My parking brake light is always on when the car is on. It doesn't feel like the brake is pulling at all. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

 

hmmmm, gotta ask - is you e-brake all the way down?
I believe there is also a switch beneith the e-brake, probably it got jammed??

 

Haha. Yes, my ebrake is all the way down and my TV is plugged in. There's a switch beneath the ebrake? Hmmm, I'll check that out. Anyone have any better instructions on how to find it, or is it pretty easy to find? Thanks.

 

Check your brake fluid level in the resovoir

 

Brake light always on = Low brake fluid.

 

cool, I never knew about that so will keep in mind

 

Thanks! That's good to know. Can I just use any brake fluid?

 

Dot 3 fluid.

BTW- Low fluid level and no sign of a leak indicates that your brake pads are worn out, better check your pads too

 

Wow I'm learning a lot here. How can I tell if my brake pads are worn? I didn't see anything about this in the how to/FAQ section.

 

Measure the thickness of the pads on all wheels, New pads are 10mm thick. At 2mm pads are 99% worn. It is a good practice to replace pads at 4mm or less though.

 

Yep. The brake fluid took care of the light right away. I'll look at my brake pads tomorrow. Thanks.

 

You could fit a small mirror between the spokes of your rims or to be 100% sure you would have to take the wheel off.

 

yeah, if break fluid is low, light will stay on. that happend to me on 2 different cars when i was bleading my brakes. but i doubt that worn brake pads will signal a light. also if rear brake pads wear too fast, you e brake wire most be too tight. that happend to me also.

 

oddly enough, i had that problem a few months back and my fluid and pads were fine. it kept going on and off and then stopped for good. not sure what that meant cuz i brought it somewhere and they said everything looked fine...

cars (when they're not working right) drive me nuts.

 

Worn pads = more distance the piston has to travel = more fluid taken from the resovoir to compensate = low fluid = brake light

 

yeah, i hate when cars get a problem. for example, i was driving my 96 max one day and out of nowhere my check engine light comes on. i was like ok, now what. first thing that came to my mind was speed sensor because of my new wheels because the computer finally adjusted to them so the light came on. But when I get home, i pull my scanner out, and plug it i. it says that evaporative gases from the canister were throwing a code. i deleted the code and never came back.