Parking Brake Light

A couple of months ago, the parking brake light on my dash board would come on for no reason. It was usually just in the mornings so I thought it had something to do with the cooler morning air (I'm in Florida). It would stay on for about 5 minutes and then go away. Well, it slowly continues to get worse. Now it comes on whenever I crank the engine and has taken up to 30 minutes to finally disappear. And, yes, the brake is off. I love the vehicle, but the light can sure be annoying. Just thought I would check to see if anyone had the same problem and was able to fix it without wasting a day at the dealership. Mine is a 2000 model. Thanks.

The same light will come on if your brake fluid is low. It will get lower with time as your brakes wear.

check your front pads.. the brake light is also a warning light.. basically for your brake fluid, which goes down as your pads wear. Several threads on the subject.

And remember, don't add fluid unless you've confirmed there is no leak etc. to account for the low fluid, and that your pads have sufficient wear left. If the pads have life left in them, add only enough fluid to get the light to go off, the "missing" fluid will return when the pads are replaced and could leak if there's too much in the system. Brake fluid eats paint...

Wish Nissan were smart enough to do like my 88 Toyota, brake light goes on 2/3 bright with a brake issue, full bright when the parking brake is on. Easy to figure out the difference.

Brent

I had this problem too and the dealership checked the brakes out and put more fluid in the tank. Then a couple months later we replaced my brakes forgetting I had that extra fluid in there and made a little mess when we compressed the calipers.

I too am having the same exact problem as SBernard. Brake light comes on in the morning, but usually goes off after the car has warmed up and i have made a complete stop...Should i just take it to a Nissan Dealer and have them check the brake fluid??
Help would be appreciated.
Gracias.

You can check the fluid yourself. Open the hood, look for the bright yellow cap almost directly ahead of the steering wheel line. There are markings on the side of the reservior and you can see the fluid level through the translucent plastic.

Check the pad wear, that might be something you can ask the dealer to do for you, but a lot of brake shop chains will give you a free inspection...

:rolleyes:
Brent