Parking/Emergency brake light lights up by itself...

[Nafs Asdf]

What might cause the parking brake light to come on? Other than the obvious, parking brake being engaged (wasn't), or brake lights being out (all lights are fine).

It's done it two times now, and gone away by itself later. Stays on a long while tho (turning the car off and starting again doesn't help). Is there anything else that the light would signal, or could it just be a bad connection somewhere?

[A18A]

low brake fluid does, might be time to change your brake pads

[2oodoor]

any other light issues at all?
my left rear door light ( warning center display) and brake light will stay on sometimes but only after I tap the brakes the first time after crank cycle.

If it is just the E brake light, could be debris in the jam switch down in the lever.

[lostforawhile]

What might cause the parking brake light to come on? Other than the obvious, parking brake being engaged (wasn't), or brake lights being out (all lights are fine).

It's done it two times now, and gone away by itself later. Stays on a long while tho (turning the car off and starting again doesn't help). Is there anything else that the light would signal, or could it just be a bad connection somewhere?

the brake warning light,and the brake out warning are two different things, check your brake fluid,make sure the wire to the cap isn't pinched, if it still does it make sure the switch for the ebrake isn't shorting out

[Nafs Asdf]

Thanks for the help guys :)

I think I got it fixed, the brake fluid was at around the min mark so I went and got a bottle and topped it up and the light went away. Also is it ok to use dot 4 fluid even tho it says to only use dot 3 on the cap? All I could find was dot 4.

[A18A]

yup dot 4s all good. you should check your brake pads, i would think that the brake fluid would be low cause the pads have worn down so much that the fluid level dropped

[lostforawhile]

Thanks for the help guys :)

I think I got it fixed, the brake fluid was at around the min mark so I went and got a bottle and topped it up and the light went away. Also is it ok to use dot 4 fluid even tho it says to only use dot 3 on the cap? All I could find was dot 4.
4 is the upgrade of 3, four hadn't been invented yet when the car was built. it meets all the requirements of 3. there used to be a grade now long gone,even lower then 3.

[Nafs Asdf]

yup dot 4s all good. you should check your brake pads, i would think that the brake fluid would be low cause the pads have worn down so much that the fluid level dropped

Don't think the fluid level ever was much above the min mark for as long as I've had the car. But just in case, how do I tell if the pads need to be changed?


4 is the upgrade of 3, four hadn't been invented yet when the car was built. it meets all the requirements of 3. there used to be a grade now long gone,even lower then 3.

Ok, all is good then :)

[lostforawhile]

here's a link explaining the brake fluid differences http://people.msoe.edu/~lannanm/TECH_brakefluid.html

[AccordB20A]

i didnt think that how much brake pad that was left affected you brake fluid level?????

[lostforawhile]

i didnt think that how much brake pad that was left affected you brake fluid level?????well yea, the caliper pistons have to move further away from the calipers to compensate for the wear. the extra fluid volume comes from the master cyl. even on drums the pistons still move further from center filling the gap with more fluid. if you install new brake pads, you reset the caliper pistons by pushing them back into their bores,this will cause the fluid level to go back up.

[AccordB20A]

Makes sence, just didnt think that it could use that much fluid, i guess i forgot that there is 4 front pistons and 2 rear ones so yeah that would be enough to make the level go down a bit.
Learn something every day :)

[3rd Party]

What might cause the parking brake light to come on? Other than the obvious, parking brake being engaged (wasn't), or brake lights being out (all lights are fine).

It's done it two times now, and gone away by itself later. Stays on a long while tho (turning the car off and starting again doesn't help). Is there anything else that the light would signal, or could it just be a bad connection somewhere?

if i'm correct, you're talking about the light on the top of the cluster that lights up with the letters, "BRAKE" inside it? all i can say is there's a switch that when the emergency brake passes a certain point the light comes on. so just a faulty switch, but if you're talking about the light that comes on below the car icon on the bottom right corner of your cluster, it could be one of two things, 1) one of your brake lights are out, or 2) the brake switch at the pivoting point of your brake pedal is going out. i have the problem with the brake pedal switch, and as soon as i press the brake pedal after the car's turned on, the light comes on warning me of my brake lights being out, but they're really not...both are problems caused by a bad switch. hope that helps...:lock:

