Brake warning light

daves325 · 04-12-2003, 02:23 PM

Anyone ever have the Brake warning light come on when nothings wrong with them?..

I dont mean the emergency or brake lining lights either......

Ive got all new brakes, rebuilt calipers & a new master on it & the fluid level is fine.

Dave.

Bijan · 04-12-2003, 11:13 PM

Yes mine did. The cause: the wire for the brake sensor was cracked. Apparently when they put the thing back together they hadn't pushed it out of the way of the wheel so over time it eas cracked. I trimed the wire and attched it together and the problem was solved.

bertible · 04-18-2003, 10:32 PM

I take it you are talking about the brake light warning light in the caution panel on the ceiling, not the brake lining warning light in the instrument panel? (the first reply from Bijan is about the lining light)

My 87 cabrio has the same problem (brake lights work, but warning light stays on) and asked about it on this board a month or so ago. Jared figured it was an almost-ready-to-go brake light switch. My brake lights still work, but I intend to replace the switch when I get a chance.
Good luck.

mouled · 04-21-2003, 07:18 AM

Remove all the lamps in your tail, side and front. Clean the socket with tuner spray. Reinstall all the lamps with a no-ox grease, you'll be good for another five to ten years. This is a common problem in the snow belt for my cars and my boat.

Jared at Pelican Parts · 04-21-2003, 03:19 PM

I agree with mouled,

Get some pot-spray. They sell it at Radio Shack, Fry's, etc... This stuff is used to clean out volume/tuner knobs (also known as potentiometers, or pots) On old radios, sometimes, the knobs become scratchy when you turn them. This spray is used to clean the pots out and get all the crud off the circuit tracks, thus eliminating the scratchiness. This essentially what you do with the brake switch, clean it out real good, and clean off the switch.

daves325 · 04-21-2003, 08:52 PM

Thanks guys...Il try that out.

One thing that worries me is last week I had my cluster out to replace the speedo / odo, which works now.......there are 2 wires (leads) that I never discovered where they went to....but I think they went to the back of the cluster somewhere......

I replaced the cluster & basically threw the wires back onto the top of the OBC.... started the car & it immdeiately started smoking.........

Needless to say I shut it off fast & the leads appareently grounded out on meta.

Everything works fine..but again, the brake warning light has stayed on since then.....

I am an idiot when it comes to elect. shematics or wiring...so maybe theres a correlation there.

Dave.

carolinus · 04-23-2003, 06:09 PM

Umm...those wires could have gone to the bulb out system. Some systems like that measure voltage drop when the lighting system is activated, and some measure resistance. Shorting those two wires in any case could have REALLY screwed things up.

Tip: when you have wires left over, make sure they are taped over and stored safely.

daves325 · 04-23-2003, 06:18 PM

Yeah, they probably were for something like that.

I usually dont toss wires anywhere but I had been working on the car all day, was hot & grimey & just didnt want to deal with anything more....

The leads got taped shortly after the smoke show.....

Dave

carolinus · 04-23-2003, 06:25 PM

Any clue as to where the smoke came from?

daves325 · 04-23-2003, 06:30 PM

Yep....after panicking and jumping up & down for a few moments I pulled the leads out from under the dash.........I suspect that one of them touched metal becuase it was well cooked.

I havent found any blown fuses however..

carolinus · 04-23-2003, 06:36 PM

That means those wires must go to a PCB somewhere. Almost all exposed wiring like that that doesn't go to the ECU is fused somewhere. You might try to find out where that wire was going. :-)

daves325 · 04-23-2003, 08:28 PM

Yep...Ill take a look at my single line diagram (haynes, yeuck) and try to ID them.

Im about as good at reading single line diags as I am landing a paper airplane.....just never had a knack for it. It seems invariably the line your follwong runs into relays, diodes, transistors, you name it & then Im lost.

I need a really good single line diagram that you dont need your glasses for..

I however do recall that the 2 leads did in fact attach to the rear of the cluster...(2 clusters ago), but I cant figure out exactly where now.

Jared at Pelican Parts · 04-24-2003, 07:26 AM

If you are serious about doing electrical troubleshooting, i highly reccomend you get a hold of one of the Bentley manuals. The electrical troubleshooting sections are second to none.

mouled · 04-24-2003, 03:03 PM

What colour (opps color) are the wires that smoked???

daves325 · 04-24-2003, 03:29 PM

One is gray w/ red stripe & the other is green,,,,,both are sheathed in a black sheathing.

Dave.

Jared at Pelican Parts · 04-24-2003, 03:29 PM

I think those are for the ABS light, Dave...

daves325 · 04-24-2003, 04:12 PM

Umm they could be except I dont have ABS brakes......perhaps they are there for possible fututre ABS?

Dave

carolinus · 04-25-2003, 07:05 AM

What is your year and model?