Today my "BRAKE LAMP" light came on. I've never seen it on before, and I know what it means. A brake or tail light is out. Fine, I think, I'll pick one up on the way home.

I back the TL up to a reflective surface to see which bulb or filament is out and NONE are out. I turned off the TL, and then started it back up and the light disappeared and didn't come back on until 20 minutes later while I was driving. Again I checked, all tail and stop lights are working fine. I turned the car off and on again, and for now it is gone.

Anyone had this happen or know why my car is being silly?

 

Well just backing it up to a wall and watching it refelect isnt good enough the TLs have two seperate for breaks so it could be just half is out but you probably cant tell untill you get out and look. You might have already known that so if you did and your light is going off and on the only other thing I could think of is parking lights or backing up lights.

 

check to see if any of the blubs are loose... or tap the tail light, you might have a loose filament thats breaking connection when you driive around.

 

If it's like my Prelude, the brake light can illuminate when you're getting low on brake fluid. This can happen nuturally as your pads wear and the brake fluid level drops in the reservoir.

So check your brake fluid level.

Bob

 

when fluid is low the e-brake light will come on not the brake lamp.

 

Thanks for that clarification. And perhaps it was the e-brake light on my Prelude that came on.

Bob

 

Yeah the "BRAKE LAMP" light on the TLs never lights until a bulb is blown (supposedly). It doesn't turn on when you start the car or anything. It's at the very lowest position in the furthest right gauge pod.

I'll see how mine behaves in the morning commute. It doesn't really make sense to me that the light would be on without just cause.

 

it might be a bad bulb thats about to go out completely which would explain why the brake lamp doesn't turn as soon as you touch the brake pedal.........you have to have someone look at the lights when you brake and the brake lamp light is on.............if all the bulbs are fine then maybe its bad wiring.........

 

had it happen to me a good 2 months ago no signs of any bulbs being out, until 2 weeks of it being on... i think it detects when the bulbs are about to go out.... when you start the car it wont turn on until you apply the break... 10 bucks later i bought a pair of bulbs and replaced my bulb that went out.

 

sounds like a bulb thats out or going out. Its detecting a resistance like a bulb is out.

 

Okay I figured it out. Tonight the light came on again, and I backed up to a glass facade of a building that was closed. I noticed a brake lamp was indeed out. I keep hitting the brakes, and then restarted the car, and the brake light worked again. So apparently the light is bad and needs replacing... at least that is what I am hoping.. I'd hate for it to be a short. Plan on repairing it this weekend.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed the TL uses the most expensive brake light type on the Wal-Mart shelves! Takes $2.48 to replace 2 bulbs in the Camry and $7.83 to replace two in the TL. Was that on purpose?

 

it happened to me a while back so i tried shutting off the car and after i turned it back on it was gone.