Any mechanics out there?

I have a car problem that just arose.

Last night I parked on a steep incline, so I put my parking brake on. I;ve done it many times before without a problem. However, this morning when I drove on 476 the parking brake light started flickering even though I took the parking brake off when I first got into my car. This may just be coincidence, but I noticed the parking brake light would stay on instead of flicker when I drove at higher speeds. It flickered around 60 MPH, and stayed on constantly when i was reaching 75-80 MPH.

Now, about 2 weeks ago I had my read brake shoes and calipers replaced. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with this, but I figured I'd throw it in there.

Any ideas or suggestions?

check your brake fluid level my wifes car does the same thing when its low lol

I'll check it at lunch and reply back

Try resetting the parking brake HARD again. Almost sounds like its not TOTALLY releasing when you release the brake.

Where is BobN........?

If it was at an incline and the fluid level is somewhat low, it could be the float in the brake fluid reservoir has gotten stuck. Top up the fluid (to the max line) and try tapping the reservoir a few times. My car will do this as the brakes wear and I just top up the fluid. Something like an over-sensitive float reading.

What kind of car?

The vast majority of cars (not all, damnit volvo) have one brake warning light that is turned on by low fluid level in the master cylinder reservoir (there's a little float with a magnet in it) and/or the parking brake lever/pull-rod/pedal not being fully retracted. In the second case note that the sensor is on the mechanism you interact with, rather than on the parking brake mechanism at the wheels!

Now for bonus points a faulty alternator will tend to turn on both the charging system light and the brake warning light, for reasons that haven't been explained to me or any other mechanic I know.

A fourth thing that will turn on the brake light is a short circuit in either sensor system.


So, the first thing to do is to check that your brake master cylinder is filled to the FULL mark.

Second thing to do is to make sure the sensor wires (there'll almost certainly be two of them going into the reservoir) are fully plugged in, and that they haven't rubbed themselves down to bare metal on something.

That may well fix it right there. If not, try manually holding the parking brake lever down (or rod in, or pedal up) and see what that does.


(Volvo, rather than just monitoring the level of brake fluid and the parking brake, has a second light that is actuated if an active pressure differential sensor detects abnormal hydraulic pressure balances in the brake system. Which is to say, if a brake line is leaking fluid the sensor will see it and turn a light on. It's a great system, though it can be a major pain to fix if the sensor falls off the wagon and starts reporting random things)

98 Ford Contour 6 cyl.

Sure enough when I checked the brake fluid, it was extremely low. I needed a full 12 oz bottle to fill it up. This strikes me as odd since I just had the read drums and calipers changed 2 weeks ago. I thought they said they topped off all the fluids. So now I'll have to watch the brake fluid level to see if it is getting low pretty quickly.

Either there is a leak or there was air in the line and it worked its out. Keeping an eye on it would be a good idea.

I'd say either a leak or they missed it. Missed it is my guess.
We (mechanics) aren't perfect, though we try.

Replacing drum brakes as well as replacing calipers consumes a fair amount of brake fluid in the bleed process, they likely forgot to fill the reservoir afterwards.

That said, it's a good idea to check your brake fluid level from time to time anyway.

Definitely check your brake fluid constantly for the next couple of weeks and make sure it's not dropping off because if you have a leak you need to find it. Leaks can become worse suddenly and brakes are the most important part of a car IMO.

HeatM1ser2k4 said:

98 Ford Contour 6 cyl.

Sure enough when I checked the brake fluid, it was extremely low. I needed a full 12 oz bottle to fill it up. This strikes me as odd since I just had the read drums and calipers changed 2 weeks ago. I thought they said they topped off all the fluids. So now I'll have to watch the brake fluid level to see if it is getting low pretty quickly.

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If you just had them done 2 weeks ago I'd take it back there, they should have no problems with checking for leaks and topping it off again. Also if it got too low, you may have introduced air back into the lines. They should bleed them again also.

If it were that low the light should have been solid-on rather than flickering.

Air in the lines will show up as a squishy pedal.

Bobnova said:

If it were that low the light should have been solid-on rather than flickering.

Air in the lines will show up as a squishy pedal.

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It started by flickering...but as I got closer to work there were times that it stayed lit for 20 -30 seconds at a time, then flickered, then stayed solid for another 10 seconds, flickered again,ect...

After topping off the brake fluid, the light didnt come on once on the 20 mile ride home

Happened to me too on my first car. My drum brakes needed replacement and started to leak fluid. I had to top off every other day. I eventually had the money to get it fixed and redo the front brakes. Leaks can occur within the drum and you wont be able to tell unless you take it off. I would take it back if the light turns back on... or check the drum brakes yourself. I though V6 contours (with the duratec 2.5L) all had ABS 4-wheel brakes stock... anywho keep an eye on it! Very nice car with a unique, good engine in it.

yeah....great engine...too bad I chose Pep Boys to do the read break drums and calipers....every time Ive gone to Pep Boys I've had a problem with a repair they did...even oil changes aren't smooth. I set and appointment, and got there 30 minutes early.....it took 2.5 hours from when I arrived to get my oil change...so much for a 29 minute oil change guarantee

I use "Valvoline Instant Oil Change" for all my fluids. Their computer system compares the manual's maintenance intervals with my actual miles, but they aren't pushy about selling the service. Quick bunch too. Love their two person checklist shoutout at the end.

Midas gets my vote for brakes. All four corners of my old Cadillac in under two hours (two techs), caliper rebuild and rotors, for less $$ than I thought it would be. They kept their appointment too.

With midas, and really anywhere that does free inspection and/or under-cost oil changes, the question is more whether you needed rotors/calipers than how long it took to do 'em.

Midas owns the all time record in our area, a lady showed up at my shop witha $1600 estimate for breaks from Midas, they said she needed quite literally everything.
Rotors, drums, calipers, wheel cylinders, hoses, master cylinder, booster, pads, shoes.
We inspected everything closely, and found that what she actually needed was front break pads for $120 in maybe 5000-10000 miles.
We were not pleased.

She was though

Yeah... Midas is the joke of the century around here also, and I honestly have no idea how they stay in business with as often as they rip people off.

I guess it goes back to that old saying... "There's a sucker born every minute."

Kudos to those who have had a good experience with Midas... Myself.. I wouldn't trust them to work on my lawn mower.

Pep Boys is just as bad, if not worse. All 3 times Il;ve had work done at Pep Boys they created another problem and gave me inflated prices on repairs. heck, one time they even cracked my transmission case and denied it and told me that if i didnt have pictures of the case before they worked on it, that I had no case. I did have a mechanic do inspection on it like 2 weeks beforehand, and he says that crack didnt exist....but I really have no options to sue pep Boys because how can I prove they cracked it if I dont have "before" pictures?

if its still leaking, they might not have closed the bleeder screw completely, or theres a leak somewhere else.