[Nafs Asdf]

if i'm correct, you're talking about the light on the top of the cluster that lights up with the letters, "BRAKE" inside it? all i can say is there's a switch that when the emergency brake passes a certain point the light comes on. so just a faulty switch, but if you're talking about the light that comes on below the car icon on the bottom right corner of your cluster, it could be one of two things, 1) one of your brake lights are out, or 2) the brake switch at the pivoting point of your brake pedal is going out. i have the problem with the brake pedal switch, and as soon as i press the brake pedal after the car's turned on, the light comes on warning me of my brake lights being out, but they're really not...both are problems caused by a bad switch. hope that helps...:lock:

It was the light on the top, doesn't say BRAKE over here tho. it says ((P))((!)). But as I said, problem fixed already it was my brake fluid being too low.

[3rd Party]

that's crazy...never thought low brake fluid would cause the light for the parking brake to come on and stay on...

[Nafs Asdf]

Guess it's not just for the parking brake ;)

[3rd Party]

yeah, no kidding...i didn't even think there was a way for the light to know if the fluid was low...that's kind of more high tech than i figure a third gen would be

[84Accord]

yeah, no kidding...i didn't even think there was a way for the light to know if the fluid was low...that's kind of more high tech than i figure a third gen would be

haha yea my 2nd gen has the light that says if a brake light is out. kind of suprising when most newer cars don't even have it

[3rd Party]

yeah, that light that comes on under the car icon at the bottom right comes on as soon as i press the brake pedal the first time, then stays on the whole time 'till the car is turned off...then stays off again when i start it until i press the brake pedal again. gotta love 23-year old electronics.

[Nafs Asdf]

yeah, that light that comes on under the car icon at the bottom right comes on as soon as i press the brake pedal the first time, then stays on the whole time 'till the car is turned off...then stays off again when i start it until i press the brake pedal again. gotta love 23-year old electronics.

Well that would mean you have a busted brake light...

EDIT: didn't realize you said earlier that they weren't, my bad.

[lostforawhile]

yeah, no kidding...i didn't even think there was a way for the light to know if the fluid was low...that's kind of more high tech than i figure a third gen would be
thats been like that almost as long as there have been cars. normally if you are driving and the brake light comes on,it's the oh shit light. the emergency brake also makes it come on so you aren't driving around with the brake on,trailing smoke.

[3rd Party]

well, funny thing is both my brake lights work...neither of them are out...unless one bulb is broken.

[lostforawhile]

well, funny thing is both my brake lights work...neither of them are out...unless one bulb is broken.all four ? is your third brake light out? also do you have LED bulbs? these will cause it to come on. if thats not it the sensor screwed on to the back of the taillight housing is bad.

[3rd Party]

all four ? is your third brake light out? also do you have LED bulbs? these will cause it to come on. if thats not it the sensor screwed on to the back of the taillight housing is bad.

i didn't even notice a third brake light, the one in the window i'm assuming? 'cause i don't have the wing that came stock on some Accords. best i can do is pull the tail light casings out and inspect the bulbs individually...

[lostforawhile]

i didn't even notice a third brake light, the one in the window i'm assuming? 'cause i don't have the wing that came stock on some Accords. best i can do is pull the tail light casings out and inspect the bulbs individually...all of these have the third brake light in the window, or did,someone might have removed it. they were mandatory to be there. if that light is missing or burned out the warning light will come on. there are four taillight bulbs,all four will light up for brake, there are two elements per bulb, one element is for brake and one the taillights

[Nafs Asdf]

i didn't even notice a third brake light, the one in the window i'm assuming? 'cause i don't have the wing that came stock on some Accords. best i can do is pull the tail light casings out and inspect the bulbs individually...

Or have someone step on the brakes and see if they all light up ;)

[3rd Party]

haha, that too

[w261w261]

The brake light out warning light (I think) depends on a perceived voltage drop compared to what the computer thinks should be there, so if you have a bad connection in a connector you'll get a false light. I have that on my car, which comes and goes for a few years now. I never seem to get around to looking at it.

[MessyHonda]

The brake light out warning light (I think) depends on a perceived voltage drop compared to what the computer thinks should be there, so if you have a bad connection in a connector you'll get a false light. I have that on my car, which comes and goes for a few years now. I never seem to get around to looking at it.



mine started to do it....i looked at it and it looks like my socket has a bad contact