My parking brake light goes on occasionally. It is the electric park brake. If I engage the brake I can hear the brake engage. Is this a sensor issue or do I just need new rear pads?
View 4 RepliesThe red dash light for my parking brake stays on until I jiggle the brake handle, then it stays off until I re-start the car the next time and then it goes on again. Brake fluid is fine.
Appears to be a faulty switch attached to the handle. How do I fix this? Is it a major job? [it's a 1998 Honda Accord]
I just had a remote start installed with a turbo timer that works off of the parking brake being engaged. No matter how hard I press it the light does not go on, however when the installer probed the sensor to ground it, it worked fine.What part this is that needs to be replaced. The stealership quoted me at 200 something for a whole parking brake assembly.
View 14 RepliesHad my car parked outside of work for about 12 hours yesterday, and in the NYC cold front, the parking break must have stuck on slightly. When I started to move, despite the fact I'd released the parking break, I received a warning in the MFI that said PARKING BREAK FAILURE TO RELEASE. I pulled the handle again and heard it pop just a little more off. Everything worked great after that. If I hadn't received the alert I probably would have driven off with it on. I'd probably have noticed the hesitation and checked the break again, but the alert was useful. Some of the warnings in the MFI can appear to be a pain at times, but it's amazing how thorough a job VW has done monitoring the cars systems and giving real time information if something doesn't work. You just have to make sure you don't get info overload from it all!!
View 4 RepliesRecently purchased a 2001.5 Passat, and of course got the mod itch... started with an Neuspeed ECU flash & DV, along with K&N... and now I'm in the process of suspension & exhaust... Unfortunately the past week, I was told that I had a tail light out.... Upper Rear Passenger Side Parking/Brake Light.... So I figure, hit up the parts store, grab a new bulb, and I'll be set...
Well, come to find out that it's not the bulb....
The light works when I brake, so 1/2 of the bulb is good... but the parking lights won't come on that side, but on the driver side everything is good..... even with the new bulbs..(replaced both on that side[passenger] just to be sure.)
So, just out of curiosity, I took one of the old bulbs that I thought was shot, and put it in the drivers side, and what do you know... it worked flawlessly on that side...
So, I'm led to believe I have a short... or a wiring problem somewhere... but I can't see how this could have just happened without really messing with anything... I mean, I disabled the DRL's.... but I even undid that(small piece of tape covering the B prong)... just to make sure..
I have a new-to-me (2 weeks) 2004 Prius, and my wife has noticed a weird behavior on start up which I have not been able to reproduce.
Occasionally when she starts up the car the brake light comes on as if the parking brake were set. The ready light will not be on. No other warning or error lights come on. If she turns off the car, and then turns it on again the light will be off and not return. Tapping or setting and releasing the parking brake has no effect.
She swears it has nothing to do with her pushing the parking brake or not pushing the pedal brake. This seems to have started after I set the parking brake one afternoon, but that could also be coincidental.
I have a 2007 Scion TC. Sometimes the dashboard brake warning light will turn on for a few seconds and then goes off. It happens after the brake is pressed at a traffic light or stop sign, a second or two after releasing the brake pedal and accelerating. The sometime the dashboard brake warning light will switch on for a few seconds. It seems to occur more often when the outside temperature is cold. Also when the car is cold. I had a oil change and lube and they said the brake fluid level was ok.
View 8 RepliesTonight while driving along at about 30-35mph, smooth road, contant speed, straight, etc. I heard a continuous ding, saw a red light come on, and saw the MFD light up "release parking brake."
I checked and the brake was released as I thought.
I pulled over, set and released the brake a few times, shut the car off and restarted it.
The BRAKE light remains on the whole time though and I can not get it to turn off.
That isn't the bad part though, once you are under way the chime continuously dings until you stop again.
The brake is not set and is not dragging, I coasted in neutral and there was no noticeable deceleration. Also once I got home which was about a 45minute drive (a lot of fun with the chime sounding the whole time) I put my hand by the rear wheels and neither of them had much heat coming from them.
