This has been an ongoing saga for well over a year now. Whenever I drive, the brake warning light on the cluster lights up even though the handbrake is already released. Back in the day, it lights up only halfway (or half dim), but now it is lit up full brightness whenever I'm driving. Has anyone experienced anything like this before?

I already checked my brake fluid level many many times, so it's definitely not due to low fluid. I thought the parking brake might needed some adjustment, so I bust out the Helms manual to adjust the parking brake mechanism. That didn't fix the problem either.

Now it leads me to believe that it might be some sort of electrical malfunction somewhere. Could the Hyper Ground Wires be the culprit or even the damn AEM alternator pulley? Am I even on the right track?

Any clue as to what is tripping my brake indicator light?




Modified by Draggin99Si at 3:00 AM 7/30/2004

 

Bump for the afternoon crowd

 

there's a switch that turns on the light when you pull up the brake (#2 on pic below). Might be a loose wire grounding out.

 

Hey thanks, makes sense, I will definitely check into that switch.

Any other diagnostic suggestions? Keep them coming!!

 

It will also light up depending on what year car if you have low brake fluid?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by skrewdriver88 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It will also light up depending on what year car if you have low brake fluid?</TD></TR></TABLE>

True, but in the first post he said "I already checked my brake fluid level many many times, so it's definitely not due to low fluid"

It could be due to a faulty switch on the fluid cap as well tho

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nonsense &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

It could be due to a faulty switch on the fluid cap as well tho </TD></TR></TABLE>

Its probably the brake fluid reservior cap itself.

 

today I finally tried to fix this ****, and no success!

First, I topped off the brake fluid reservoir and tightened the cap. Next, I replaced the parking brake switch under the e-brake with a brand new one I purchased from the Honda dealer.



When I tested it, the brake indicator light still stayed on with the e-brake handle down.



There's a chance that the factory female terminal connector that plugs into the switch might have corroded and not providing a solid contact, so I cut it off and crimped on a new female connector. This also failed to fix the problem.

At this point, I lost all hope and was going to physically remove the bulb behind the cluster, but I wanted to get some final inputs before I resort to this.

Should I go ahead and purchase a brand new reservoir cap? (illustration# 9)

http://slhondaparts.com/browse...=true



Modified by Draggin99Si at 3:47 AM 1/9/2005

 

What else might be the cause of this annoying problem?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Draggin99Si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Should I go ahead and purchase a brand new reservoir cap? (illustration# 9)

http://slhondaparts.com/browse...=true
Modified by Draggin99Si at 3:47 AM 1/9/2005</TD></TR></TABLE>

Might as well. Can't hurt. My guess was going to be the fluid level before the brake switch. A friend of mine rode around with that light on for damn near a year. When he finally told me about it I helped him find the problem. Turns out he had a leaky brake line and his resevoir was bone dry. And he was wondering why his brakes were getting squishy. He's the one friend that doesn't know **** about cars. He gets in turns the key and keeps gas in the tank.

I looked in my helms really quick to see about checking that switch and couldn't find anything. I'll look a little harder later on.

 

I'm sure you checked it when you replaced the switch, but the past on the brake lever that actually makes contact with the switch might be bent back.

 

I already checked that metal tab. I even manually pressed and released the switch with my finger, no dice.

I've read that when the female connector is disconnected from the switch that the light is supposed to be off, is this true?

However, when I disconnected it from the switch, the light still remained on.

 

bumpage

 

check your wiring, icm underdash.

 

Whens the last time you changed your brake pads?
My light started coming on when my pads were almost worn down..

*EDIT: this is all I could think that was left to check... seems like you've tried everything.. odd

 

just an idea, but have you checked the fuse for your ABS system? i dunno, i aint got no anti-lock on my car.

 

had the same thing happen to me check your e brake it might be to tight!

 

Just a final update on this situation. Last week, as a last resort, I ordered a new replacement brake reservoir cap from Honda for $18. Today, I put on the new cap, and bam just like magic, the brake indicator light disappears, problem fixed! So after 2 years of living with the constantly lit up light, it is finally functioning like normal again.

So the source of the malfunctioning light problem was due to the son of a bitch faulty cap.

 

do this, pull the ground wire off that switch, if it's still on that means it has a short to ground

 

up

 

My car has the similar problem. The brake indicator light on only when the gear is set to "D(rive)", sometimes flashing, sometimes keep on when I drive. The fluid level is alright. I even get my car checked at one Auto repair shop, they cannot find out the problem. I don't have any idea about the possible cause.

 

my gf has this same problem, but it usually happens when it is cold and after it warms up it turns off. anybody know why that is? maybe ill try the new cap.

 

after my break MC died and i had it replaced mine started to do this so i took it back to my mechanic and he fixed it and told me that the MC was dirty or something so just try cleaning the floater thing in there?

 

reset ECU? just a thought.. Just remove the light and your all set