The 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]
Every morning when i leave to work my brake light begins to turn on, when i go over a bump or brake it shuts off. But only happens in the mornings when my car sits over night or long periods of time . What is the cause of this and how can it be replaced?
View 7 RepliesWe do have a problem with our Honda. We have icons on the IP that flash at certain time. Icons are the "battery", "door ajar" and "parking brake". The icons flash when we take our foot off the accelerator and stop when we re-accelerate. Also, if we turn the headlights on during the flashing, it stops. We have a new battery and alternator. A battery check yesterday showed all functions were normal. What could cause this problem and what to do about it.
View 8 RepliesI have a wiring issue. I have found a broken conductor in my brake light system, which causes my right and high-mount brake lights not to function. If I give the wire a good wiggling and fanangaling, I can get all the brake lights to come on, but eventually they go out again after driving for a few days. The problem I have is this: I don't know how to release the wire from its terminations. Unfortunately, I think the break is close to the connector (away from the bulb socket), so I can't just cut out the middle and splice in a new conductor. How to free the wires from this connector and bulb socket? I'm afraid to do too much tinkering for fear of pulling loose another, undamaged wire. The wire in question is the orange one.
View 5 RepliesI have recently replaced all 4 struts in my car with monroe quick struts. I have a 2002 Accord. Everything went wonderful until a few weeks later I heard a rattle from the front passenger side. Its a light "tinny" rattle, almost as if a bolt was loose and it was jiggling around. It doesn't happen every time and sometimes goes away altogether. I took it to my trusted mechanic, and they spend a good 45 minutes inside looking at things and overtightened everything to no avail. I have ruled out a defective strut (as I replaced it with one and the new one does the same thing) and I ruled out the stabilizer bar bushing (brand new OEM part I installed) and I ruled out the sway bar link (also new).
View 4 RepliesI 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 RepliesI recently had some work done on my 97 Honda Civic (manual), and asked them to adjust the parking brake while they were at it. They tightened it up as they usually do when they work on the car (the other work was not brake-related, although they DID replace my master cylinder just back in February). Two days later, my brakes began to fail (much like they had when I needed the master cylinder replaced). Turns out, something happened with the parking brake such that the cables seized or something and caused the regular brakes to overheat. Once they cooled down, the regular brakes were fine again, so they disconnected one of the cables for the parking brake and ordered replacement cables to be installed next week, for a not inconsequential sum. My question is: did they screw up when they adjusted the parking brake, such that I shouldn't really have to pay the full amount for this subsequent repair? Or was this likely inevitable?
View 12 RepliesI have a 2007 Honda Accord. A few days ago I backed the car up to the front of the house, and in the reflection of the windows and glass I noticed my brake lights were very dim looking. The brake lights on this model/year are LED brake lights that are Honda genuine brake lights. After I noticed, I put the car in park and tapped the brake lights several times and noticed they got very bright, then very dim. Then bright, and dim again and so on and so forth. They also flickered on and off at one point while my foot was planted firmly on the brake pedal. Is this a popular known issue with these brake lights? What can I do to correct this? Took the car back to the dealership and they said there was nothing wrong. (Of course)
View 19 RepliesI have a 97 Honda Accord, 147k miles. Is it a good idea to engage the emergency brake one or two clicks while having to brake while going downhill (while stopping at a stop sign or traffic light)? I feel that without using the e-brake, the front brakes are being overworked.
View 19 RepliesHave 1995 Honda Accord with apx. 231,000 miles and needs all new break lines under the car. Honda Dealer states 12 hours of labor at $100 per hour. Should I go elsewhere or sell the car for $600 to the parts guy at the dealership offering to buy it since I wont pay the cost at this point to fix the car? Gas lines are all fine underneath by the way - I asked them to look since they could go next I would assume.
View 6 RepliesI have a 2011 honda accord and removed the brake fluid cap just fine to check it, in about October but I went to check it again today and the cap won't come off, I wonder if it's because of the cold weather? (36 f) It came off so easy last time I don't remember which way to turn it, and if I should press up or down when turning. The cap will rotate about a quarter inch either way, then won't go any farther. It hits these little white plastic pieces stopping it from going farther.
Here is a picture of what it looks like [URL] .... if you try to turn it left it gets caught on that little white plastic piece on the bottom and there is a similar piece stopping it from going right.
Last night we noticed that the main brake lights (not the CHMSL) on our 1997 Accord sedan wouldn't turn off. I tapped and released the brake pedal to make sure it wasn't stuck. Changed gears through drive, reverse, and park. The lights were continually lit, even after the car was shut off. I didn't want them to drain the battery, so I removed the bulbs (boy, were they HOT) and the car is now grounded temporarily.When I pulled the bulbs, I saw a warning light on the dash come on. I red bar near the bottom of the (non-working) speedometer that says Brake Lights or something. I think it's short hand for "Hey you idiot! Put the brake light bulbs back in!"So at least it knows the circuit is broken. So, the question is, what caused this,and how do I fix it without taking it to the dealership?
