Hello Everyone,

I'm trying to sort out if I'm dealing with a tranny, brake issue or differential.

Problem: Car will not roll backwards. I've put it neutral, 2wd, checked the parking brake, etc.

Wife had 4 grown men try to help push it out of a parking spot. My wife ended up calling triple AAA who pulled it out of the spot by lifting backend and rolling it out, and she was able to drive it home without any other issue... until she pulled it into the garage forgetting that we can't back it up.

I am trying to diagnose. I pulled the rear driver side tire off. Car is in neutral, wheel rolls forward by hand easily, but I can't roll it backwards at all. On top of that the drum is stuck to the hub. I've tried hammering but I can't wack it off no matter how hard I try. I think I'm going to order a puller.

So far, I think I'm on right track. But if the brake is causing issues wouldn't it lock up in both directions? Is this potentially a bigger tranny or differential issue?

Thanks for ANY advice.

 

Pull the brake adjustment rubber cover and back off the star wheel. You should be able to loosen the brake shoes up enough to maybe let it turn, at least enough to let you know you're on the right track. Spray some penetrating oil at the hub, which likes to keep you from getting a drum off too.

 

Thanks JeeperDon. Question: which way loosens the star wheel? If I am looking at it head on from the rear of the vehicle, does it rotate clockwise or counter-clockwise? I have a feeling I tightened the bugger

Also, do I need to worry about pushing away the adjuster lever? I think I'm just stabbing in the dark.

 

Yes, you should use a screwdriver or something to push the adjuster lever away from the star wheel. To loosen the star, you would pull the tool in your hand in downward strokes.

 

I hopped on my bike to go Bennett and got an adjuster spoon tool. Made ALL the difference in the world. The screw driver had limited leverage. About 60 easy clicks with the spoon and I had the clearance I needed (along with some PB Blaster and wakes from the Hammer of Thor).

Got the drum off. Pulled the shoe springs and self adjusting cable off. Decided to test the wheel to see if it moved. Still rotates forward but not backward.

At this point I'm debating whether to keep doing the teardown for the driver side brakes, or to leave it and get the drum off the passenger side to see if it that frees up the axle.

 

I'd pull the other side before reassembling this side. This is where jack stands are a big help, so the floor jack can be used for the other side (unless you had the foresight to lift the whole rear end by the jack under the diff).

 

Thanks JD. That's just what I did. I have 3 ton jackstands, so it wasn't much work. Glad I did.

With both wheels in the air, I tried going through the gears. All drive gears are working and spinning, but no reverse. Reverse sounds like it engages, but no movement in wheels. It does rotate by hand now though. Turns out my gear selector wasn't fully disengaging to neutral with tires on the ground.

 

Now it sounds like a trans problem, hopefully maybe just adjusting the shift cable.

 

Yeah. Taking it into the shop. I don't have the time, tools or experience to try to fix it on my own.

I still don't understand why the wheel was locking up in reverse only. But it's rotating now. If I was a gambling man, I'd bet that the wheel locked up like that caused the band to bust when we tried reverse. But we won't know until we open it up.

 

UPDATE: When the rear wheels were jacked up, I could rotate them by hand. Once I lowered them and put weight on them, I can't push the car back even if in neutral.

Reverse feels and sounds like it is trying to engage, it will rock an inch or so, but feels stuck like the brakes are holding it in place.

I know the front wheels are fine. When we first found this problem and my wife was stuck in a parking spot, AAA towed her out by lifting the back and dragging it out. The front wheels rotated fine.

I'm at a loss for how to get this pushed back to the street so even a tow can access it. (I live in a town house and have very narrow driveway.)