Shudder and vibration when braking downhill mountain road
11-25-2016
#1
Marge
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Shudder and vibration when braking downhill mountain road
Hello! I recently purchased a 2013 Honda Civic Hybrid about a month ago. I'm loving it so far, nicest car I've owned!
I took it up yesterday to Big Bear Lake in California, about 7000 ft up. It was great going up the hill, handled well, nothing peculiar.
Got there around 12pm, parked, didn't drive anymore, stayed overnight (temperature dropped down to maybe 30 degrees or so), and then started the drive home around 12pm the next day.
I was going down the mountain road and after a while I started to notice a sort of vibration whenever I pressed on the brakes. Turned off my music and I could hear this shudder and almost grinding noise whenever I pressed on the brakes. There was one point where I had to almost come to a complete stop due to traffic and it was pretty loud.
Once I got down the mountain and then onto straighter and flatter roads everything seemed fine. The weather was also warmer.
There's 35k miles on it and I just bought it CPO from a dealership so everything is fresh.
Any clues?
I took it up yesterday to Big Bear Lake in California, about 7000 ft up. It was great going up the hill, handled well, nothing peculiar.
Got there around 12pm, parked, didn't drive anymore, stayed overnight (temperature dropped down to maybe 30 degrees or so), and then started the drive home around 12pm the next day.
I was going down the mountain road and after a while I started to notice a sort of vibration whenever I pressed on the brakes. Turned off my music and I could hear this shudder and almost grinding noise whenever I pressed on the brakes. There was one point where I had to almost come to a complete stop due to traffic and it was pretty loud.
Once I got down the mountain and then onto straighter and flatter roads everything seemed fine. The weather was also warmer.
There's 35k miles on it and I just bought it CPO from a dealership so everything is fresh.
Any clues?
11-26-2016
#2
If you think a good mechanic is expensive, try hiring a bad one
Re: Shudder and vibration when braking downhill mountain road
Don't ride the brakes all the way down a mountain.
Hot brakes fail.
Hot brakes can cause warped rotors and shaking.
Pull the shifter down to a lower gear (range) so that the engine itself will keep the car slow enough to maintain control. Even if in lowest gear the engine can't keep the car slowed enough, it can take a hell of a load off of the brakes.
If all is well now and the brakes don't shake, it's ok. You might want to have the brakes checked though.
