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OK, while I'm fixing things. It's my wife's car and she had been complaining that the brake icon on the dash had been intermittently coming on and off for no apparent reason. Naturally my first reaction was to ignore her plea and then to accuse her of not fully releasing the emergency brake or that she was mistaken, read nuts. This got the expected reaction so I took it for several test runs over the next few weeks. She's correct..
Here's what's going on; It's reacting like a going bad sensor or intermittently self grounding light switch. It does in fact go on for no apparent reason and stays illuminated for a ever changing period of time (10 seconds to 20 minutes) and then goes off until it decides to come on again. I can not associate it with any action on my part as the driver from using the brakes to using the emergency brake which by the way does correctly display the brake icon when engaged. The master cylinder is full. WazUp please, Frank
Check the brake fluid in the master cylinder reservoir. I imagine it can get cold in Cleveland just like Chicago, so sometimes, when the fluid is not at normal temperature, the sensor thinks the fluid is low. It's possible that the brakes may need to be serviced also since the rotors and pads are wearing down. I've yet to see any parking brake problems as that seems pretty solid, but do use it once in a while when parked, so it will not lose its tensile abilities.
I had the same problem, it was low brake fluid...even though it may be in the correct range, top it off with fresh fluid until it's at the max level...that should help.
"Check the brake fluid in the master cylinder reservoir"
Have done this and it's full. I know on a GM car if the pedal goes to the floor the light comes on so I checked it out first as a safety precaution.
"when the fluid is not at normal temperature, the sensor thinks the fluid is low."
Got me thinking there Luc, yet the car has gone through a few winters so far with out adverse affects. Is the heat you are referring to under hood heat that is providing the thermal boost. If so the problem exhibits itself even when operating temp is at max (normal) and I've been driving for awhile so it doesn't seem logical but I won't rule it out. Where's this sensor located that you're referring to? This seems like a likely candidate and I'll test it if I find it.
I too use parking brake as a preventive maintenance measure. This car has responded like the rotors were warped since the day it was new. At first I thought the pulse was associated with the ABS system but in fact may be layed at the feet of bad metal. It's got 40+ on the clock without a brake job though It's not asking for attention. I'll drop in new pads when they need replacement and unless someone advises me otherwise I'll spring for new rotors too. I'm only referring to the fronts so far.
"It's possible that the brakes may need to be serviced"
Is this car set up to notify me that the brakes need my attention by sporadically putting on the brake icon?
I'm not sure where the fluid sensor is located at. I had the same predicament on my Gen3 when the car was parked outside for 3 days in about 30's F. After I drove it for a while, it was fine. I thought I read in my Haynes manual somewhere that there are pad wear indicators that could send information to the ABS unit, indicating that something isn't quite right. May be it was the shims also. I'll have to check the manual in the morning. My '98 has about 43k miles now, and I haven't had any brake indication light incident, but it has lost some grip, that I can feel. Stop-and-go traffic sucks too.
Hey Frank, I couldn't find anything in the Haynes manual actually about how the actual mechanical parts can send information to indicate a brake job is needed. Only thing it covered was how the speed sensors and traction control can trigger the ABS light to come on.
Finally topped off the master and you guys were correct. :oops: All it needed was more fluid even though it looked full. Now I just need to keep the turkey baseter handy to take some fluid out when I push back the calipers for the new pads, shortly.
Are there audiabl scrapers to let you know when your pads are getting low?
Happy New Year to all and thanks for the help....Frank
Glad it was a help. Would you believe that I finally replaced those front pads about 6-8 weeks ago at 72 thou. Didn't bother with the rotors and was done in about 45 minutes. I can't believe how easy it was with those newer two piece calipers........Frank
PS: Again, Happy New Year to all!
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