It obviously is an electrical glitch of some sort. Where is the parking brake sensor? is it inside the cabin or outside under the rear end somewhere? is there a fuse I can yank to get this to stop until I can bring it in to the dreaded dealership?
Today the parking brake light didn't turn off when I released the parking brake. Other than the light staying on, nothing else unusual occurred. I did not notice any indication that the brakes were dragging. The brake fluid level was near maximum.
After reading earlier Priuschat posts on this subject, I found the cause which apparently is explained in technical service bulletin TSB BR002-07 (Parking Brake Light Won't Go Out | PriusChat)
Here's what happened to me. For some reason, the entire switch body loosened from the firewall and moved away far enough away from the lever arm such that it couldn't contact the switch and close it when the pedal was released. I think it happened because I pressed the pedal too quickly and with too much force somehow. The switch is at the top of the pedal assembly and it's not too difficult to reach
So, I pushed the switch back against the lever arm and presto, the brake light turned off as it's supposed to. I tried the parking brake several times and it is fixed for now. Now I need to determine how to tighten the switch so it won't move again.
I was down at H20i this past weekend and had my window cracked and a truck splashed water into my car all over my dash. Then all my lights started flickering. So I let it air out for about 2hrs and cleaned it all up and the problem went away expect the parking brake light flickered for a bit then just stayed on and kept binging at me and says to release the parking brake. So when I got home I let it air out all night and let my windows down and put my car in the sun all day today. Parking brake light is still on.
View 6 RepliesThere are a few threads on a sticking parking brake resulting in the warning light remaining on. Mine has developed to a stage that it requires a toe under the foot pedal every time to silence the alarm.
I finally stuck my head in the footwell this morning to look at the mechanism, expecting to see a strained spring. However there was no spring in evidence and I saw that when the parking break is released, the cable remains with some free play above the contact point with the pedal: i.e. there is no tension on the cable when the pedal is released, there is about 15mm of "free cable", leaving the pedal almost "floppy".
Observations
1) The pedal has no spring to return to it's correct position. Based on self study guide SSP_277 this is not as it should be as on page 37 this discusses a spring mechanism in the pedal
2) I would image there should be tension in the cable even when released; I feel the rear mechanism requires inspection as there are springs there.
3) While the parking brake works fine, It has a lot more travel that it previously had. Thus something is worn, stuck, or the self adjusting mechanism is not working.
4) For the record, car has 110K miles, the temperature is above freezing, the behaviour is not weather dependent and the parking brake has been routinely used (2008 car).
5) My recollection from new is the parking brake was released with a significant spring action: quite abruptly.
My parking brake light came on while driving. The car would coast at a low speed OK, so I think the brake was not on.
This happened in Yellowstone National Park at altitudes above 7,600 ft. and happened 4,000 miles ago and hasn't happened since. Taking the car in for an oil change today and I am going to ask about it.
I drive a 2004 Nissan Xterra. About 3 weeks ago I started out to run some errands and as I was pulling out of the parking lot the brake light came on. I pulled over and depressed/released the parking brake a couple of times and it stayed on. I proceeded to run my errands and after about 10 - 15 minutes the light went out. The brakes seemed to be working normally the whole time I was driving. When I got home I checked the brake fluid level and it was about halfway between min and max.
Since then the light has come on three more times. Each time the outside temperature is below 15F. It does not come on when the temp is higher. After driving for a short time the light always goes off.
Could there be freezing in the brake lines? Should I have the brake fluid flushed and replaced? I've searched my recommended maintenance schedule and this doesn't appear anywhere in it. The recommended brake fluid for my vehicle is DOT3.
So my 2000 Ex started showing the parking brake light as if the parking brake was on...however it is not. How, or what do I need to do to fix it?
