Hi,

With Engine switched off and Autobox Selector in Park the front drive shafts are locked as expected.

The rear drive shafts are also 'Locked' when in Park.

Question is -
If I wanted to, say, maintain,adjust,clean or replace the handbrake shoes I would have to be able to rotate the drive shaft/disc/drum to align the the access hole in the disc/drum with the adjuster - so how do you rotate any of the drive shafts - assuming the wheel is off the ground of course?

rear discs. drum brakes inside the hub for hand brake only At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

Rear drive shafts are not locked when engine is off and gearbox selector is in park. Only front is.
You only have the impression that it is locked. Use a bigger hammer.
Just kidding. The rear is locked only by the handbrake.
Between the front axle and rear axle there is the Haldex unit. And the Haldex isn't energized/locked when the engine is off. So the rear differential and shafts should rotate freely.
You just need a greater force to overcome the idle state of the Haldex.
Greater for cars after MY2009 and smaller for cars before MY2009. The later (after MY2009) generation 4 Haldex units use a spring to pretension the clutches and therefore they require a greater force to rotate in idle state.
If you don't want to push your luck with the Haldex, then leave the box in neutral when working on the rear axle. Just secure the car by the use of other means than the autobox park selection and the hanbrake.

Hi alex_pescaru,

Thanks for that! I can see how the rear drive shafts would appear to be 'locked' - and even harder to rotate with wheel removed. So regarding 'leave the box in neutral when working on the rear axle' can you say how it is possible then to have the car in Neutral AND the the ignition off.
I thought you could only switch off ignition when Auto is in park and then it is not able to be moved from Park to Neutral or am I missing a trick.

Would it help to select Park , ignition off , chock front wheels and raise BOTH rear wheels?

freeatlast wrote:

how it is possible then to have the car in Neutral AND the the ignition off.

When in neutral, with engine running, double click the start/stop button, instead of a single press, and the engine will stop. It's a hidden/undocumented/safety feature.

freeatlast wrote:

Would it help to select Park , ignition off , chock front wheels and raise BOTH rear wheels?

Brilliant ! - I was thinking there had to be a way but did not find that info in the Handbook.
Thanks again