E-brake light stays on

the "brake" light on my dash wont go off.... how do i go about fixing this? and yes the brake is off

 

i didnt want to sound dumb...but could this be caused by my actual brakes going bad? cause i think they are about gone...there squealing pretty bad

 

thanks for all your help...i just topped off my brake fluid, it was very low...i also think my front pads are shot simply because ive shot brake clean on them numerous times and i still got nothing, the thing thats getting me is i replaiced my pads last year so i wouldnt think it would be time for new ones but what do i know

 

thanks man

 

Yeah it can.

Did the brake light go out yet?

The brake light can also be caused by the ebrake also. Have you used the ebrake lately? Do you have a pull-handle ebrake lever? If yes....Try cycling the ebrake a few times, see how it 'feels'. Count the amount of clicks you get before it is pulled out entirely. You should get between 12-18 clicks.

If the ebrake lever seems loose, has more than 18 clicks, and doesn't want to go back in (in a sense) - check your rear brake drums. Check the shoes for wear and make sure they're wearing evenly. Make sure the ebrake cable is not hanging up somewhere and verify the ebrake it completely releasing.

If you've discovered the ebrake cable has a lot of slack in it (after checking everything), there is a method to get the cable back into spec (12-18 clicks)

 

Yeah the light is out...it was because the fluid was low

 

gotta love the easy fixes

 

Yes this is 5.5 years old and I'm bumping it. I just had the exact same thing happen with my truck and when I checked the brake fluid it was on the MIN line. Topped it off and it hasn't come back in a few days. It's always the simple things that get you in the end.

 

Mine stays on unless it push and turn the hand brake lever a bit. I found that the tension on it can be adjusted to get it to go off. Each time I adjust it, the tension gets sloppy again and it keeps happening. Not really an issue since the brake is not on, the sensor under the dash just thinks it is.

 

I haven't adjusted mine yet however it's a full 22 clicks to the farthest point and I've considered adjusting it but I never use it and I'll probably adjust it right before I sell it, or Sunday if I'm bored. It's interesting that you say your light comes on AFTER adjusting it and the play coming back. I'd never heard of that, or the play coming back after adjusting.

 

Its the tension the opposite way - Mine is at like 20-25 clicks to get it on. When I push to off there is a little slack in the last 1/4 inch or so.

 

I found this image online - if this makes contact, the light goes off.

 

Mine was on when I bought it. I could push the e brake handle in and it would shut off, but come right back on when I let go of the handle. My problem was rust/corrosion on the bell crank under the cab and both bell cranks on the rear backing plates. I cleaned and lubed everything and now the light stays off. The bell crank under the cab has a return spring on it that is fairly weak. If the bell crank doesn't move freely, the spring can't return it far enough to keep tension on the e brake handle so it won't keep good contact with the switch pictured above.
bell crank under cab


bell crank on rear backing plates

 

Yup, when I bought my truck it had the same issue and this was the solution.

If your brake fluid isn't low that would be the next thing I'd look at.

 

Those springs at the intermediate lever need some lube once in awhile they do tend to hang up.

 

That's a clean image, Pofarm. Did you take he frame off the body for that? (Seems excessive just to lube the e-brake spring )

Seriously though, thanks for motivating me to fix/lube mine. I've had a sticky cable for the past 5 years or so. I just ignore it and use low range as a parking brake on steep hills.