View 14 RepliesI've been having a problem lately where I'm driving down the road and the brake light comes on and starts binging. I stop push the parking brake and release it a few times, then the light goes out and I'm on my way. Sometimes when I first release it the light doesn't extinguish and sometimes it is never on. I'm guessing there is a switch somewhere for the parking brake that isn't working so great. Is it around the pedal or somewhere in the brakes themselves? Is this a typical problem?
View 14 RepliesI have a 99 f450 4X4 I'm having brake problems. Without warning when I go to stop my peddle will go right to the floor and I can't stop, at other times I go to stop and the peddle is stiff and I have to put all I have in to it to stop. The abs light comes on and off occasionally at random but as the brake failure has become more and more frequent so has the abs light. Also my steering does seem a bit off, a little tough N jerky and the power steering pump is whining.
View 6 RepliesMy parking brake warning light won't turn off. I checked the brake (pressed and released a few times). Checked the brake fluid (it is right under max). 9800 miles on it.
View 6 RepliesI recently had the rear pads replaced on my 2010 Tig after about 39k miles by my local mechanic (won't do that again). Not soon after I received the warning light that indicated a parking brake error but had no issue using the brake. Took it to the dealer for the 40k service and they checked the brake. Couldn't find anything wrong with it after diagnostics but they did reset it. Service Mgr said I may get the error again and they would have to look into it further (possibly the switch??). Received the error again today.
View 4 RepliesToday the roads were slushy. On my drive to work a strange parking brake fault happened twice. Each time I was driving at highway speeds, not engaging the parking brake. In each case, the parking brake fault light came on, and the car seemed to go into some kind of "limp home" mode: the car would not accelerate or upshift, although it appeared to be willing to maintain around 40mph or very mildly accelerate from 0-20 mph if I stopped all the way. This was not because the parking brake engaged itself and was slowing the car - the car still coasted freely. It was clearly because the computer was limiting the car's power/speed severely. In the first case, I think it came on when I was beginning to apply the regular brakes to slow down gradually for a light; and in the second I was not using the brakes at all but did hit a puddle of slush. In both cases, it's possible the traction control kicked in, although I did not see that indicator light flash. The ABS did not get used based on sound and pedal feel in the first place, and because I wasn't engaging the brakes at all in the second case.
In each case, I was able to pull off the road, shut off the engine/car entirely, and then restart the car to clear the fault and turn off the light. The car drove totally normally from there, as if nothing had ever been wrong. There was around two hours including 90 minutes of being parked in my garage between the two events. I've never had any parking brake malfunction of any kind before with this car. So now I'm wondering when this will happen again. This does not appear to be the common problem of the parking brake button, since it never involved actually applying or releasing the parking brake and never involved me touching the button. I don't like having to quickly go from the left lane of a freeway all the way to the right lane or shoulder when my car suddenly decides to slow down for no obvious reason.
I have a 2006 Prius that I've had since 2012. The parking brake light was intermittently having a hard time turning off every time I disengaged the brake and became more inconsistent until finally, now, for about 6 months the light has just remained on the entire time, regardless of whether or not the brake was engaged.
Just to clarify the brake is still fully functional and will prevent the car from rolling when engaged.
I recently failed my inspection because of the light. The mechanics of the brake are fine, but the light wont turn off. They quoted me around $1,000 to fix due to them having to rip out the whole dash to get to the parking brake assembly (8 hours of labor).
However, is there any way to access the pedal to do the repairs without having to take the interior of the car apart? I've also heard that it could mean my brake fluid is low? But they didn't mention that during the inspection.
Today I took my 2006 Toyota Prius with 167,000 miles out to drive my dog to the vet. I turned the car on and deactivated the parking break and noticed the light stayed on, then I noticed the VSC and ABS lights stayed on as well.
My car was parked backwards on a driveway incline for about 14 hours. My 12v battery is old, not sure what shape it is in. The hybrid battery was replaced 2 years ago. I have been reading up and i guess it could be a sensor, skid sensor, 12v battery, or some sort of pump. Also, my parking break has felt a little weak as of late.
The car still drives, not sure if it drives funny or psychologically I think it does.