Brake Problems

Yesturday the BRAKE light came on in the wifes 2002 Maliboob. I was on a pretty steep hill and the front pads are kinda old so i figure topping of the fluid would help for a couple days until I could change the pads. It was low so i filled it this morning. To blocks later the light came on going down a hill and the it came on on flat ground after getting gas. I checked the level again and it was still full, and there are no leaks. i the drove it hard for about half an hour and the light wouldn't come back on. Is there anything I could have missed or should I not worry about it since I couldn't get it to come back on.

Maybe the switch on the parking brake?

Checked it, it's working fine.

The fluid level switch float is probably sticking. That seems much more likely to happen when it's really cold outside.

Having said that, the same light also refers to pressure differential problems which can be caused by air bubbles or a fluid leak. In later cars, that type of problem will also turn on the ABS light; if that didn't happen then I go back to the level sender float.

If the fluid was low enough you may have gotten air in the system. Bleed it and check to see if air comes out, also replace those pads.

if it's got a float-controlled switch, sometimes they quit floating. wifey's '03 Odyssey was recalled for sinking float making brake warning light come on.

If it has ABS, on my '96 Grand Am the first sign of a failing alternator was an intermittent "ABS" light... Apparently that's the touchiest computer to input voltage, so it was throwing lights at the oddest times...