Hi all:

The round red light (the one that normally shows that the handbrake is pulled) is constantly on in my Maxima now.

The brake is completely released. I checked twice, stopped the car twice and restarted, same thing. Any tips? Can I reset this light? Is there a problem with the brake?

Regards,

 

check the fluid in the master cylinder...

 

This dashboard warning light turns on to warn you that either ...
- the handbrake is not fully released, ... or ...
- the brake fluid reservoir level is low.

This is explained in your Owner's Manual.

If the brake fluid level is low, replenish with DOT-3 brake fluid.

You may wonder where the brake fluid went. There may be a leak in your hydraulic system. It may have migrated into the four brake calipers as the pads wore. In this case it is an early warning that you will need to replace the pads soon.

 

The brake light comes on when you are either low on brake fluid or your parking brake has not disengaged entirely (or the switch underneath the parking brake lever is defective).

 

It could be that the handbrake light trigger is stuck. Take off the handbrake boot and give it a good look over. You might need to remove the armrest console to get to the trigger--take a look in a Haynes or Chilton manual for further details. But before doing this, I'd follow DBM's first hunches.