E-Brake light??
02-28-2005, 02:02 PM
#1
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E-Brake light??
I was driving home the other night and I had to make a sudden stop in my '02 Mustang GT. As I did this, something on my dash caught my eye. My E-brake light came on for a sec then went off. I actually tested it later on by stopping suddenly on purpose to see if it would do it again and it did. Is that normal?
02-28-2005, 02:04 PM
#2
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RE: E-Brake light??
Not normal I would say but you may have hit the brakes hard enough to apply enough pressure to the rears to make the sensor trip for a second making it think you applied the E brake. You have to remember that when stopping, 70% of your braking power is coming from the front and the rear brakes do very little work. But under a lot of pressure im would assume you could have tripped the sensor.
If it happens on a normal basis I would take it to get checked. You may be getting a bad sensor of some sort or bad brakes.
If it happens on a normal basis I would take it to get checked. You may be getting a bad sensor of some sort or bad brakes.
02-28-2005, 03:57 PM
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RE: E-Brake light??
ORIGINAL: kubball2005
Check your brake fluid level as well. My light came on when I pressed the brake pedal down firmly and after I topped off the fluid it hasn't come back on since.
Check your brake fluid level as well. My light came on when I pressed the brake pedal down firmly and after I topped off the fluid it hasn't come back on since.
You sure that wasnt the ABS light or was it the Ebrake light? Ususally with low fluid the ABS light comes on.
02-28-2005, 04:06 PM
#6
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RE: E-Brake light??
Hmmm... thats odd. Maybe the brake system is a little different on these than what it is on my '97 F150. [&:] I assume there would be differences but ABS is ABS I thought. My ABS light comes on in the truck when there is air and low fluid. I found this. Maybe it will help.
If there were a problem with the ABS the yellow light should come on to tell you this.
The red e-brake light tells of 2 (maybe 3) things. Of course the first being the e-brake is applied, try to play with the e-brake handle, raise up and down a gew times, see if you can't get the light to go off or even flicker. If it flickers it sounds as though the switch is shorting to ground and turning the light on.
Next we monitor brakes system pressue in the front vs the rear (or diagonally, depending on system engineering). When we lose pressure in one half of the system the red light comes on to tell us there is a problem.
If either e-brake or pressure switch wiring is shorted to ground the light will come on. Since you are telling me the ABS is over active I would wonder if the e-brakes are not remaining applied, the slightest application of pressue from the hydraulic system could therefore be causing the rear wheels to decel too quickly producing an ABS event (ABS kicking in).
I would also suggest checking your fluid level in the master cylinder, though Ford's response in the past to low fluid levels were to turn on both the red and yellow light.
I am thinking the ebrakes remaining partially applied is the best bet, this would give your symptoms without the yellow ABS light coming on.
How much to repair is a total guess, depends on the shop, their level of knowledge on the system as well as were you are located (location can make a big difference). A repair in New York could probably be done for half the price in some small town since labor rates vary so much.
The red e-brake light tells of 2 (maybe 3) things. Of course the first being the e-brake is applied, try to play with the e-brake handle, raise up and down a gew times, see if you can't get the light to go off or even flicker. If it flickers it sounds as though the switch is shorting to ground and turning the light on.
Next we monitor brakes system pressue in the front vs the rear (or diagonally, depending on system engineering). When we lose pressure in one half of the system the red light comes on to tell us there is a problem.
If either e-brake or pressure switch wiring is shorted to ground the light will come on. Since you are telling me the ABS is over active I would wonder if the e-brakes are not remaining applied, the slightest application of pressue from the hydraulic system could therefore be causing the rear wheels to decel too quickly producing an ABS event (ABS kicking in).
I would also suggest checking your fluid level in the master cylinder, though Ford's response in the past to low fluid levels were to turn on both the red and yellow light.
I am thinking the ebrakes remaining partially applied is the best bet, this would give your symptoms without the yellow ABS light coming on.
How much to repair is a total guess, depends on the shop, their level of knowledge on the system as well as were you are located (location can make a big difference). A repair in New York could probably be done for half the price in some small town since labor rates vary so much.
02-28-2005, 04:08 PM
#7
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RE: E-Brake light??
This also...
I wouldnt advise you to go with ABS though. You could easily lock your wheels up. I had a 74 Nova that I could drift in like a ****... but not on purpose. LOL
I had a similar problem with a different car. The problem was with the ABS control module. A quick fix is to unplug the harness from the control module giving you regular braking without the ABS which I personally dont like in the first place.
02-28-2005, 05:36 PM
#8
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RE: E-Brake light??
You probably have low brake fluid.
Most cars are set up to light the ebrake light when the fluid is too low. It's been that way on most cars I've driven since the 70s. Sometimes the fluid is fine and it's just registering a low fluid condition because you hit the brakes hard enough to really deplete the resevoir.
If it is low you don't bother filling it and more fluid leaks out (or whatever) eventually the light would be on all the time, but by then you might be a wet spot on the back of an 18-wheeler....
The only time I've seen it work differently is when there is a dash indicator SPECIFICALLY for a low brake fluid warning. (Although what some of the previous posts have to say about the ABS light may be true also -- my current 02 Stang is the only Ford I've had with ABS.)
Most cars are set up to light the ebrake light when the fluid is too low. It's been that way on most cars I've driven since the 70s. Sometimes the fluid is fine and it's just registering a low fluid condition because you hit the brakes hard enough to really deplete the resevoir.
If it is low you don't bother filling it and more fluid leaks out (or whatever) eventually the light would be on all the time, but by then you might be a wet spot on the back of an 18-wheeler....
The only time I've seen it work differently is when there is a dash indicator SPECIFICALLY for a low brake fluid warning. (Although what some of the previous posts have to say about the ABS light may be true also -- my current 02 Stang is the only Ford I've had with ABS.)
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