I have a '94 3.4L with manual transmission. A couple days ago, I drove it in some pretty heavy rainfall for the first time in the 2 or 3 weeks since I got it. It drove just fine, and I had no problems. When I got home, I parked it in my garage for the night. The next day, when I went to drive it, I started the car, released the e-brake, put it in 1st, and put my foot on the gas, but the car didn't go anywhere. It felt like it would if I had my foot on the brake at the same time as on the gas (which it wasn't). I got out, checked around the car, and everything seemed fine. I got back in, tried again, and the same thing... I gave it a bit more gas, heard a "pop" from the rear of the car, and then it started moving and ran just fine after that. Today, when I got in for the first time and started it up, I heard another "pop", but barely audible this time, and I didn't need to press down on the gas nearly as much this time. I've never had this problem before, and the only difference was driving in all that rain on Saturday. Could the rain somehow have caused the brakes or something else to seize up? Is this something I should be worried about?

 

Prtobably water got into the E barake cable housing and rusted the cable to the housing. May want to try a new cable.

 

Thanks for the quick reply, Z28pete.

BTW, sorry about the type-o in the title. It should be "seized", not "siezed". Unfortunately, I can't find a way to edit the thread title. Oh well...

 

Does it make any strange noise, from the rear, while your driving it ?

 

Nothing that I've noticed... But what kind of noise? And what could it mean?

I just finished driving it again after it'd been parked for a while, and there was no problem at all starting up this time.

 

Just thinking maybe something with the rear end, but if there's no clicking, whining, or other odd noises your probably ok then.

 

I second Pete's diagnosis, the e-brake cable. You can try soaking down the cable with PB Blaster penetrating oil. They most likely froze where the cable goes into the housing. Lube them up and work the e-brake handle up and down to work it in.

 

Get a friend, lift up the rear of the car, remove the wheels and the drums. Have the friend work the e-brake handle, and watch for smooth operation of the brake shoes. Also, look at the self-adjusting mechanism to see if it's warped or stuck (there should be a little brass-looking gear with wide spaces between the teeth, that you can spin freely if you lift the hook from it).

That is... if you have drums in the rear. Which do you have?

 

^^^ good point, if u have drum brakes it could be the the inside is gunked up and the water washed some stuff into the works.