Brake indicator warning light 1991 Grand Marquis

[Duke Napalm]

Hey guys,


On the way to work today I noticed the red BRAKE indicator on my dash was lit up. The parking brake was not engaged (stopped and pushed it down to the floor, then again to disengage just to check) and the brakes seem to function normally.

Just wondering what this could mean, as my google-fu has failed me! Feel free to ask me any question or for any info I forgot to put in my post.


Thank you!

[sly]

low brake fluid. You probably have a leaky line somewhere and will lose brakes shortly. Or... the pads are all super thin and need replacing which means all the brake fluid is down in the pistons instead of the reservoir.

[BuffaloRider]

Yeah, i just got one of those lights recently. For me it's a leaky brake caliper, low fluid.

[Duke Napalm]

See now, after the parking brake the fluid was the second thing I checked because I assumed the exact same thing. It wasn't low in the slightest, brake fluid was sitting at the exact same level (full) that it was when I bought the car. It still stops on a dime, too. Sometimes the pads squeak a -tiny- bit when stopping, but that's it! Any ideas?

[slack]

Same thing happened to me when I owned my '91 Grand Marquis. Brakes worked fine, parking brake was not engaged, and I wasn't losing any brake fluid. The light would come on sporadically. It ended up eventually going off for good on it's own after a few months. I guess it might have been a faulty wire?

[sly]

check the connection on the level sensor on the bottom of the reservoir. give it a wiggle and make sure there's not any creatures shorting the thing. It may also be something shorting the contacts on the parking brake switch on the parking brake.

[85crownHPP]

The level sensor in the reservoirs can go bad, same with the park pedal switch.
Disconnecting the wire to the park switch is enough to tell you if it's bad. I forget how the level switch works, either unplugging it or jumping the connector with a paper clip or something similar works.
Otherwise it would have to be a short somewhere.

side note: 87 and older boxes have the frame mounted proportioning valve with an electric switch that can throw the light if it senses a pressure loss (or goes bad).

Be glad our cars are low tech - some newer cars have a mini-computer inside the instrument clusters and can turn on any of those lights or kill your gauges just because it wants to (when they go bad). All you can do is replace the entire instrument cluster in some cases. They make them so you can't even pull the bulb out...!

[GM_Guy]

Pull a wheel and check the brakes anyway. If you come from General products and new to Fords, ford don't use a squeeler tab to warn you when your pads are thin. Fords warning system for low brake pads = the grind of the backing plates on the rotor.

Give the reservoir a flick with your finger, mine sometimes sticks and giving it a tap usually takes care of it.

Alex.

[jaywish]

Did you pull the E-Brake pedal up with your foot, while pulling the release handle?

[91waggin]

Parking brake pedal has a single wire that gets grounded with a little spring when the pedal is down. The pedal has to be all the way up for the ground path to be broken.

Edit: Just realized you have a 91. I have the EVTM for 91 and will see if I can get you a scan when I get home.

[kishy]

Did you pull the E-Brake pedal up with your foot, while pulling the release handle?

A '91 is push to apply, push to release (there is no little lever like the older ones)...but I did just notice with mine after using the brake while doing a repair, that the pedal did not return all the way up (old tired spring I guess). The light was on until I helped it the rest of the way up. The brakes weren't dragging, so technically it was released. It's something easy to check anyway. Maybe give it a little jab or two (but not far enough down to seize them if you never use them) and see if it flickers off at all.