Hi:
Since my kids have taken over the garage with summer toys, I have parked outside in Cleveland, Ohio (50-60 degrees overnight and damp/wet). Last couple of weeks my brake light indicator light has been coming on in the morning and goes off after about 10-15 minutes of driving. No problems on the way home from work where I park in a garage

Rear brakes (machined rotors) was done about 28k ago and replaced front pads and rotors 17k ago. Can I need brakes again or is there some sort of sensor that is bad. The fluid is okay. Thanks for any thoughts
Jim

 

Is it the brake LAMP light
or the Brake master warning light? there is a big differance!
Brake lamp means you have a dead bulb- or a bad ground connection on a bulb thats effected by moisture. Check all the brake light bulb sincluding the center ones

Main warning light can mean the fluid is low- or the moveable level indicator on the cap isnt moving correctly to read the level

You say the fluid is ok- and you have done brakes at both ends of the car
Have you changed/flushed the Brake Fluid? It NEEDS to be done every year- acura says starting at year 3, but we are all way past that.
If it hasnt been done- corrossion builds in the calipers. (google hygroscopic)

When you push the pistons back to make room for the new pads- and most people push them flush which is actually too far, and stirs up the crud--and backwashes it !
Now the crud particles cause damage somewhere and you get a warning light

 

Or emerg. brake (pedal) switch bad or misadjusted-?

 

i am getting the same exact light in the morning's for about 10 minute's.

it shows as "Brake" in red.

from this thread it sees that i need to do full service on my brake system.

all of my brake light's work perfectly, and jiggling wires does nothing.

so i should do front and rear rotor's and pad's, and then flush the entire system?

 

possibly the cap thing is stuck- check that first

When doing brakes FLUSH FIRST to rid the system of badness
THEN do the brakes without any concern~

Low pads dont make a light come on- look at the cap sendor unit, look at brake fluid color
Leaving the park brake on would trigger the light as well
Do some more searching on the car
The main switch at the pedal sometimes fails

 

This too, has happened to me for the last 2 mornings - only in the morning so far. Goes off after about 10 minutes of driving. Fluid level is good, and the fluid is clean. Rotors, pads, and calipers are good also.

I just recently did the Legend caliper swap, but that was 2 or 3 weeks ago - I wonder if that has anything to do with my particular case?

I've checked everything I can think of.....anyone else have any ideas before I pay a shop to take a look around? I may try to bleed the system again this weekend before I take it in.

 

Is there any way to TEST the main switch at the pedal myself versus paying someone to do it for me? What do these switches cost - how about ease of install (I haven't looked to see it myself)?

 

the switch at the pedal controls the brake light bulbs- its easy to replace when it dies or stays On all the time-
does require some twisting and bending to get your head and hands into the pedals

The other possibilty I would suspect-- is the cap for the res - thats the low level sending unit and those are known to fail- $35 for cap or $100 for new master cyl with cap
Check that slider thing on the cap for movement- clean with carb spray (protect the open master cyl and area from the spray) if it sticks or acts funny in its range of travel- I would suspect that.

After I upgraded the pad-rotors-SS lines and Legend calipers- I decided to replace the master with its included new cap too- since my brake fluid had never been changed-
it ate some imortant seals.

Change out your brake fluid once a year,,,, starting NOW!!!!!

 

Legend calipers and better brakes do not cause the light!
Its something else- rest easy fellow upgraders~

 

To test the main brake light switch at the pedal=
Park where you can see the brake lights come on-- in your mirror- like backed up to a window or garage door
The idea is to watch how soon the lights come on after you start to apply brakes, and do they go off as soon as you release the pedal

The adjustment range of the switch allows for sooner or later brake light activation.
On the street I like them to come on immediatly- before actual slow down begins- to warn drivers behind.

On the track----adjusted down so they come on when the brakes are locked up- so the guy trying to outbrake you into the corner by watching the lights----
is in for a big surprise
hehehehehehhe

 

Have you guys removed the electrical wire connectors at the master cyl. cap and cleaned them?
I look for the stupid things when a problem like this occurs

 

Fire:
Just for fun- I think you may have done this already,,, but for others-
after brake job and the pads are bedded in:
Do 2, 45 mph complete stops- with ABS activated- that may require throwing water on the road,, for some ziners with sticky tires and great brakes~
Immediatly Accellerate and do the 2nd stop- if the pedal feels better- firmer, you had air in the ABS controller- just rebleed the brakes LF RF RR LR and that takes care out that problem---
You wont find that prob until ABS is actively working- so good to check if you had the lines open for any reason- thats from the gen3 shop book on brake testing

The next option is to go to a brake specialty shop- they know brakes and have special scanner tools...but IMO run those test first

 

Oh, you misunderstood or I didn't make it clear....I'm not blaming the upgraded calipers, just my mechanic skills in putting everything back together properly.

 

Was actually thinking of doing this too before I ran into this brake light issue....now I may have even more reason than before....

 

i actually solved my problem....i put in a little more brake fluid, and cleaned up the wires coming out of the cap....since then i havnt gotten the brake light in the last few day's (morning, or night)

my fluid wasn't at the low mark, it was about halfway between low, and max...so i am leaning towards the wire connection's being loose or dirty solving the problem, but since i did both things at the same time...i cant really say what solved my problem.

 

I took off the cap and cleaned the wire connections. I also cleaned the float and cap and topped off the fluid. So far it has worked.
Thanks to all who responded