Brake light comes on when I accelerate

[ScikNurse]

Recently my brake light has been coming on briefly when I accelerate sometimes, and it's usually while the car is still warming up a bit. It happens more frequently in cold weather, too. I always let my car warm up for a couple minutes after it's been sitting all night before I go anywhere. I live in Florida, so it's not extremely cold or anything, but when it's pretty chilly I will notice the light when i accelerate, or even when it's decently warm outside. I am not accelerating too hard either. Then after a little while of driving the brake light will not come on anymore when I accelerate.
Last year I had tightened up the emergency brake line thing beneath the center console because a mechanic at Toyota told me it was loose and was going to charge me $50 for it, psh. So my boyfriend and I tightened it up a little ourselves. I know things tend to constrict a bit in cold temperatures, so maybe we tightened it up a little too much and now the cold weather is just making it worse? I really don't know, so thought I'd get some input from the forums. Thanks!

Oh, I checked the brake fluid and it's still okay, not low, so I don't think it's a problem with low brake fluid.

[maniacal mustang man]

You might actually be bumping your brake pedal a little bit while driving. It only takes the slightest push for the lights to come on.
The pedal might be loose, so when accelerating it moves, then after driving tightens itself back up.
ANy other things could be a short, maybe from electronic upgrades or something.

[ScikNurse]

I keep my feet pretty clear of the brake pedal while I drive. And why would the emergency brake light come on for that? I've never done any electronic upgrades. I would think if my pedal was loose it would also happen more often than just for the first while I am driving. Thanks for your input though! Any other ideas?

[masterp627]

wait are your brake lights coming on or is the emergency brake light on the gauge cluster coming on?

[ScikNurse]

HAHA, probably should have clarified that! The red 'BRAKE' light in my gauge cluster comes on. Thanks for bringing that up, now maybe people can give me some more input. Anyway how would I see my brake lights coming on while I'm driving? Unless I saw the reflection shining off a car behind me or something.

[masterp627]

i was thinking some following you one day noticed and told you. did you try resetting the ecu? i dont know why that would fix it but you never know

[scionfuel]

If you tightened the switch too much then it may be rocking back when you hit the gas and making contact. Make sure it didn't get bent when he tightened it.

[ScikNurse]

If you tightened the switch too much then it may be rocking back when you hit the gas and making contact. Make sure it didn't get bent when he tightened it.

Yeah that's what I am thinking, and you think the cold weather makes it worse? That's when it started acting up, when the cool weather started...

[LED_Meng]

when was the last time you changed your brake pads?

[ScikNurse]

I haven't changed them since I got the car with 21k miles and now it has about 48k miles on them. I don't know if they changed them before I bought the car. Recently I have heard them squeal a few times briefly when I've come to a stop, but I think they'll still last for a little while before they need changing.

[Olian]

my car is doing the same thing and i have about the same milage as you. I think it is just from the brake fluid being cold so its more dense. once the fluid warms up it expands and stops setting of the low fluid sensor. as of now i have about 200 miles before i need to change my oil so im just waiting for then to check the brakes.

[ScikNurse]

I think I will go ahead and just top off my brake fluid then and see what happens. Glad I'm not the only one with this problem! haha

[Olian]

dont top it off completely becuase when you colapse the piston in the caliper it will force the brake fluid back into the resevior causing it to over fill. i would just fill it a little bit above the minimum mark and it will be easier to remove the excess fluid once the brakes are done.


ive been there before...gets quite messy

[ScikNurse]

dont top it off completely becuase when you colapse the piston in the caliper it will force the brake fluid back into the resevior causing it to over fill. i would just fill it a little bit above the minimum mark and it will be easier to remove the excess fluid once the brakes are done.


ive been there before...gets quite messy

Yeah, thanks for the warning!

[Olian]

no problem at all

[Lucky Lep]

My Tc had the same problem i took it in and they did a brake fluid flush and changed it all out, What they said happens is that moisture gets inside which in my eyes is a faulty problem with toyota but either way that fixed the problem

[ScikNurse]

Well I've topped off my brake fluid and so far that light has not come on yet. My brake fluid wasn't even that low to begin with, but I guess tCs are really picky lol. It's also been pretty warm again here, but hopefully that did the trick. Thanks for the help guys! :D

[Atomsk]

thanks for posting this up i have been having this problem but it didn't seem that bad to take up too much of my attention at this time.

[ScikNurse]

Yeah it was just more annoying than anything

[The_Butcher]

TITLE: http://www.scikotics.com/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif Brake light comes on when I accelerate

Then don't pull the emergency brake. YOU will go faster :rofl:


ALSO----
how many miles do you have on your brake pads?? it might be time to change them.

[Under_groundTC]

well heads up i have the same issue when the car is cold and when its cold outside too w the brake light its annoying..

[WooKie]

I think it has been mentioned before, but it won't hurt bringing it up again. when this happens, check your brake fluid, most likely it is below normal and as the car moves the level moves causing it to trigger the light.

This happens whenever your brake pads are worn out and almost in need to be replaced, take the time to look at your brake pads to check what's the wear, if they seem to be like they need to be replaced, replace them before they completely wear out and damage your rotors. usually the front ones are more likely to wear out a lot faster than the rear ones.

Hope this resolves this thread :up:

[Mike_Hunt]

Mine was doing the samething and it is because your pads are getting low was what a Scion Tech told me.

I changed my front pads and rotors (cause if you are doing one might as well do both) and the light has not come back on.

[WooKie]

Mine was doing the samething and it is because your pads are getting low was what a Scion Tech told me.

I changed my front pads and rotors (cause if you are doing one might as well do both) and the light has not come back on.

you had to replace the rotors? why? rotors can last you as long as the life time of the car unless they get damaged, warped in example.

[06silvertc]

leaving the cap off for a little bit the brake fluid wiil get moisture also not using the proper brake fluid will cause problem, most of the time when the brakes are squelin is cause they are low to the point where they need to be replaced unless there is not anough lube on parts of the brake pad that touches the caliper and cylinder. and its not a bad idea to turn the rotors when raplacing brake pads,gets rid of any vibrations that could result from rotors been worphed. hope this helps

[Mike_Hunt]

you had to replace the rotors? why? rotors can last you as long as the life time of the car unless they get damaged, warped in example.

I got a hell of a deal for both ($96 shipped to my door) and instead of have the others turned I just replaced them.

[WooKie]

I got a hell of a deal for both ($96 shipped to my door) and instead of have the others turned I just replaced them.

Oh well in that case, heck yeah lol

[Mike_Hunt]

Oh well in that case, heck yeah lol

Thats what I said when I saw how much they cost in the package compaired to just buying the pads and getting the rotors turned...lol

[MeatRocket]

just replaced my fiances front brakes on her tc with 31k. she had the same issue with the brake light coming on when she accelerated. her fluid seem ok but when your pads get low the fluid level gets low also.


she took it to the dealer and all they did was add fluid. when she came home i put new oem pads on and all the fluid they just put in came out lol. once you put new pads on ut raises the fluid level back up.


hope this helps.