Please Help!! My Brake Light is On!!
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,625
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From: Cut n Shoot TX
Please Help!! My Brake Light is On!!
The light came on yesterday, and I don't know why. The brakes seem to work fine, although they are a little soft, they do not go to the floor. The emergency brake handle is all the way down, and the brake fluid is full. So what can be the problem??? :confused:
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 3,892
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From: Pettis Performance 565 with two stages of Nitrous Supply nitrous 1.082, 4.61 at 155, 7.17 at 192
Re: Please Help!! My Brake Light is On!! (VettePower)
Could be the plunger that rests against the brake pedal arm and activates when you press the brake pedal, may be out of adjustment.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 10,258
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From: Calif.
Re: Please Help!! My Brake Light is On!! (VettePower)
Check your calipers for leaks. I'll bet you'll find such a leak in one of your systems. Look at the inside of your tires and see whether you can see any telltale drippage.
Low pressure brought about by a leak in either the front or rear will trip the brake light switch in your combo valve. Replace affected caliper (I do them in pairs) and bleed according to your year's procedure and you're all set.
Probably.
Low pressure brought about by a leak in either the front or rear will trip the brake light switch in your combo valve. Replace affected caliper (I do them in pairs) and bleed according to your year's procedure and you're all set.
Probably.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 1999
Posts: 905
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Re: Please Help!! My Brake Light is On!! (VettePower)
I'm "assuming" you mean the brake warning light on the panel and not your brake lights themselves.
Not an expert here but pretty sure that it comes on when a difference between front and rear brake fluid pressure is detected such as when you pull up on the emergency brake. I could be way off on this but think that is why the light comes on.
Agree that it could be a small fluid leak or pressure leak that makes the sensor think there more pressure on the rear than the front.
STW
Robert
76Stinger
Not an expert here but pretty sure that it comes on when a difference between front and rear brake fluid pressure is detected such as when you pull up on the emergency brake. I could be way off on this but think that is why the light comes on.
Agree that it could be a small fluid leak or pressure leak that makes the sensor think there more pressure on the rear than the front.
STW
Robert
76Stinger
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 3,281
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From: NC USA
Re: Please Help!! My Brake Light is On!! (76Stinger)
76Stinger - The ebrake shoes and the regular disc brakes are totally seperate systems. The ebrake is all mechanical whereas the regular brakes are hydraulic so applying the parking brake would not have any affect on the fluid pressure or levels. The light either means he's got leaking fluid somewhere as stated above or that the switch under the ebrake console that indicates when the ebrake handle is raised is bad.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,625
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From: Cut n Shoot TX
Re: Please Help!! My Brake Light is On!! (Marks69BB)
Also could be a bad switch on your ebrake handle assy.
Also if I disconnect this switch will the light go out, if not then that would mean that something is wrong with the brakes themselves, right??
[Modified by VettePower, 7:58 PM 9/23/2002]
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 3,281
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From: NC USA
Re: Please Help!! My Brake Light is On!! (VettePower)
It's located under the ebrake console at the front of the ebrake handle. When you raise the handle, the switch activates the brake light on the dash. I would disconnect this temporarily to see if the light goes out. If it doesn't go out, the switch is ok and you know it's a fluid leak at the calipers or the master cylinder or somewhere in between. Good luck!
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Race Director
Joined: Apr 1999
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From: Beverly Hills/Pine Ridge Florida
Re: Please Help!! My Brake Light is On!! (Marks69BB)
Let me "splain" the confusion. That "BRAKE" light in the tach is a dual purpose light. It has 2 functions.
First, it will come on when you apply the emergency brake, letting you know it's ON. That function of the light is controlled by a "push--pull plunger" switch on the base of the EBrake handle under the console.
Second, it is an indicator light if there is an imbalance between the front and rear brake systems. You have a dual reservoir MC......2 separate brake systems. If you have a leak, or are pumping air back through the brake piston seals, you will "lose" brake pressure in one system as compared to the other. There is a "differential" switch in the brake block. When the systems are not balanced, the light comes on too.
