I may have pulled the handbrake too hard a couple of day, but since then I have been feeling that car was not running as fast as it should though the RPM was going beyond 4 and speed barely 50 mph. Last night, it occurred to me that it might be the rear brakes, and sure enough, the alloys on both rear wheels were scorching hot, after only 15 mins of drive, while those on the front wheels were normal and cold.

There is still resistance in the handbrake arm, so I am guessing that the cable is not stuck anywhere. Should I be afraid of both the rear calipers being stuck?

Thanks

 

Jack the rear and spin the tire, are the brakes dragging? If so is could still be the cable, check at the rear calipers, not releasing all the way. Could be the caliper(s) themselves sticking.

 

If it is the cable, is there a quick/easy way to fix it? I do not have a way to raise all 4 wheels. also, I do not know exactly where the cable would be, but I can Google it.
The only reason it might be the cable is because both the wheels were hot and chance of both calipers sticking at the same time, might be low...

 

You can check one side at a time, use proper safety.

Best guess as to where to start looking. Once you have the tire off you will see the caliper. Two "lines" running to it, one is the brake hose for the fliud, the other is the cable-I think(?) there is a small metal cover around it. Start where the bare cable goes into the casing. Pulling hard might have pulled some "dirt" into the casing causing it to not release all the way. The rest of the cable(s) are covered with the casing until you get inside the car.

EDIT: Yes both sticking at the same time is not a very high % chance. I have seen strange things before-calipers on their way out, pads are low and the cable "spins" the piston out further.......stuck

 

Now that the calipers have been overheated, the springs that pull the cable back out are probably weakened. In addition to whatever caused it to begin with (corroded cable?)

 

Yesterday, I opened the center console, and loosened the handbrake adjust nut slightly, and then drove around a little bit. I noticed that only the rear-passenger allow was getting hot, as opposed to both rear alloys getting hot before. Hence I thought I may have loosened the handbrake just enough for the rear-driver side caliper piston to retract.

To follow up, I took the car to the mechanic today. He took the car in, and a few mins later said that he loosened the handbrake temporarily so that I can drive the car without any drag in the rear wheels, but the rear wheels need new calipers, needs new handbrake cables, and new brake pads.

Now, I understand that I perhaps burned the brake pads while driving the car with the stuck handbrake, and also may need new handbrake cables, because they were stuck. However, the fact the rear brakes are working alright, i.e. the brakes are not dragging when no handbrake is not used at all, means that the caliper pistons (or calipers) are working fine, isn't it? If the calipers were not working correctly in terms of its pistons getting stuck, they would have started dragging as soon as I apply pedal brake, correct? Since the rear brakes lock up (partially, not completely) when the handbrake was used, is it not the problem with the e-brake part of the caliper? Can this be fixed by only replacing the spring or by using some lubricant or WD-40?

 

The handbrake mechanism is built into the caliper. It's probable that your brakes will work OK and not lock up, as long as you only use the service brakes (foot brake). Once you use the handbrake, then it will not release.

Whether a new spring will fix it??? Can't say unless you want to try & see. I predict that won't fix it, but I'm not sure.

 

So if the handle for the handbrake is stuck, there is no way of fixing it apart from changing the caliper?

 

Huh....can you describe a little more? Is the handle stuck, or is the cable not relasing from the housing or is there "slack" at the rear caliper and the rear brake is still on??????

 

It is in the back where the cable is attached to the caliper. That handle is stuck in the frontmost position and when giving slack on the cable, is still stuck ther, with a little gentle hammering I get it back, but the next time the handbrake is applied, it get stuck again.

The only way to fix that is to change the entire caliper? (European version Accord, stickshift)