I've got a '95 Civic LX 4 door, having a strange problem with the dash brake warning light coming on. Brake are NON-ABS. Started doing this recently as we began having cooler temps, around 55-60F in the morning. Light would be on when I first started driving, and would go out after about 5 mins or so of driving. Tonight it was a bit cooler around 50F. Light went out after a short drive, but if I pressed the brake hard the light would come on for a few seconds, then go out. Pedal is firm, does not sink to the floor, braking performance is fine, doesn't pull, handbrake is good, I can skid the back wheels with it OK. Checked the MC fluid level, full with no loss of fluid, no leaks.

Most recent brake job was about 6 months ago. Replaced front pads with Axxis Ultimate from StreetBeat Customs $57 incl shipping. These pads do create a lot of dust, but they are much better than the metal masters I replaced (they don't stop well when pads are cold). Flushed and bled lines with fresh Honda fluid. Also put new NAPA shoes on in the back, adjusted for a good pull on the h-brake, drums and wheel cylinders were fine.

Could I just have a brake warning sender unit going bad? Where is that thing in the brake hydraulic system anyway? Only wires I can see on the MC is the float level sense hookup, but the fluid is full, so the float should read no warning signal. What else should I be looking at? This problem never happens in warm weather, in summer over 60F.

 

The handbrake is a seperate system from the hydraulic system. It works with the handle pulling a cable that pulls a lever on the leading brake shoe.

My thought was low fluid but you said that was full. I was thinking that when you hit the brakes hard the one time that the fluid level went down in the MC far enough to trigger the light. As the brakes released the fluid came back up. Also I thought that the fluid was low and when the brakes get warmed up, the fluid expands enough to raise the level (but I don't know if that can happen like metal expanding). How full is full?

 

hey, I have an acura 3.2 cl and primarily its just a suped up honda. anyway i have had a similiar problem with the brake light illuminating in cold temps. any where between 50 to minus 10 degrees. ( i live on the east coast) Usually what caused my problem was the float in the main brake reservoir just sticking to the side of the reservoir container. To alleviate the problem i just simpy slid the float up and down the shaft a couple of times and that was the fix. I havent has any problems with the brake light illuminating since. I think the brake fluid may have a little bit of moisture freezing the float inside the reservoir. I know water is not supposed to be in there but thats all i could think of. Hope it helps

 

I checked the MC again at lunch today, it was full to the MAX mark on the bottle with the lid taken off, the float takes up some fluid space. I tried gradually lowering the float down with the top off to see when the light would come on. It doesn't come on until the float is right at the bottom, last 1/4" of travel. By then, you'd have a major leak to go that low !

I remember when doing my brake job a while back, I got the rear shoes set rather close to the drums to eliminate excess slack in the e-brake pull. Had it set to yank up maybe 3-4" max to really set the brake hard, very short, but still a good shoe adjustment. Light always went out when you released the e-brake, no probs during the summer in warm temps.

Now as it's getting colder, what may be happening is the e-brake cable may be contracting when cold, and heat from the exhaust as car warms it up relaxes it a little :hsugh: . It took about 20 mins of running B4 the light went out this morning, was about 50F when I took off for work. At lunchtime, about 65F in the sun, light wasn't on again, car was cold from sitting.

I think what I need to do is pop open the console and back off the cable adjusting nut a little, grease the pivots and clean the switch. Maybe I was a bit aggressive :shocked: in wanting a very short pull on the lever and got it a bit too close? Haynes manual says to adjust for 6-10 clicks pull when fully applied. What, me worry :uhhok: ?! Shoulda' read the instructions first! :doh: Sorry, I get a bit carried away with these smilies, :drunk: :barf: :driving: wned: gotta love the animated ones!

 

Adjust your e-brake cable. I don't think (someone correct me if I'm wrong) your fluid level would have any affect on your brake light. I think the brake light is just to let you know that you left your e-brake on.

 

There was a post a week or so ago that said something about the fluid level being low would set off the light. My girlfriend was having her light come on (Ford ZX2) and I looked and the fluid was low. I added some fluid and it went off. Her front pads have plenty of material left. I think many cars have the light wired to both the Emergency brake handle and the master cylinder.

 

That appears to be the problem. I can just get 6 clicks of the brake handle, and it's really cranked on the brake by then. Should be from 6-10 clicks adjustment, so I'm probably just a touch too tight, have to back off the adjuster nut a little bit. I tested the float in the MC, it checked out OK. Fluid level was steady at MAX. At first I wondered whether Honda used a pressure sensor at the junction block where front/rear brake bias is metered, but there isn't one. Some cars have this to detect a failure in a single brake circuit