E Brake Dash Light Issue

I came to a rather abrupt stop the other day on the highway (not even a quick enough stop to squeel the tires) and the E-brake light came on for a few minutes, then went off. Now it comes on intermittently when driving for a few minutes at a time and goes out. The e-brake is off (I triple checked), I checked my brake fluid level and it's within the tolerances, as a last resort I even read the Owner's Manual. The overly helpful manual simply says if the e-brake light is on and the e-brake is off, stop driving and call your stealership... Well, I'm not going to the dealership to get bent over for a dummy light, what's going on with my truck? I never use the e-brake, not even when parked. The brakes work fine, the only issue is that light. Any ideas, is there a sensor gone bad somewhere?

 

The fluid usually has to be on the upper end of the tolerance level to get the light to go off.

 

Low(er) fluid will throw the E-brake light?? (ABS light is off and never turned on). I'll pick up some DOT3 tomorrow and push it up toward the upper level just to rule that part out. Thanks for the input

 

Judging by the age of your vehicle and the fact that you live in a coastal state, I'm going to say that your park brake cable (or some other such system) is rusted. Are you sure you have not applied the park brake recently? If you haven't used it in 6 years, and for some reason used it once, it may have stuck on. I had that happen in my previous vehicle.

You should get into the habit of using your parking brake as well. Since it does double duty as guarantee you won't be moving (especially on a hill) and also to keep it in working order.

 

in some vehicles that light can come on if system pressures drop. usualy due to a leak of fluid somewhere. try starting the truck and leaning hard on the pedal to reset it again. also check for leaks

 

The first time it came on, I pressed it on and took it off to make sure it was in working order. When coasting in neutral, if I press the e-brake, it will bring me to a stop and does release when I release the parking brake (I can feel it let go so I can roll freely again).

The only reason I don't use the parking brake is I had it freeze up on me on an older vehicle and it sucked! Now, I just throw it in Park.

 

So the light came on before you ever used the parking brake. Hmm more likely a fluid pressure issue then. Maybe dirt somewhere?

I have to replace the park brake cable on my other truck now because I never used it. (granted though, it is an F150...)

 

With the battery disconnected, depress the brake pedal to reset the abs sensor.

 

Yeah, the light came on when I had to stop quick once and now comes on intermittently. The first 2 times it happened, I pulled over and actually used the e-brake to make sure it wasn't actually pressed on. The e-brake light still functions as it should when stopped, goes on when the pedal is depressed and turns off when released.

I'm going to try topping off the brake fluid and see if that does anything for it.

I tried this this morning on start up. I'm not sure what was supposed to happen, but nothing did.

The ABS sensor will throw the E-brake light?

I'll give this a shot this weekend, something could have loosened up over time and it would make sense they wouldn't put that in the Owner's Manual. I'm assuming there's got to be something in the FSM about this.

Thanks for the help guys!

 

Thanks! I was going to search over there when I got home from work.

 

I topped off the brake fluid last night and gave them a test (basically stood on the brake pedal at 60 MPH) and no lights on the dashlit up!

I'll look into the adjustment this weekend to make sure that part is all set but I think the issue was the brake fluid level.

 

So was that it? The brake fluid had to be at the max line? My lights won't turn off. I doubt that's it

 

That's what solved the problem for me. It didn't have to be right at the max line but it had to be at least 1/2 way between min and max. Because of the pads and rotors wearing, the fluid went down and threw my E-Brake light.

 

Oh ok.

I think I have a different problem. I just changed out my rear brake cylinders, shoes and brake lines. Now my light stays on

 

Did any of the wires get stretched in the process?

Wish I could help, I haven't had to mess with the drums yet on mine. Thankfully my problem was just the e-brake light acting like an idiot light. Yours could be a number of things resulting from the work you did to it. Check out the posts above from PSU Taco and Steves, they might help.

 

I'll check it out. Thanks