Red light on dash but what does it mean?

gidgrace · Nov 10, 2009

Hi all.
Happily got the beast through another mot last week with my first bit of home welding but while I was out at the weekend a red light with a round circle and exclamation mark in the middle started coming on intermittently. I figure its something with the brakes although they still seem to work ok... I did notice that occasionally while off roading the pedal seemed to go further own than usual but pumping it a few times brought it back to normal. All was fine when I was back on the road fluid levels seem ok... Any ideas?

wiltshire landyman · Nov 10, 2009

handbrake light

90truckcab · Nov 10, 2009

brake fluid mate, check it top it up if needed, then if yer say its spongy or thers too much free play int the pedal yer need to bleed them a bit !

slim jim · Nov 10, 2009

Check that your handbrake is'nt loose.

wiltshire landyman · Nov 10, 2009

90truckcab said:
brake fluid mate, check it top it up if needed, then if yer say its spongy or thers too much free play int the pedal yer need to bleed them a bit !

that will account for the spongy brakes but not the red light.

i assume he thinks the two are connected

90truckcab · Nov 10, 2009

wiltshire landyman said:
that will account for the spongy brakes but not the red light.

i assume he thinks the two are connected

well when i were doin the brakes last week i bled them up and the fluid level dropped, as i drove down the road the red light come on, the float in the resovior had dropped then i topped the brake juice up and the light went out , also if the top is not screwed down the light comes on !

90truckcab · Nov 10, 2009

yer can easily test it by removin the crimp terminals fron the top of the resovior !

wiltshire landyman · Nov 10, 2009

well ya learn summit new everyday..

but isnt this the light that comes on when ya pull on the handrake?

The Mad Hat Man · Nov 10, 2009

its the same light - handbrake on and low fluid level.

wiltshire landyman · Nov 10, 2009

The Mad Hat Man said:
its the same light - handbrake on and low fluid level.

cool..one more bit of info to digest

90truckcab · Nov 10, 2009

The Mad Hat Man said:
its the same light - handbrake on and low fluid level.

oh ah, well ter be 'onnest like, my hand brake only gets used fer the MOT, and dont really work that well either, hence the handbrake light dont come on fer me !

gidgrace · Nov 10, 2009

thanks for the comments so far guys. My first thought was that it was the handbrake light - well it is the same light but interestingly the light does not come on when I pull the handbrake up...
I'm not sure the light has ever come on when the handbrake is pulled. Is there a switch inside the handbrake boot in the cab or is there some sort of sensor inside the handbrake drum?
I've checked the fluid level and it doesn't seem to be that low but it did first start happening after a particularly heavy on road application of the brakes to avoid some idiotic driver on the wrong side of the road. Perhaps it could do with a top up so I'll get some fluid at the weekend. What dot rating do I need? I've also cleaned the connections on the top of the fluid reservoir and the light has gone off for the time being. Intermittent faults are such a bugger!

boydy1989 · Nov 11, 2009

older ones didn' have a handbrake light. Mine doesn't. If the fluid is low, the light will come on, or flicker if its only just low.

How to tell if the handbrake is on? Either look at the lever, or try to pull away...

On mine the light is tested when you turn the key to start, it brings the light on to test the bulb.

gidgrace · Nov 11, 2009

LOL, I wasn't suggesting for a minute that I couldn't tell whether the handbrake was on. I was trying to work out how I could trace if I had a faulty handbrake light switch or no switch at all, in which case I could discount that from the list of possible reasons for the intermittent light coming on.

As soon as I can find out what DOT type of brake fluid to buy, I'll give it a top up and bleed the brakes. They haven't been done for a year (although I only do about 1500 miles). Hopefully that will eradicate the issue.

Oh, almost forgot - mine's a 1985 model so perhaps that is prior to the ones that had the handbrake light...

90truckcab · Nov 12, 2009

boydy1989 said:
older ones didn' have a handbrake light. Mine doesn't. If the fluid is low, the light will come on, or flicker if its only just low.

How to tell if the handbrake is on? Either look at the lever, or try to pull away...

On mine the light is tested when you turn the key to start, it brings the light on to test the bulb.

correct, my '86 90 int got the hand brake light , but still has the setup on the dash !
the fluid light is checked on startup just for about 1-2 seconds as your pre heater is clicked on , as with the oil light and battery

jetlad · Nov 12, 2009

i have an 87' 90 the light works on the handbrake when applied for me! i put dot 4 in mine just check the cap on your resvoir that should say the recommended fluid.

Red light on dash but what does it mean?

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