brake warning like flickering

the other night when i was driving, my brake warning light would come on although not all the way if you understand. just kept occasionally flickering but wasnt very bright. does anyone know what this means. my brakes feel fine and i presume if it was a problem with them that the light would light up properly.

james

it usually means that your front pads are nearly worn out and the sensor is just about earthing out so its worth cheching them or it could even be your brake fluid level is a little bit low and when you brake its sloshing around in the filler and tripping the switch

darrenwall said:

it could even be your brake fluid level is a little bit low and when you brake its sloshing around in the filler and tripping the switch

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This is the first thing to check... BUT... don't just fill up the reservoir without checking the condition of the pads first. Almost worn out pads means the pistons stay pushed out a long way and the fluid level appears to drop in the reservoir - if you fill it up and then replace the pads you'll have to remove some fluid or it'll spill out the top of the reservoir when you push the pistons back in. If the pads are new/nearly new and the level in the reservoir is low it's well worth half an hour checking the braking system as a whole for leaks - never know, it might save your life.

darrenwall said:

it usually means that your front pads are nearly worn out and the sensor is just about earthing out so its worth cheching them or

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If you've got pad wear sensors on your G plate then it might be this - well worth a check.

Is the light that comes on the same as the handbrake light? A loose handbrake mechanism can cause this - but usually on acceleration rather than on braking.

My money is on worn pads

its the orange light that is on when your handbrake is on but only just flicks on lightly. noticed it when travelling on dual carriage way. doesnt come on under braking. only occasionally whilst driving. cheers for the advice guys, will check both

I'm gunner have to do the same on the slitty, likes to flash a lot if I'm ragging it, but level shows fine, new pads and disks. so I'm gonna check the level again and have a quick shuftie at the whole system.

jim your slitty was doing the same as my landy last nite

Yeah I'll have to do the same as you when I get home tonight lol. Only thing is I'm pretty sure i can't have gone through a set of pads since november

saying that, I did manage to trash a set of hard compound pirellis down to bald in 11k miles

FWIW, many manufacturers set the reservoir chambers so when the pads are new front and rear and all is adjusted spot on and the level set at the max, as the pads get near the limit the fluid light will flicker and eventually stay on.

But this is for a new vehicle and is thrown out once the discs are worn below the MRL, hence the need for pad wear sensors.

regards

Dave

Also check that there is no brake fluid in the float in the cap as that will keep making the light flash

scotty15 said:

Also check that there is no brake fluid in the float in the cap as that will keep making the light flash

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I never thought of that, hmmm...takes me back to the good ol days with fuel getting in the float of the carb.........hmmmm ho hum......when I was in the war............

regards

Dave