parking brake light

[suthrnchvyguy89]

earlier today when i was driving through my neighboor hood i noticed that my parking brake light came on after i had already left the house so i tried pulling the brake release and that didnt do anything.

for a long time my brakes have been pretty bad (ive had to push the peddle down at least half way before it started comming to a stop). so now i im wondering if its started to use the parking brake as a backup brake since my regular ones suck so bad or sumthin.

btw i just washed my truck and the rims very good before this happened so i dont know if i got water somewhere it shouldnt be or sumthin. but it was still happening a couple hours after i washed it so i figured that couldnt be it.

any ideas on what might be the problem?

 

[zeroz400]

If you have to push the peddle down alot you need to inspect your brakes. They're prolly worn and need replacing. As for your brake light, if it still hasnt turned off then there is probably a short.


Later

 

[mechted]

if the light is constant on its telling you that something in the brake system is out of spec... theres a wire coming off the combination valve that controls it, if you pull the wire, it should turn the light off, if not then grounding somewhere probably
if the light does turn off you need to check your brake system (sounds like you need to anyways)
first, inspect everything: worn pads/shoes, cracked/swelling lines, mud in the drums, etc. next bleed the brakes, and see what happens with that light

 

[dyeager535]

That light is *supposed* to tell you that you have a problem with the brake system, and more than likely it's your master cylinder.

If pressure "bleeds" from the front or rear brakes under apply this change is detected by the proportioning valve and triggers the brake light.

When I bled my brakes I could never get the "spongy" feeling out of it, but it stopped fine. Until one day sitting at a stop, the light came on, pedal dropped to the floor and I started to roll forward. I was able to pump the brakes and it was fine for a few more days, until it did it again and I replaced the master cylinder.

Unless you have an external leak in the system, the master cylinder is the ONLY thing that can fail and cause a leak in pressure (closed system) that will trigger that light. Of course, thats barring anything like a bad prop. valve, wiring, etc.