above the MIN line before I did that. The fluid is pretty dark and I don't think that's normal, so once I get this thing resolved, I am going to have the brake fluid flushed.

I am fairly certain that it's not the rear breaks because I managed to squeal the tires trying to get Ol' Blue going once (4WD 82 Yota Pickups have a limited slip differential, right?), which would rule out the E-brake being the culprit. That leaves me with the front brakes. I was told that if both had seized at the same time, it would be likely that my master cylinder was the likely culprit. So, to test that theory without being able to jack my truck up, I cranked the wheel all the way to the left and tried to go forward and it moved a bit! I cranked it all the way to the right and tried to go forward and it didn't budge a lousy millimeter. I did the same in reverse and it only budged a bit in reverse with the wheel cranked to the left, so that makes me believe that it's only one brake that is seized, and that it's the diver's side front.

Does this sound reasonable? What could cause that to seize with the truck just sitting in the driveway for a couple months in reasonably warm (and sometimes too warm) weather?

Also, if it's only the one side, that just means I need to force the caliper apart and replace the pads, right? Assuming, of course, that the rotors and whatnot are fine.

 

It is a good bet that the ebrakes are frozen on the steel pins that go through the bell crank brackets . This would hold the shoes against the drums in some cases you can free them up with the spray lube of your choice and a hammer.

In others they are so bad i have had to cut the aluminum brackets apart to replace them

 

Wyoming9 is probably right about the bell crank. I just got done fighting with mine for the third time with only 18 months between the last freeze up. I don't know if I would be squirting any lube in the bell crank unless you have pulled it this is a direct path in to the breaks and lube could cause your breaks to fail and even catch fire and in the worst case lots of really ugly stuff can happen after that! I have witnessed this at work after a young mechanic got happy with lube.


The problem is the direct contact of steel and aluminum. Ferris metal (steel) nonferrous metal (aluminum) have different electric Fields when you put them in direct contact this will cause the steel to corrode faster than if it were alone. Then mix in the constant hot to cold then add water be it rain snow off road play etc... If you have the time and patience pull the bell crank and remove the pin you can clean up the pivot arm pretty easily.I have gone as far as to replace my steel pins with stainless steel this will retard the corrosion as stainless is more compatible with aluminum.Stainless is softer so I will have check them in two or three months then deside which will be best way to go