JonahB6

Over the past few weeks as the weather had been getting colder a strange thing has been happening randomly. For the first couple of minutes it feels like I'm driving with the brakes engaged.
This morning it was the worst so far. In releasing the accelerator to shift from first to second, there was actually tire squeal and it was almost as abrupt as me slamming on the brakes.
No check engine light or any other light came on. I pulled over to the side of the road pumped the brakes a few times and sat for a couple minutes. Drove away with no further problems.

Is there anyway the cold weather could be responsible for this? It's a Florida car recently relocated to Saskatchewan of all places... I hope it was handle the harsh winters!

On inspecting the brakes visually, the drivers rear rotor appears heavily grooved and probably pretty much f****d!

a4audi4fun

Don't know if you actually have snow just yet but any snow accumlation near the exhaust is going to start melting. When you leave the car overnight in below freezing temps that moisture is going to freeze and/or cause rust, especially on metal surfaces like rotors.

Here in BC i find that after I've washed the car, slight rust will form on the rotors overnight and things are slightly noiser when backing out of the driveway the next morning. Disappears after first application of the brakes.

JonahB6

Unfortunately, I don't think it's that simple. It's definitely as if the brakes are almost fully applied...

poker838

perhaps your brakes have seized?

1move

iTrader: (1)

I would say the same, maybe the cylinders are not retracting due to the cold weather When you have the E-brake applied during the night. Is there any way you can leave it in gear and no E-brake on, in the cold weather, just to test and see if when the e-brake is off that the breaks do not seize up?

K04-S4

Possible caliper seizing but also possible ABS is false triggering due to a wheel speed sensor issue.

PwrDriftr

I would say that you have 1 of two problems

1. A sticking caliper. It's not releasing so you're driving around with brakes partially on. I had this problem on my 04 A4. It made no noise so I didn't notice the problem, however I did go through a full set of front brake pads in 8K's. I got the calipers lubed, and now all is good.

2. Parking brake cable not releasing. I had this problem on my Wifes Saab 9-3. It would cause the rear brakes to squeel. Luckly, I got this fixed quick and it was cheap to do.

I hope this helps.

JonahB6

Thanks for the reply.
I'm almost certain it's the e-brake not releasing. I sprayed some lube on it just from the outside and it seems to be fine already.
I'm going to get it up on the hoist for a better inspection/clean/lube.


Thanks again guys