Brake light comes on (Car problem).

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Princemercury

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I'm guessing this problem started sometime this week, when you hit the brake and your car spends more than 4-5 seconds coming to a stop the ABS light will come on, then disappear about 1-2 seconds after the car stops completely.

The ABS light also comes on while making a turn without coming to a complete stop, while also braking, does anyone know what's going on? It's still under warranty but the dealer has no reservation spaces until Wednesday.

I know almost nothing about the mechanics of cars so was wondering if it was okay to drive until then?
 
Have you noticed any big difference in the way the car breaks receantly? If not your prob fine for now, it might just be a warning light, letting you know something ethier needs service or will need service soon, or it may be nothing.

as long as the break peddle isnt super soft, the cars breaking power feels ok, and you don't hear metal on metal grinding while braking, your prob fine until you can take it in.

Edit:: do check your brake fluid tho, and top it off if its low, thats something you could do yourself easily.

it should say brake fluid on the cap, and should look something like this, its usally toward the back of the engine bay on the drivers side

200692105011568.jpg
 
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Hey thanks for the reply, this is actually my sister's car, she should be stopping by soon. She did say the problem started recently, when I went out and drove it around I didn't notice any weird noises, like the ones you would hear if the pad were going out, that heavy metal scraping noise. Brake pedal was normal I think, I don't really drive it but I didn't feel anything out of the ordinary.

When she gets back I'll take a look under the hood. I remember looking under the hood once before a while ago but most of the stuff was covered with a thick plastic around the engine so I don't know if I'll be able to see any tanks.

Edit: Well spoke too soon, she's back now, I'll go take a look.
 
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This happened to me recently. One day, I was stopping for a coffee, and I heard and felt a strange sound. It wasn't loud, just kind of weird. When I took off afterwards, my brake light was on as if I was driving with the E-Brake engaged (happens more than I'd like to admit). I wasn't. When I went to stop, it took twice as long, and the brake pedal gave no resistance. On inspection later, I had broken a brake line, and several were on the way. My dad knows how to fix cars, so I didn't have to pay for labor, only the parts, and I think the whole thing cost me about 100 dollars. I'd check your brake lines. Your problem sounds like mine, and that's what mine was.
 
Pompidou : That would be bad D; we bought the car only a little over a year ago. I just drove it around the block, I didn't notice any lightness like you mentioned, so I hope it isn't a broken brake line > >. No one in my family really knows about this except my father but I don't really want to bother him with it lol ; ;.

Thelona : I looked under the hood, the plastic wasn't covering a few caps. None of them were labeled brake fluid though =\. The ones I saw were...

1. Coolant.
2. DOT 3.
3. Engine Oil.
4. Steering.
5. Window Washer.

The DOT 3 one I could actually see the white container and it looked kind of like the picture you have posted, could that be it? The only other containers I could see was the washer and coolant which were, I think normal. The DOT 3 one was opaque but looking inside the fluid wasn't near the top, but I didn't see any indicators for level or anything. The other containers were covered by the shield or engine top.
 
the dot 3 is your brake fluid, dot 3 being the type of brake fluid you need.

I doubt theres any brake line broken, you would deff notice the car taking an abnormally long time to stop and the brake pedal would feel like theres nothing behind it
 
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It could also be the Calipers(sp). That is what I had to replace recently in my car. They caused the breaks to continue to rub against and wear them out fast. They also kept my ABS light on even when I had the break released.
 
yeah calipers could be another culprit, did you feel any bad shaking or vibrating when you get on the break kinda hard? thats a sign of warped calipers

oh and about the brake fluid, if theres no fill line then the brake fluid should be near the top of the plastic chamber, like half or 1/4 inch. Be careful to clean the cap and area around the cap before you open it tho, if any dirt or debris falls into the brake fluid chamber thats bad.
 
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if its vibrating i dont think its warped calipers. as i dont think you can warp the calipers. if anything is warped in the drums.
 
kicamo said:
if its vibrating i dont think its warped calipers. as i dont think you can warp the calipers. if anything is warped in the drums.
Click to expand...

Newer car, still under warranty and ABS equipped? Probably has disc, although I know some cheaper cars will still do front disc/rear drum. And you're right, you can't warp calipers.

Rotors might be warped, but it takes some serious beating on your brakes to do that.

If you don't hear any scraping, other noises, or feel any unusual vibrating or jerkiness in the braking(or otherwise) then I doubt anything serious is wrong. Sensors will get set off for a hundreds things, many of which make no difference on how the car drives. Brake fluid is a good starting point though, did that change anything when you topped it?
 
Hey guys thanks for the input. I was talking about it with a friend today, he said he has tons of that "DOT 3" fluid stuff so he'll drop by sometime and fill it up. He seems pretty sure as all of you are so we'll try that as a first measure.

Thanks for your help.
 
Sanoske said:
Newer car, still under warranty and ABS equipped? Probably has disc, although I know some cheaper cars will still do front disc/rear drum. And you're right, you can't warp calipers.

Rotors might be warped, but it takes some serious beating on your brakes to do that.

If you don't hear any scraping, other noises, or feel any unusual vibrating or jerkiness in the braking(or otherwise) then I doubt anything serious is wrong. Sensors will get set off for a hundreds things, many of which make no difference on how the car drives. Brake fluid is a good starting point though, did that change anything when you topped it?
Click to expand...

yeah i meant rotors. i had a brain fart lol
 
kicamo said:
yeah i meant rotors. i had a brain fart lol
Click to expand...

yeah so did I actaully, read yours as calipers and i guess i caught your brain fart. XD



Oh and make sure that dot3 isnt to old or already opend, dot3 brake fluid can actaully go bad if left sitting around to long after being opened. It absorbs moisture and turns the whole bottle bad or something like that. (I'm no car expert or mechanic, i just know most the basics cause a few of my friends are total car nuts and i've picked up a few things.)
 
Hey cool, friend is coming over tonight whenever the sis is home, but I'll double check with him for sure.
 
Update: the bottle of DOT3 was new and my friend topped it off, so far so good, so I guess that solves the problem.

Is brake fluid suppose to, disappear like this? Should I take it in to get it checked out because of that?

Thanks everyone again for the help :O
 
funny, my ABS + traction control lights come on now and again too. And when they do, I have no trac control or ABS. I don't really care though, my car is acting normal lol
 
Princemercury said:
Is brake fluid suppose to, disappear like this?
Click to expand...

no it shouldn't, not that much of it at least, just keep an eye on the fluid lvl, if you see it going down or if it needs more fluid within the next few weeks, then yeah take it in to get it checked, you got a leak somewhere.
 
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