Someone please help me with this...I really can't afford to take it to a mechanic and be charged 1400 dollars to replace wiper blades. I am not a car guy...so go easy on me...

I have a 2003 TL Type-S with around 82000 miles on it. The car is in great condition and I rarely have issues. About a week or two ago, my Brake indicator in the dash came on. It came on while I was driving...but the brakes were working fine. Everything was acting normal. I stopped the car and turned it off...and the light reset. Every once in awhile since then, the light will just come on and stay on until I turn the car off. I checked the Brake fluid...and I think it is fine. It isn't max, but it is nowhere near the min line. Well yesterday, I was in a parking spot. I turned the car on...the brake light came on and stayed on. I pressed the brake and it worked fine. I put the car in reverse to back out and then let me foot off the brake. The car rolled back and I went to turn the wheel to back out and it was extremely stiff. Not locked...just ridiculously stiff. I tried to press the brake pedal and the pedal was very stiff. The car continue to roll backwards and the brakes and steering were not functioning at all. I popped the car back into Park and then tried it again. Same thing... So I put it back into park and turned the car off. I turned it back on..and the light went away and all of the functions worked perfectly. No issues whatsoever now... Regardless...that was really scary because I have never seen a problem like that...effecting both brakes and steering...not a good combination.

Any information would be really helpful so I don't need to take out a loan for my mechanic bills. Thanks again in advance.

 

These are things I was noticing today while driving. These things happen a lot, but I never thought of them as significant...but they could be related. When I press the brakes harder than average, the steering wheel shakes slightly from side to side. If I slam on the brakes, it shakes a lot. I notice that my car will sometimes shift to one side slightly if I hit the brakes too hard. It will pull to one side or another. It is also becoming more difficult to stop. I noticed it today...I was pulling up behind someone at a stop light and I was applying typical pressure to stop and I was getting really close and had to slam on the pedal at the last second to fully stop...

 

It sounds like your motor died and was shut off. There is nothing that would make the brakes hard and the steering stiff other than the motor was off.

 

Now that I think about it....that does make sense. The car was just kind of rolling backwards when I was trying to turn it...and it was really quiet. How would that happen though? The brake light was on and the car was on...but how would the motor just die?

 

That is exactly what happend the motor died and your car was in gear thats why it kept rolling...and yea the lights were on just as if u were to turn the key in the ON position. thats what happend ur breaks should of stoped your car still tho if u were rolling backwards...shouldnt throw in park when car is rolling gunna grind gears..u kno trannys arent the best in these cars but i love em!

 

drastic times call for drastic measures, if i couldn't stop using the most sense: IE: N+ parking brake, i would hesitate to throw it in park.