The temperature dropped below freezing last night and I took off from work just as I always do. Within the first mile of my commute home I noticed a little extra throttle was needed to maintain speed than was normal. Fortunately I stopped at McDonald's after the first mile and went through the drive through. That's when I noticed my brakes smelled bad and the car wouldn't coast. I moved the hand brake a bit and it loosened up by the time I was back on the road.

Has anyone else had issues with the parking brake sticking? I'm assuming the cable froze and that is why the brake stuck. Does the TSX use a drum brake for parking?

At any rate, I'm trying to remember to just leave the car in gear and leave the brake off from now on.

 

The parking brake is an integral part of the rear brakes. I don't recall ever reading (here) of this happening. To be honest, I'd be very surprised if any part of the brake could have frozen; the heat generated by travel would melt anything immediately. It sounds like you may have failed to release the parking brake completely (though the idiot light "brake" should have illuminated if the emergency brake was anything but fully released).

 

Check videos by ericthecarguy on youtube. He has one that discusses rear emergency brake corrosion issues. I suspect that is cause of your problem.

good luck

 

I couldn't find that video (though he has a bunch more). I've never read any reports here of TSX emergency brake corrosion. Plus, after almost 8 years and 178K miles of my 05 (on Northeast roads), there was virtually no rust on any parts of the E brake (I checked most stuff underneath every time I rotated or changed over my tires). I'd be curious to hear if there's any more to this story.

 

When I first smelled the brakes, the first thing I did was verify the hand brake was completely released (which it was). I also got out and felt the rotors and only the drivers side rear was hot.

Oregon doesn't (didn't) use salt on the roads and I don't drive on the coast, so I would be surprised if it was corrosion.

The next time I rotate the tires I'll take a peek at my brakes and lines to see if anything is worn or corroded. Ever since I bought the car with 36k miles, the E-brake has felt weak. Very difficult for me to perform E-brake turns. Perhaps these need adjustment or pad replacement.

 

My left rear brake started making making noise a couple weeks ago, so I popped the wheel off and discovered the inside pad was worn to the squealer. After much research, I decided that ceramic brakes are the best choice and purchased a brand called Dash 4 sold at the local Knects auto parts store. They were $25 for the pair.

This solved the squeal, and the brake pedal feel is firmer. So far I'm happy with the pads, although it did little to improve the E-brake performance.

I was a bit annoyed at the process for pushing the brake piston back into the caliper. It should be designed to simply press in just like any other brake system, but instead I had to find something to slot into the piston and turn clockwise. Very cumbersome by comparison.

I've only had the 1 incident of a sticking brake. In the process of changing brake pads, I found that the parking brake activates the same disc and pads used by the hydrolic system, except it uses a cable instead.

I bought the car with 36k on the odometer, and I've double the miles since then. No idea if I was still on the original pads, or if they had been replaced before. I'm guessing I got 70k out of 'em since I am so easy on the brakes. Perhaps I can go 100k on the new ceramics.

 

Was the driver's side inside pad worn down a lot more than the passenger side inside pad ? If so it would suggest that you have a problem such as a sticky caliper slide pin. This would explain the symptom in your earlier post. Was it harder to compress the piston on that side compared to the right?

 

The drivers side was slightly more worn than the passenger side. The squealer was flush with the pad on the drivers side, but about 1mm away on the passenger side. Drivers side was the one that stuck back in January. I moved the pins back and forth a bit just to move the lube around, and they seemed to move freely.

I didn't turn the rotors, but they looked good and weren't worn much.

 

The rotating mechanism to retract the caliper pistons can cause problems when not aligned w/ upset nibs on rear of brake pads. This can cause the pad to be misaligned to the rotor w/ one end bearing and other end loose. I found this on an Accord when I replaced rear pads for first time.

good luck

 

rear calipers seize on the 04-06TL's...

unfortunately the only way to deal with it is a new caliper

 

This was my fear and frustration when I learned about the wonky way these pistons/calipers are built. Fortunately I was just barely able to peer into the brake assembly and see that the nubs were properly placed in the groove of the piston.

 

The rear caliper pistons don't press in, they literally screw in. Some use a big screw driver, or some other make shift aid, but there's a tool specifically designed to retract this type of piston (it's inexpensive and it's pretty easy to find). To each their own I guess, but I prefer to use the right tool for the right job. Like the rest of the brake service, it's pretty simple as long as you're aware of the fact that the pistons don't press in. Brakes jobs don't get much easier than the TSX, and I don't quite understand all the talk about nibs on the pads and misaligned rotors and so on. Replacing the pads (front and rear) is quite straight forward and there are a number of useful DIY threads on this forum.