Im having problems with my brake light coming on. Its like i have to slam on the brakes for it to work. Do you know what might be causing it?

hi, when you brake your car has a collided with the ground, and the system come error, appearing the obd2 code problem or your abs light on, i know a tool which can read and delete the code. or may be you can take the car to the repair shop, they will test the code for you and then you can solve this problem.

No not at all. ABS issues will not leave you on the side of the road stranded, will not cause your engine any problems. When the ABS light comes on, it basically deactivates your anti lock brake system, giving you the same brakes we had back in the day before technology came into cars. You will not notice a loss in stopping power and your brakes will not be affected. Before the light, if you were to slam on your breaks, your tires would lock up for a split second then release, then lock, then release, keeping you from going into an uncontrollable slide. Now if you slam on the brakes, they will lock up and stay locked up until you ease your foot off the brake pedal....don't slam on the brakes. :-) Not saying you shouldn't get it fixed because it is a good safety feature to have for those who do panic and stand on the brakes. But you don't have to make it a top priority fix if budget doesn't allow for it.

ASE Certified

Sounds like the brake light switch is bad.

you may have bent one of the wheel sensors and is causeing the traction control to come on, and for the brake light is it amber or red? if it is red does the brakes feel spongy? if it does you have a mechanicl malfunction on the brake system. so the first thing to do is checks shoes and brake fluid level, als o be sure E brake is not slightly engaged, if you bleed the system this may fix the brake light problem but the whell sensor could be causing most of your problems causing it to brake going down hill, if the auto adjuster is not working this could casue it also, however be sure the brakes feels solid, take it out on a road with no traffic get it up to 20 miles an hour and slam on the brakes and come to a stop, put it in park and go outside and lok to see if the wheels all locked up and dragged at the same time if they did you are most likey ok, if one wheel did not lock up at the same time that will be the wheel you have a problem with, you will have to remove the drum or rotor if it's rear disk brakes to see what is causing the problem. Therse are the most common problems you will find and if you don't spot the trouble then you would have to jack the car up with all four wheels off the ground and have someoen push the pedal on the brakes in while you slowly turn one wheel at a time notice when the wheel stops anddo this to all four wheels. if you find one wheel not stopping then you have a mechanical problem with that wheel, it could be a bad adjuster or frozen adjuster or worn brakes or even a crakd drum ow a wheel cylinder froze up. Doing this will save you time if you have to take it to a shop as you will have isolated the problem. if lets say the rear wheels do not stop with the pedal all the way down it means you have a bad master cylinder. hope this helps and thanks for using fix-ya.

You're park brake may be faulty or if you have anit-lock brakes, there is a sensor next to the brakes that may be bad. It's simply letting you know it may need replaced or serviced.

If you have ABS, (anti-lock brakes), you're brakes will still work fine, however you will not have the anti-lock brake feature. If you slam on the brakes you brakes will lock up.

Consider taking the car to an auto parts dealer and consulting with a representative or a brake specialist such as Les Schwabb or such.

Please let me know if you need further assistance.

carsandcomps,

Guru, Premium Expert @ Fixya.com

i had a similiar problem yesterday.. apperantly my thermostat was leaking on the alternator causing it to act up. my brake, ABS, Ppowe steering lights went on, got stuck in a 3rd gear. lost power steering and brakes.. had to pull the handbrake to avoid getting slammed into a light pole

the master cylinder could be defective or the proportioning valve is stuck. You can try slamming the brake pedal down at a stop. this may reset the valve, if it goes off thats your problem. if it continues to stay on pull the E Brake or parking brake see if the pedal rises up f the pedal comes up it may mean your rear shoes are worn and the wheel cylinder or caliper seal is leaking. to test if all brakes are working go about 10 mph Be sure you e brake works then hit the brakes once you stop get out and look if there is rubber on the ground on all four wheels. do this in a area where it's safe and you can come to a atop before hitting someone Else's property or going over a cliff. If the front brakes work then your rear are not working if there is no marks on front that means there is a problem with the front brake system. remember the light is a warning jamming down the brakes may cause the master cylinder to fail so be sure your mechanicl emergency brake works good before doing test. otherwise you may experince the pucker factor, one guy at a shop I worked for pushed his tool box ouy yhr tindoor he didn't check the e-brake before doing the test in front of the shop. Opps.

CHECK TO MAKE SURE WITH CAR RUNNING VOLTAGE AT THE BATTERY SHOULD BE 13.5 VOLTS TO 14.5 VOLTS. USE A DIGITAL VOLT METER TO CHECK VOLTS AT BATTERY. WITH ENGINE OFF BATTERY VOLTAGE SHOULD BE 12.5 VOLTS. IF NOT ALTERNATOR NOT CHARGING BATTERY.THAT WILL MAKE ABS AND BRAKE LIGHTS COME ON AND A FAULTY BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH WILL ALSO CAUSE ABS AND BRAKE LIGHTS COME ON.IF ALL LOOKS GOOD.HAVE THE ABS BRAKES SCANNED.IN THIS CASE YOU ARE HAVING BRAKE FAILURE.BECAUSE WHEN BRAKE LIGHT COMES ON THATS WARNING BRAKE FAILURE BECAUSE THE BRAKE MASTER CYLINDER AND ABS UNIT IS TOGETHER AS ONE.NOT SAFE TO DRIVE.COULD LOSE BRAKE CONTROL AT ANY TIME TOW IT IN.

Hello,
It sounds like the wheel speed sensor may have been damaged in the process of removing the tire. That would cause the abs light to come on. Ususaly when the abs light comes on it is a sign they won't opperate as abs but only as standard hydraulic brakes. I hope this helps. If you have more questions reguarding this or other conserns please ask me. Please remember high ratings are very important to me.

Thank You,
Roy