Dash hand Brake light coming on on changing gears up

[gphcald Member Find all posts View Profile Close gphcald]

My dash hand brake light comes on (just flashes) when changing gears, normally 1-2 and 2-3 but not on other gears, doesn't happen when i brake or change down (that I have noticed anyway)
at first thought I thought that the handbrake was faulty or sticking.
Any suggestions? the brakes and pads are 30K old.
Any thoughts ideas appreciated

regards

Gerry

[LeighW Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close LeighW]

Maybe something in the shift mechanism pulling a cable or rubbing up
against the cable?

Cheers
Leigh

[lugueto Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close lugueto]

Are you sure your handbrake is all the way down? when my handbrake is not pushed all the way down it stays in a point where it just barely touches the sensor, actuating the light during shifting and bumps and such...

[Rainman Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Rainman]

Check your brake fluid level

[lugueto Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close lugueto]

^ This hadn't occured to me. Duh.

This would be my first course of action..

[croozza Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close croozza]

Check your brake fluid level

This is what I would be checking first, mine was doing this also on hill starts (its an auto BTW), I just added about 50mls of fluid and it solved it. The main reason for this is that the brake pads are low, if you changed your front pads recently, then check the rears.

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

Guys,
What does brake fluid have to do with the HANDBRAKE light illuminating? Brake fluid is used for the calipers/rotors. The handbrake is a separate braking system controlled only by the level and cable.

BTW, my handbrake light also illuminates a lot of the time. I've checked the small switch under the handbrake lever and it's working fine, so I've assumed its some corrosive or faulty wiring somewhere in the vehicle. To correct this you'd have to remove the interior and trace the wiring, checking contacts or simply jiggling them to see if the light will flicker on/off.

[lugueto Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close lugueto]

The parking brake light will also come on when the brake fluid is low.

[RanJ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close RanJ]

The parking brake light will also come on when the brake fluid is low.

Bingo.... certainly does.

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

Wow I didn't know that, thanks!

[Beast2h Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beast2h]

yep, also since the light is coming on check your brake pads that's probably the reason the the fluid is down.

[yoda2026 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close yoda2026]

was a solution ever found for this problem

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

That's right, it's the same light for brake fluid level & handbrake on.

This is why it's a brake light, not a handbrake light.

Reservoir low? Leaking or failed master cylinder?
Handbrake switch, because brake is applied or faulty switch