Grady's parking deck light on my dash changed my whole brake check habit

Last month I drove my old Camry into the parking deck at Grady Hospital for a 7am appointment and that slope on Courtland Street is steeper than I remembered. My brakes felt spongy at the bottom and the ABS light flickered on for a second, which gave me a real scare. I pulled over in the visitor lot and checked the fluid, it was low but not empty, and the pads had maybe 3 millimeters left. My regular mechanic out in Decatur said the rear caliper was sticking from sitting too long and that the hill just exposed it. Now I hit the brakes hard in empty parking lots every couple of weeks to feel for that pulsing or soft pedal before it becomes a real issue. Has anyone else had their car act up on that specific ramp or another steep Atlanta deck and found something hidden?

2 comments

2 Comments

richard11016d ago

Figured out the same thing with my old Accord on the deck over by the Aquarium, that spiral ramp down to the bottom level feels like a roller coaster. First time I went down it my brake light came on for a split second and I spent the next week convinced my master cylinder was about to blow. Turned out it was just the brake fluid sloshing around in the reservoir from the angle, which my mechanic got a good laugh out of when I brought it in all panicked. The empty lot brake test is smart though, I usually just do it on the back road behind my apartment where the only thing I might hit is a stray possum. Now I'm wondering how many other people have had their ABS light flash on some random steep deck and just chalked it up to the car being dramatic.

riley_bell16d ago

Three millimeters of pad left is basically me checking my bank account before payday, so I feel that. My old Civic did the same thing on the ramp at Lenox Square, but it turned out to be a seized brake line from all the road salt up north before I moved here. Now I do the empty lot brake slam too, though mostly I just end up confusing the geese that hang out by the Target over on Memorial. I figure if I can stop before I hit a pothole the size of a bathtub, we're good for another month. Last time I tried it, the pedal went soft and I just sat there laughing at my own bad luck.