brake light
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Joined: Apr 2013
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brake light Have an interesting issue with my Brake light on the dash, when I start the car, all the warning lights come on as they should, including the Brake light. However when I pull up on the parking brake, no light, this started about a week ago. First thing I checked (safely of course) was the parking brake itself, parking brake works fine and holds the car even in gear) Thanks
There is a single switch attached to the parking brake handle that signals the light when the brake is "on."
The odd thing is that when this switch acts up, it typically works the other way - it tends to stay on all the time, even when the brake is released.
If I recall correctly, the switch makes contact when the brake is off and breaks the circuit when the brake is on. So, maybe it has come apart on you and is creating a short circuit and making contact all the time? If you take off the full center console, you can access the switch and see what is going on.
The odd thing is that when this switch acts up, it typically works the other way - it tends to stay on all the time, even when the brake is released.
If I recall correctly, the switch makes contact when the brake is off and breaks the circuit when the brake is on. So, maybe it has come apart on you and is creating a short circuit and making contact all the time? If you take off the full center console, you can access the switch and see what is going on.
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,328
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From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
The parking brake switch is a grounding switch. It has only one wire (light blue) and when engaged it grounds through its case. Anything that interferes with the switch making ground contact (it becomes detached from the brake handle, the wire becomes detached from the switch, the wire is broken somewhere, the mount is corroded, etc.) will prevent the dash indicator from lighting. Test mode when starting the car uses a different ground so it's really only a bulb test and not a circuit test.
