Brake Lamp Warning

[psungee]

Hey folks - just poking about lookin' for an opinion on a warning...

Occasionally the "Check brake lamps" warning comes on. There seems to be nothing consistent as to when this warning comes up. The brake lights are just fine. I reset the warning and everything is okay. This warning lights periodically but it doesn't "seem" to be dependent upon anything (ie, time, whether the car is just started, etc). It seems to be, time-wise, random. There just seems to be no condition that precipitates this warning.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[JLewisinSyr]

The light comes on under two main circumstances.

The first is when your parking brake is engaged or at least the sensor thinks its engaged at the pedal. Mine sometimes doesn't fully disengage when I put the car in drive (automatic release), but if I nudge it with the top of my foot upwards it will go off. There sensor can be adjusted in terms of providing more or less travel, but I haven't had the time to figure it out yet.

The second is when the level sensor detects low fluid level. This can be due to a brake fluid leak or if your brakes are signifigantly worn. If you have a leak, you'll have to figure out where it is (ABS Actuator, Line, Caliper, etc.) and replace the part that is leaking. On the other hand, if your brakes are worn and the caliper is being maximized to allow for normal braking it will cause more fluid to enter the line. In this case, you could add more brake fluid, but it will only solve the problem short term. The ultimate fix is to replace the brakes.

In either situation it might not trigger the light all the time, and espicially true when it comes to low fluid as it could be just low enough to trigger the sensor during a stop, turn, acceleration, etc.

Hope this helps.

 

[MichiganTeddyBear]

Those problems shouldnt trigger a "check brake lamps" message, but instead the main brake warning indicator.

is there any weather issues that may be traced to it??

another idea, is an intermittant bulb, or contact in the bulb socket. I recently had this on a park/turn lamp. just a little bit of a film on the socket is all it takes to cause an intermittant problem. A cheap way to rule out intermittant bad bulbs is to replace them all. they are not that expensive, in fact I bought a package of 2 bulbs just the other day for like 2 bucks

 

[psungee]

Thanks but ... it's part of the digital read-out display as per the image attached. It's not a bulb and, no - no weather issues that I can notice other than, perhaps, bright and beautiful.

 

[MichiganTeddyBear]

the bad connections I am referring to are in the tail light sockets.

a little bit of corrosion or even a dirt film can cause intermittant failures of the sensing circuit to think there is a bulb failure. it can even cause a bulb to not light, therefore actually giving a real failure indication

 

[JLewisinSyr]

Sorry, misunderstood, thought you meant the brake light, not the LCD display. It's probably a short/corrosion somewhere.

 

[psungee]

gotcha! I'll clean it and repost (or bump it up) if it reoccurs.

Thanks very much - appreciate the help!