e-brake dash light is always on, even when the e-brake is disengaged. what is the fix?

 

fill your brake fluid up

 

check the brake fluid.

 

haha...everyone always says the break fluid....i would be willing to bet that the problem is in the sensor for the e-brake.

take apart your center counsel....lift up the trim piece around the shifter, remove the 2 screws and then remove the 2 screws on each side by the seats....unplug your heated seats if you have them and then the whole center counsel lifts right up. inside you should see 1 wire going up to the base of the e-brake. it has a spring loaded mechanism that, when the e-brake is engaged, expands and contacts another piece of metal and closes a grounded loop circuit which will turn the light on in your dash. the plastic brackett where the wire can be connected/disconnected brakes off pretty easily and thats prolly where your problem is. you can fix it with some create thinking....replace the parts....or simply disconnect it and make sure that the circuit cant be looped and then the e-brake light wont ever come on again.

any questions, feel free to ask

 

Break Fluid huh. New one to me, care to explain

 

Could be an early indication that your brake pads are low as well. Don't just keep topping off your brake fluid when it's really your pads being worn down.

 

if it were the ebrake sensor the light wouldnt come on at all. Most likely it is your brake fluid

 

depends on how the sensor is broke...i had this happen on my car and the light was always on. the spring had gotten nocked out so due to gravity, it would always "fall foreward" and think that the e'brake is pulled....if anything else, its an easy thing to take 5 mins and rule out that as a possibility

 

OR take 10 seconds and visually examine your fluid level, and 20 more seconds to top it off

 

I never seem to disangage my ebrake all the way.. maybe your like me and driving with a partially engaged ebrake?

 

ebrake is fully disengaged

I will check brake fluid, but the light now goes off after I disengage the ebrake. Other times, it will stay on. Seems random, but I doubt it.

 

is this a 'safe' fix? is my brake light supposed to notify me if I need brake fluid?

 

if the newer gens are like my 2nd gen, then yes it does warn you of low brake fluid levels.

 

This is intriguing to me.

 

Light was on for 2 out of five rides today. Brake fluid is 'ok,' but I can top it off to the max level. Instead of buying some, I'll just get an early oil change which includes it. I'll see if this fixes it.

 

Had the same problem. Had to top up brake fluid and light when out.

However, fluid was low due to low brake pads. Check them anyways.

 

You shouldnt ever have to top off your brake fluid. ONLY if there is a leak. If there is no leak, and the resivor is low, your pads are most likely in need of replacement. If you top off the resivoir when the pads are the culprit, you are going to make a big mess when you open up the calipers for the new pads