G

gidgrace

New Member
Hi all.
Happily got the beast through another mot last week with my first bit of home welding but while I was out at the weekend a red light with a round circle and exclamation mark in the middle started coming on intermittently. I figure its something with the brakes although they still seem to work ok... I did notice that occasionally while off roading the pedal seemed to go further own than usual but pumping it a few times brought it back to normal. All was fine when I was back on the road fluid levels seem ok... Any ideas?
 
brake fluid mate, check it top it up if needed, then if yer say its spongy or thers too much free play int the pedal yer need to bleed them a bit !
 
wiltshire landyman said:
that will account for the spongy brakes but not the red light.

i assume he thinks the two are connected
Click to expand...


well when i were doin the brakes last week i bled them up and the fluid level dropped, as i drove down the road the red light come on, the float in the resovior had dropped then i topped the brake juice up and the light went out , also if the top is not screwed down the light comes on !
 
thanks for the comments so far guys. My first thought was that it was the handbrake light - well it is the same light but interestingly the light does not come on when I pull the handbrake up...
I'm not sure the light has ever come on when the handbrake is pulled. Is there a switch inside the handbrake boot in the cab or is there some sort of sensor inside the handbrake drum?
I've checked the fluid level and it doesn't seem to be that low but it did first start happening after a particularly heavy on road application of the brakes to avoid some idiotic driver on the wrong side of the road. Perhaps it could do with a top up so I'll get some fluid at the weekend. What dot rating do I need? I've also cleaned the connections on the top of the fluid reservoir and the light has gone off for the time being. Intermittent faults are such a bugger!
 
older ones didn' have a handbrake light. Mine doesn't. If the fluid is low, the light will come on, or flicker if its only just low.

How to tell if the handbrake is on? Either look at the lever, or try to pull away... :D

On mine the light is tested when you turn the key to start, it brings the light on to test the bulb.
 
LOL, I wasn't suggesting for a minute that I couldn't tell whether the handbrake was on. I was trying to work out how I could trace if I had a faulty handbrake light switch or no switch at all, in which case I could discount that from the list of possible reasons for the intermittent light coming on.

As soon as I can find out what DOT type of brake fluid to buy, I'll give it a top up and bleed the brakes. They haven't been done for a year (although I only do about 1500 miles). Hopefully that will eradicate the issue.

Oh, almost forgot - mine's a 1985 model so perhaps that is prior to the ones that had the handbrake light...
 
Last edited:
boydy1989 said:
older ones didn' have a handbrake light. Mine doesn't. If the fluid is low, the light will come on, or flicker if its only just low.

How to tell if the handbrake is on? Either look at the lever, or try to pull away... :D

On mine the light is tested when you turn the key to start, it brings the light on to test the bulb.
Click to expand...


correct, my '86 90 int got the hand brake light , but still has the setup on the dash !
the fluid light is checked on startup just for about 1-2 seconds as your pre heater is clicked on , as with the oil light and battery
 
i have an 87' 90 the light works on the handbrake when applied for me! i put dot 4 in mine just check the cap on your resvoir that should say the recommended fluid.
 
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