I always apply my parking brake whether im parked on an incline or not. Sometimes if I disengage the parking brake, and set my car in Drive on a flat surface, my car does not advance (I'm not pressing the gas). This tells me that my parking brake is sticking! If I apply the gas slowly, I hear the brakes "clunk" off and I finally get going. Wouldn't this damage my brakes? This happens if it's been raining or if I hosed down my car. Am I suppose to keep that area lubricated?
The rotors are very susceptible to rust and the pads will adhere if they were wet and sat for a period of time. Like after a washing.
No, don't lubricate the areas. Due to regeneration braking, the rotors are not used a lot, therefore rust builds up. Find a safe area to accelerate up to about 40 mph, shift to neutral and apply the friction brakes to come to a slow stop. Do this a couple of times and the rust will be gone from the rotors. The only time I use the parking brake is on a steep hill. But that's just my personal preference.
This exact problem has surprised me a couple times this winter. I *always* set the parking brake. After all, it is a PARKING brake (as oppposed to an emergency brake). On a few occasions in wet weather I have heard a loud "bang" or "clunk" when driving away. I suspected the parking brake was sticking or something. I'll find a long downslope, throw it into neutral, and chafe off the rust. Thanks for the thread. I was going to write about the same thing.
I second this - ALWAYS set the parking brake on any incline -> takes the stress off the parking pawl. I would reccomend using the parking brake even on a flat -> if you live in the city, like me, people will be "tapping" your car often enough when they park next to you (parallel park in front or behind you), and if the parking brake is not on, it will be the parking pawl that absorbs that force.
