In my last two cruises, after I have been driving the car for awhile and i push the brakes to stop, and hold the pedal, such as at a stop light, after 5 seconds the warning light comes on with the 'tail light' warning also. Let off the brake, tail light warning on the dash goes off and i can push the warning light button from the dash and things are ok.

This started off slowly intermittent in the last few days but is now every time i hold the brakes today, but when i check the brake lights they both work. Does the shark know when a bulb is starting to go bad ? would think it would know its just out and dead, but i am still learning the car so want to ask here.

Does this sound normal, I just need to replace both brake bulbs and be done with it, or is something else getting hot electrically in the brake wiring ?

Thanks

 

One of your -two- brake light switches could be going bad..they screw UP into the bottom of the master cylinder. They are reduntant..if one goes south, the other still works..generally.

Replace as a pair given their age.

 

Wrong.

If those fail the brake warning and "!" come on until the battery is disconnected.

Check for bad bulbs.

 

If the problem is in the brake light/pressure warning switches on the master cylinder, the warning would be for brake pressure. Since the warning appears to be for the tail lights, the switches are much less likely to be involved.

Still several possibilities here:
- Poor connection or ground in one of the bulb sockets.
- Poor connection at the Bulb Warning Control Module.
- Failing Bulb Control Module.

First check:
- Get a helper. Train the helper to push the brake pedal and hold it until you tell him/her to let it go, and to tell you when they see the warning.
- Tell the helper to push and hold the pedal while you watch the brake lights for any change.
- Have him/her hold the lights until they see the warning.
- Repeat the training because the helper released the brake when they saw the warning.
- Repeat the procedure. If one of the lights is dimmer than the other, or dims when the helper says they see the warning, you have found the culprit.

If cleaning the bulbs and sockets doesn't help, you may need to work on the Warning Module.

 

Move the seat way forward so your helper can reach the pedals. Good luck.

 

Huh..they didnt on Bronto IIRC. (It had other issues at the same time tho)

it just didnt have brake lights.

 

I had the same symptoms before resolving it as described in the post below. Please check the tail light plug connector pins/sockets and the bulb sockets for corrosion (which may not be readily visible at first).

https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...long-post.html

 

thanks for all the suggestions guys

david k, i read your previous topic and the symptoms sound eerie identical to what i am experiencing. going to look at those pins/socket connections tomorrow.