The tale of the Kia that swam with the Swedish fish

Dear Car Talk: So, hello, I am from Sweden. Please forgive English.

Have now had Kia Sportage two years. Car was old four years when bought, so production 2016. Has approximately 35,000 kilometers, so basically new car, with mechanical hand brake, not electric.

It was stay parked like two months maybe 5 kilometers from the sea, not driving.

First day after that, I drive 30 minutes to the port, and I need to wait ferry, so stop in line. I was first car, it is almost flat ground, little bit downhill direction to the dock, but almost not possible to see slope naked eye.

I lifted hand brake, possibly not all to the end, but lifted. I repeat it is almost flat ground. I take some stuff and go out walking opposite direction. After few moment, car start rolling and end up to the sea.

Question: Is there any technical possibility maybe because car was park two months near sea, that wind, salty water, moisture, rusty discs or something got into brakes, so when I pull hand brake, it did not catch all the way, maybe catch some rusty part and not enough, and car start rolling?

After that, car was 40 minutes in the sea water. After they pull it out, hand brake was on, and after driving car for 30 days, have tested and it is working normally. Can you explain why hand brake failed to stop car from going in sea? Thanks. — Daniel

A: Daniel, no need to apologize for your English. I understood the story well enough to get a good laugh at your Kia going plop into the ocean. Based on that, I think you’ll easily pass the U.S. citizenship test.

Here’s the most likely explanation. Your car sat for two months near the ocean, in salty air. It probably sat with the hand brake off or lightly applied during this time.

That salty air, combined with disuse, caused your parking brake cable to rust and seize up. So, the cables were, essentially, stuck to its sheath.

When you pulled on the hand brake, you felt resistance. But since the cables were seized, they weren’t actually engaging the brake on the rear wheels. And if you then left the car in Neutral at the ferry dock, it would have been free to roll. That was the plop you heard as you walked the other way.

Why is it working properly now? Well, it could just be that applying the brake and releasing it a number of times freed up the cables. Or, maybe one of those oil rig leaks in the Baltic Sea helped lubricate it. I don’t know.

But, if the hand brake was applied when the car was dragged out of the ocean, then either the brake was applied so lightly that it wasn’t enough to keep the car from rolling, or, more likely, the hand brake cables had seized from the salt air.

So, in the future, Daniel: 1. Use your hand brake regularly to keep it from seizing. 2. Park with the car in First Gear or Reverse, in addition to using the hand brake. 3. Always be the second one in line at the ferry. That way, if all else fails, you’ll just bang into the car in front of you — and he’ll go plop into the ocean.

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