Dash Brake light on in an 1985 Cutlass Ciera

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Rev. John - 05 Jun 2006 15:15 GMT

Hey all,

For the life of me, I can not figure out what is causing this. About a
week ago, I was leaving Home depot, and my Brake light on my dash was
on. I thought it was because my E-brake was on, so I pulled the lever,
and nothing. I tried the E-brake and while the light got brighter,
when I pulled the lever, it just stayed on.

The next morning, the light was off, but popped back on again soon
after driving. I had my girlfriend check my lights while parked and in
neutral, but she said they were all on. I filled my brake fluid to the
top as much as I could, and it's still on. Very rarely, when I start
it up will it stay off for maybe a few seconds before comming back on
after the light check.

Does anyone have any insight? I'd like to maybe figure it out before I
drive to my mechanic. Any ideas or comments are greatly welcome.

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88CSC - 06 Jun 2006 03:53 GMT

On 5 Jun 2006 07:15:16 -0700, the world eagerly held it's breath in
anticipation awaiting "Rev. John" <johnnya475@gmail.com> to finish
writing:

>Hey all,
>
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>Does anyone have any insight? I'd like to maybe figure it out before I
>drive to my mechanic. Any ideas or comments are greatly welcome.

First, make sure you're not loosing brake fluid. Check to insure the
fluid level has not dropped since you topped it off. If it's loosing
fluid, you have a leak and that should be addressed ASAP. The most
common reason for the light coming on is a leak in the system,
although in most cases that'll be noted by a low or sinking brake
pedal.

Normally two things can turn on that light, the parking brake switch
and the differential switch in the combination valve.

What you might try is to disconnect the wire from the parking brake
switch. If the light stays off, the parking brake switch is bad. If
the light is still one after that, it may be problem with the
combination valve.

88CSC
--

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Rev. John - 21 Jun 2006 02:41 GMT

> On 5 Jun 2006 07:15:16 -0700, the world eagerly held it's breath in
> anticipation awaiting "Rev. John" <johnnya475@gmail.com> to finish
[quoted text clipped - 35 lines]
> 88CSC
> --

Found the switch today and unhooked it. No difference. I also took
the bulbs out of the trunk and checked each filiment. Both were fine
on both lights. Fluid still filled to the top except for a small
dribble from when I filled it up and it slipped out when I put the lid
on. I also disconnected the batt and it stayed off for a few seconds
but still back on blazing away.What is a combo valve? I'm bringing
the car on thursday to my guy, and just want a heads up in case he
wants to sell me too much stuff.

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Rev. John - 23 Jun 2006 13:11 GMT

Thanks everyone for all of your help. I went to my mechanic, and it
turned out to be a sensor mounted onto/inside of the master cylinder.
Bad news was that GM doesn't make this sensor/switch anymore, and the
only way to get it is to buy the whole kit. But good news is, no more
red light on the dash. Thanks again everyone for all of the help. I
keep learning more about my old Olds baby everyday, and I hope she
sticks around for awhile.

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