Brake Light Question

[91camry!]

heya.. i have a 91 camry with 215k on it... whenever i need to stop quickly and press hard on the brakes, my brake warning light comes on, but then goes off when i let off on the brakes. i checked the brake fluid and it seems to be fine. i just dont want to have to stop and have the brakes not work... does this sound familiar to anyone? whats the problem?

anthony

[whocares04]

does it ONLY do it when u stop quickly or everytime u stop...if it's only when u stop quickly its that u have enuf fluid to work ur brakes but not enuf from swishing around when u stop to trip the light, so i would get some fluid or go somewhere and have it topped off...

edit: also turn on the car, pump the brakes hard a couple of times and look inside the wheels and on the ground for any brake fluid...if u do, that means u prolly have a broken brake line so don't drive it if this is the case...

[91camry!]

yeah. its only during hard stops not every time, but lately its been less of push for it to have to come on. the first time i noticed it it was because i had to come to a complete stop to prevent an accident at like 40 mph... it came on quickly but went off. now it comes on a little more often.. maybe it is the fluid.. thanks for the info.. im tired of downshifting all the way to 1st for every stop!

[whocares04]

make sure u check the ground for fluid...because when midas did my brakes they let a caliper hang and made a hole in one of my lines and over the course of driving 10mins back to the store to get it fixed, i lost all but about 1/10th of all my brake fluid so be careful.

yea the same thing happened a while back for me when my oil was low and i came to a quick stop but i was just low...

[Mike Gerber]

Make sure you are taking the cap off the brake fluid resevior and looking inside. I have seen people who just look through the side and see a mark near the full line and think it is still full. Many times dirty brake fluid will leave a stain on the inside of the resevior making it look full if you are only looking at it from the outside. If you are certain it is full, then as suggested above, check all brake lines, calipers and wheel cylinders for external leaks. If no external leaks are present, then you may have a failing master cylinder. It may be bypassing fluid internally (past it's internal seals) causing a drop in brake pressure and setting off the light. This is something you probably will have to take in to a shop to have checked, but check the other things mentioned first.

Mike

[AznXstazy]

sorry not to jack thread or anything, but mine does the same thing, but my reverse light on my gauge cluster comes on whenver i push down even a little on my brake pedal anyone no wats wrong?

[Tommy]

My car did the same thing, turned out it had nothing to do with the brake system.

The top post wire leading from the alternator was corroded and and shorting out, once i fixed this, the brake warning light never came on again.

check the cable coming from the top of the alternator for corrosion, and make sure its getting a good connection. One sign the charging system is going bad is random lights coming on in the dash.

[AznXstazy]

yea just went out and took a look, there was a cover over it right? well i took the cover off and found a little corrotion, takin off hte wire right now and checking to mkae sure under it, and goin to sand it donw nice and shiney before puttin it back in. you think that the battery terminals would also be contributing to this problem? right now mine are a bit corroded on my pos side.

[Mike Gerber]

AznXstzy,

Make sure you disconnect the negative battery cable before touching that wire attached to the alternator. It is the positive feed from the battery.

Mike