SO.....check the easy thing first...the EBrake handle. But I believe you have the typical problem....air pumping into one system....loss of pedal, etc. The cure? Bleed the system. If it keeps recurring, you'll likely have to true the rotors to remove runout, or buy Zero Tolerance, or O Ring pistons for your brake calipers. Check the archives about this. Chuck
First, it will come on when you apply the emergency brake, letting you know it's ON. That function of the light is controlled by a "push--pull plunger" switch on the base of the EBrake handle under the console.
Second, it is an indicator light if there is an imbalance between the front and rear brake systems. You have a dual reservoir MC......2 separate brake systems. If you have a leak, or are pumping air back through the brake piston seals, you will "lose" brake pressure in one system as compared to the other. There is a "differential" switch in the brake block. When the systems are not balanced, the light comes on too.
SO.....check the easy thing first...the EBrake handle. But I believe you have the typical problem....air pumping into one system....loss of pedal, etc. The cure? Bleed the system. If it keeps recurring, you'll likely have to true the rotors to remove runout, or buy Zero Tolerance, or O Ring pistons for your brake calipers. Check the archives about this. Chuck
Intermediate
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 41
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From: Topsfield MA
Re: Please Help!! My Brake Light is On!! (Chuck Gongloff)
Chuck,
Had the same problem about a month ago (my Brake light on the dash came on) and it ended up that I had to bleed the brake system. Once bled, you need to hit the brakes a few times before the light will go off.
My 2 cents....
Had the same problem about a month ago (my Brake light on the dash came on) and it ended up that I had to bleed the brake system. Once bled, you need to hit the brakes a few times before the light will go off.
My 2 cents....
Safety Car
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From: Buckeye, AZ
St. Jude Donor '12-'13
Re: Please Help!! My Brake Light is On!! (VettePower)
I had this exact same problem. If your barke pedal is depressed to far for a period of time, the brake light will come on. In my case is was the same as yours, it was due to low brake pressure. The first step is to fix the problem...in my case bleed the brakes (caused by leaky caliper). Once you have completed this you have to hold the brake down as hard as you can for about 3 seconds our more. You will feel kind of a "blip" and the light will reset. I went around on this for a bit, but my trusty 1978 GM shop manual expalined this procedure. I have never seen the light since I did this. Failure to do this and the light may never go out. :chevy
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 3,128
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From: Deltona (son of Deland and DAYTONA) FL
Re: Please Help!! My Brake Light is On!! (VettePower)
Here's one thing to check out:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=370831
If this doesn't work, like the others recommenced, check for a leak. I had one but it wasn't enough to leak down the wheel. It was enough to make the brakes spongy.
I also saw some other posts that helped me earlier this week. I had a problem bleeding a new rear caliper. It turns out that the brake light valve that triggers the light to come on also isolates the front from the rear if it senses a fluid loss in one of those circuits ( like when you try to bleed the system and it finds air). It's internal piston slides to one side and cuts off the hydraulic circuit that needs to be bled. The solution I found posted in the archives :D ( Yay!) recommended opening a front caliper too and bleeding both at once. This gets the piston back to the center so you can get some fluid to the airlocked circuit. I can't find the thread again or I'd post it here.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=370831
If this doesn't work, like the others recommenced, check for a leak. I had one but it wasn't enough to leak down the wheel. It was enough to make the brakes spongy.
I also saw some other posts that helped me earlier this week. I had a problem bleeding a new rear caliper. It turns out that the brake light valve that triggers the light to come on also isolates the front from the rear if it senses a fluid loss in one of those circuits ( like when you try to bleed the system and it finds air). It's internal piston slides to one side and cuts off the hydraulic circuit that needs to be bled. The solution I found posted in the archives :D ( Yay!) recommended opening a front caliper too and bleeding both at once. This gets the piston back to the center so you can get some fluid to the airlocked circuit. I can't find the thread again or I'd post it here.