E-brake light comes on while driving?

[thebizbucket]

Is the e-brake indicator (O) looking thing iwth an ! in the middle used to indicate anything else ? The weather has turned a little cooler and it seems to blink or turn on for short periods of time while I am driving for the first 10 minutes..

Thought maybe its used to indicate something else ? Hoping this doesn't indicate a larger electrical problem..

Anyone have some advise here ?

 

[Doc]

Do any other lights accompany it?

It can be the sign of a failing alternator.

 

[KliersLC]

Also check your brake fluid level.

 

[firetruck41]

There are 2 sensors that activate that light 1) a switch at the ebrake, and 2) a brake fluid level sensor in the master cylinder. I would bet your fluid level is getting low.

 

[Doc]

Oh yes, brake fluid! That happened to me last year about this time. Brake light came on at every uphill climb.

 

[thebizbucket]

Ah I am not suprised actually. The other weekend we did this huge descent and I used my brakes all the way down and they failed at the bottom. Couldn't have had better timing we may have been injured. I kind of spaced on having them flushed.

That's stupid of me. Thanks guys.

 

[firetruck41]

Wow! I haven't heard of brakes actually failing on an 80! I would replace the pads and rotors and check the calipers, then flush and replace the brake fluid.

 

[Teebag]

Check the fluid level

 

[-Spike-]

Wow! I haven't heard of brakes actually failing on an 80! I would replace the pads and rotors and check the calipers, then flush and replace the brake fluid.

Wow, that's a bit of overkill, dont'cha think?

-Spike

 

[firetruck41]

Well, to be honest, if my brakes ever gave out, I would seriously think about selling my vehicle, and getting a different model vehicle.

 

[-Spike-]

Make sure you use your lower gears on descents then. Any brake system will fail if overused, and for you that could get expensive!

-Spike

 

[Silicon 70]

Wow! I haven't heard of brakes actually failing on an 80! I would replace the pads and rotors and check the calipers, then flush and replace the brake fluid.

X2, thinning pads and rotors you should avoid. There's no such thing as overkill with these rigs.

 

[-Spike-]

Absolutely. Replace everything, then go run down that hill again with the brand new brakes on all the way down. Then take it back to the shop for another round. Your mechanic will love you.

-Spike

 

[Sackman]

my brake light was going on and off and I couldnt figure out why, until I went with ss brake lines, bled the brakes, and filled the brake fluid, no more brake light...

 

[thebizbucket]

It wasn't your average descent. We had 6 people in the truck, it was packed to the gills with camping gear (even had stuff stuffed in the rear panels where the tire jack goes), and I did not engine brake the whole way down. It was at least an hour solid down a huge grade with tight corners.. I should have engine braked, but after a few days on the trail I was more thinking about ordering a pizza in town than brake pad .. whatever ..


They just went really soft (not 100% fail) but the pedal would hit the floorboard and slow us down slowly. There was no resistance. After driving around for 15 minutes in low and not using the brakes they returned in full force. The reason I forgot about them is they have worked 100% since..

My appointment is in 30 mins i'll let you guys know the cause once I know. Thanks again!

 

[firetruck41]

My appointment is in 30 mins i'll let you guys know the cause once I know. Thanks again!

You could always just open the hood and look at the master cylinder, you can see the fluid level without touching a thing. If it's low, you could spend $4 on a can of brake fluid, unscrew the cap and add to the fill line. Then you could see if the light goes out. That would take all of 1 minute, except for the buying the brake fluid at any autoparts store. Then at least you would know what the problem was.

 

[thebizbucket]

Well, $500 later it seems that the brakes were in need of some TLC. Only had time to do the fronts but that should be fine for the weekend the rears are OK except for sticky calipers or somethign

have a good weekend im off to the ferry

 

[Grench]

Well, $500 later it seems that the brakes were in need of some TLC. Only had time to do the fronts but that should be fine for the weekend the rears are OK except for sticky calipers or somethign

have a good weekend im off to the ferry

Could you put up an itemized list of what you got for $500? With how this thread has gone, I'm curious.