View 5 RepliesI had the master cylinder change on a 92 honda accord EX the calibers change and, the master cylinder I have been told does not have any way to adjust the stem on the master cylinder so the brake man ajusted the brake pedal but the brakes are still freezing up. It is an automatic
View 3 RepliesI am a new driver and I made the following mistake twice.
Twice over the last month, after street parallel parking, engaging the foot parking brake, turning off and exiting the car, I noticed the spacing from the front and back car is a bit off so I went back inside the car to move the car slightly.
However, I forgot to disengage the parking brake first, so I put the car into R, and when the car did not move, I tapped on the accelerator. Only then did I remember to disengage the parking brake.
If I just tapped on the accelerator slightly, does it damage my car? I haven't noticed any problems yet, but I feel terrible about the screw ups.
The parking brake on my 99 honda civic won't fully disengage. If you use it when you go to put the lever down it pops back up slightly. Just barely one click and sometimes not even that. I just replaced the rear brake drums, shoes, wheel cylinders, and it was badly needed. I thought that this would solve my parking brake problem as well, but after I got everything back together and the car on the road the problem persisted.
I saw in the Hayne's manual for the car the parking brake can be adjusted from underneath the armrest. So would an adjustment fix my problem? If loosened would the brake stay down when not in use and still work when I need it? I also saw as part of the procedure the manual has you put the rear end on jack stands. If you are just tightening or loosening a cable why would the back wheels need to be off the ground? Is this absolutely necessary?
I have a 95 Accord EX, 4 cylinder with ABS. The brake pedal goes to the floor about once a month, all times of year (I'm in Minnesota). I had the brakes bled last summer, but that didn't work. The ABS light has been on for probably 10 years. When I talked to my mechanic he said the ABS system, even though it's not working, could be a cause of the problem because fluid is still traveling through that system. He said most likely a master cylinder, but no guarantees. He said it could also be one of the brake lines. About 120k miles on it. What are the odds that it's the master cylinder?
View 2 RepliesA recent Car Talk column mentioned advantages to ceramic brake pads.
So, when I took my wife's '92 Accord EX in for routine service I asked about them.
Service knew nothing and referred me to Parts. The Parts guy said they don't use them, adding "They wear the rotors faster!"
Is this really a problem???
Out of nowhere my check engine light came on bought some oil thought it was low, and i just recently got an oil change. Checked my sparks and it was okay. Couple hours later my car began over heating With engine light still on, and my temperature gauges increased knew something was wrong, filled it with anti freeze to cool it down, continued driving and the issue continued. Bought me a knew sensor, I noticed it worked but did not fix the issue, my car continues to over heat, couple days later without driving it, this morning on my way to work it was really cold so my car did not overheat, but my check engine light began blinking and my vehicle began rattling from my house all the way to work, for about 9 miles. Whats wrong with it? Is it safe to drive back home after work.??
View 19 RepliesToday my car made a pretty loud thump when I put it in reverse and slowly let go of the brake. I haven't driven the car in 2 weeks. Afterwards, every time I brake there is a soft thumping sound that I can feel through the steering wheel, and the sound slows down with the speed of the car. I think I can also hear a very slight grinding noise while driving slowly in a quiet area.
I read in this forum to use the parking brake in an empty lot to see if its coming from the back tires. My question is, what was that loud thump in the beginning? Also, is it safe to drive to the mechanic (or can I fix it myself..)?
I have a 2004 Elantra GLS. My left rear brake was hanging (wheel was very hot to the touch after driving, while other wheels were not), so I had a friend check the brake pads. We decided to replace the pads and rotors. While doing so, the parking brake seemed stuck in the on position, so I opted to have him disconnect it completely until I could afford to replace it. I had used it for the first time about 2 weeks before I noticed the hot brake problem, so we figured that must have been why the brake was hanging.
My friend replaced the rotors and pads, put some penetrant/lubricant on the piston of the caliper and reassembled the brakes. He did use the special tool to spin the caliper in when putting the pads on, however he didn't know that was necessary and tried to force them in with a C-clamp first.
Now, I seem to have two problems:
1. The left rear brake still hangs sometimes. I will drive the car and when I park it I can feel the heat coming off of the left rear wheel. It is extremely hot, so I know the brake is hanging (even with the parking brake disconnected). What is the problem here? Is the caliper bad? Would replacing the caliper solve the problem? Does the parking brake have to be connected to stop the caliper from hanging up?
2. My second problem is the pulsating of the brakes. I am afraid the rotor is warped because of the heat, or maybe he didn't clean everything well enough before he put the new rotor on. How can I figure out what the problem is? Is there a way to check a rotor to see if it is warped? Could there be another reason I feel the pulsating brakes? By the way, the brake fluid is full.
If the caliper needs to be replaced and I can leave the parking brake disconnected, are there any special instructions my friend should know about before working on this? He does work on a lot of cars and rebuilds cars to sell, so he is pretty knowledgeable. I think the only thing he didn't know about was rotating the piston. I would like to provide him with detailed instructions if necessary.