The message to which you are about to reply is shown first. GO TO REPLY FORM



 VIEW    REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE Replies to this message will be emailed.    PRINT   SAVE 

Brake Failure Light on after Bleeding the Brakes 200

posted by  gt6 on  Tue Jul 15 01:31 CST 2003
Author: [PROFILE] [EVERY POST] [THREADS] [BEST POSTS] RSS Feed     [IGNORE ALL POSTS]
last visit: Wed Jul 17 19:44 CST 2013
[RELATED]

As you can see, there are two schools of thought on this touchy subject - those who feel that, on an old car such as this, the finicky switch is more trouble than it's worth, and those who fanatically endorse obeying the light no matter what.

I'm in the middle - I've found this switch to be far more sensitive than necessary a number of times. I've had it come on after bleeding, and, after a thorough investigation, found it to be giving me a false signal. Sometimes it goes out on it's own. Once, I even replaced the switch after I found it contaminated with crud and water. However, I believe it is a good feature to have, and I take the steps necessary to fix it if it's giving me a false reading.

For example, I just replaced my master cylinder this past weekend. I had gotten a flickering, half-on brake failure light for a week or two, but the pedal felt fine. I immediately suspected the switch was tripping for no good reason. But, last week I stopped at a long light, and, to my surprise, the pedal was oh-so-slowly sinking. I really did have a problem! I replaced the master cylinder, bled the system, and I now have a rock-solid pedal again... but the brake failure light is on full brightness. A few taps on the brake distribution block can sometimes trip it off, but no dice this time. I need to open it up.

If you can rule out all other possible causes of a brake problem, open the switch up. Pull of the wire, and remove the a nylon body, threaded into the distribution block. Be careful, as there is a little plunger and spring inside, and maybe a little collar for the plunger too. Make sure this whole assembly is clean. Spray a bit of brake cleaner up in the hole and let it dry thoroughly. Then reassemble, reconnect, and see if the light went out. This has never failed to put the light out for me, either immediately, or within the first two minutes of running. Of course, if you really do have a brake problem, it will come back on.

Sorry to be so long-winded. Hope this helps...
--
Speed Racer, '83 240 R, '74 164 E, '93 940 OL1 (Manchester, CT)






USERNAME
Use "claim to be" below if you don't want to log in.
PASSWORD
I don't have an account. Sign me up.
CLAIM TO BE
Use only if you don't want to login (post anonymously).
ENTER CAPTCHA CODE
This is required for posting anonymously.
OPTIONS notify by email
Available only to user accounts.
SUBJECT
MODEL/YEAR
MESSAGE

DICTIONARY
LABEL(S) +
IMAGE URL *
[IMAGE LIBRARY (UPLOAD/SELECT)]

* = Field is optional.

+ = Enter space delimited labels for this post. An example entry: 240 muffler


©Jarrod Stenberg 1997-2022. All material except where indicated.


All participants agree to these terms.

Brickboard.com is not affiliated with nor sponsored by AB Volvo, Volvo Car Corporation, Volvo Cars of North America, Inc. or Ford Motor Company. Brickboard.com is a Volvo owner/enthusiast site, similar to a club, and does not intend to pose as an official Volvo site. The official Volvo site can be found here.