brake light won't turn off...

haste4daylight · Post by **haste4daylight** » Sun May 17, 2009 2:42 pm

i'd hope this is the right section for this question but anyways...
whenever i press on the brakes and then let off sometimes my brake lights will continue to stay on unless i lift the brake pedal up with my foot. What would cause my brake pedal to not let out all the way and how might i go about fixing this? There is a little play with the pedal going up and down when I am not pressing on it.

SOKADAO954 · Post by **SOKADAO954** » Sun May 17, 2009 2:59 pm

this goes in the eletrical section.

Mopar00Neon · Post by **Mopar00Neon** » Sun May 17, 2009 3:07 pm

Close enough. It sounds like the bracket the pedal is mounted on might be bent. Look up under your dash and look for the white box looking switch. Thats your brake light switch. Bend the bracket it is on forward a bit, and that should solve the issue.

SOKADAO954 · Post by **SOKADAO954** » Sun May 17, 2009 3:12 pm

Mopar00Neon wrote:Close enough. It sounds like the bracket the pedal is mounted on might be bent. Look up under your dash and look for the white box looking switch. Thats your brake light switch. Bend the bracket it is on forward a bit, and that should solve the issue.

good info brian

excon · Post by **excon** » Sun May 17, 2009 4:21 pm

This happened on my civic. Don't judge me.

There's a brake light switch under the dash where the brake pedal connects way up there. Get on your back and lay on the floor and see if the pedal is connecting with the switch. Otherwise, your battery will die constantly. The other option is a temporary fix of pulling the negative battery cable off or unplugging the brake light bulbs every time you park it...

NYMets1990 · Post by **NYMets1990** » Fri May 22, 2009 12:57 pm

Sounds like you're low on brake fluid - add some and see if the light goes off.

Mopar00Neon · Post by **Mopar00Neon** » Fri May 22, 2009 1:18 pm

NYMets1990 wrote:Sounds like you're low on brake fluid - add some and see if the light goes off.

Low brake fluid will not make the brake lights light up.

And if your fluid is low, dont add fluid. Replace your worn brake pads.

NYMets1990 · Post by **NYMets1990** » Fri May 22, 2009 5:11 pm

In my Ford Windstar the brake light was constantly on so I added about 1/4 pint of brake fluid and the light has not turned on since. Also, the brake pads were just replaced - so there goes your theory.

superdan · Post by **superdan** » Fri May 22, 2009 5:39 pm

same thing happened on my 97 chevy lumina...had to pull the brake forward to get the lights to come on...then eventually that stopped solving the problem so i would have to pull the brake light fuse everytime i parked it (got annoying pretty quick) well to make a long story short that was the least of my problems i had with that car and it is currently sitting behind my house with a blown engine lol

Passt · Post by **Passt** » Fri May 22, 2009 8:05 pm

superdan wrote:same thing happened on my 97 chevy lumina...had to pull the brake forward to get the lights to come on...then eventually that stopped solving the problem so i would have to pull the brake light fuse everytime i parked it (got annoying pretty quick) well to make a long story short that was the least of my problems i had with that car and it is currently sitting behind my house with a blown engine lol

LMAO

OB · Post by OB » Fri May 22, 2009 8:29 pm

Could be an issue with the switch (on the pedal assembly) or the booster.

Post by **occasional demons** » Fri May 22, 2009 11:47 pm

NYMets1990 wrote:Sounds like you're low on brake fluid - add some and see if the light goes off.

NYMets1990 wrote:In my Ford Windstar the brake light was constantly on so I added about 1/4 pint of brake fluid and the light has not turned on since. Also, the brake pads were just replaced - so there goes your theory.

He is referring to the rear tail/brake lights, not the one in the cluster.

hansken_yo · Post by **hansken_yo** » Sat May 23, 2009 3:43 am

occasional demons wrote:
He is referring to the rear tail/brake lights, not the one in the cluster.

Word... I had to reread his original post to make sure about that. As has been stated before its has to have something to do with the switch that is under the pedal. If it is sticking then the lights would stay on. Maybe some lubricant would help?????? Otherwise you might have to replace the switch (real easy to do, but I don't know what it would cost... maybe something you could pick up at a wrecking yard for cheap)

Swordfish2Cowboy · Post by **Swordfish2Cowboy** » Sat May 23, 2009 11:45 am

NYMets1990 wrote:In my Ford Windstar the brake light was constantly on so I added about 1/4 pint of brake fluid and the light has not turned on since. Also, the brake pads were just replaced - so there goes your theory.

Did you just pour it over top of them, or what? Is it like headlight fluid where you have a reservoir that you fill up to keep your headlights bright? Or blinker fluid to fix ricer flash?

I'm looking, and I can't find anywhere to add this fluid by the bulbs. Are you sure you know what you're talking about?

Mopar00Neon · Post by **Mopar00Neon** » Sat May 23, 2009 1:55 pm

NYMets1990 wrote:In my Ford Windstar the brake light was constantly on so I added about 1/4 pint of brake fluid and the light has not turned on since. Also, the brake pads were just replaced - so there goes your theory.

The brake system is a sealed system. For good reason, water does nasty things in there.

If the fluid is low, replace your pads. If you have done that already, and its still low, find and fix your leak. Adding fluid does nothing to fix the problem that is in the vehicle somewhere. Just a lazy way of getting the CLUSTER light to turn off. The CLUSTER light is there for a reason, its supposed to tell you there is a problem with your brake system somewhere.