Hello,

My hand/parking brake light has been intermittently coming on, and now is usually on, even though the brake is disengaged. I opened up the area around the hand brake and everything looks good in there. There are no shorts or problems there, but the wire shortly disappears under the carpet. Does anyone know where else the wire makes an appearance?

Thanks.

 

Check the brake fluid level for your brakes....

 

Looked recently, didn't see a problem. Why would that cause the parking brake light to come on? Are there inputs to that light besides the wire? If so, a list would be awesome.

 

In most cars, including mine, the handbrake switch and brake fluid levels share the same warning light - I'm not entirely sure if this is the case here (apparently not).

 

Let me go check again...

Yep, definitely still above minimum level, no noticeable decrease from what I remember. I am changing brake fluid soon anyway so I'll post if filling more fixes it.

OT: Thanks Pelican for the guides and parts! Used the spark plug guide just a few days ago.

 

And I apologize to Zippy for not actually checking to see what the owner's manual says. The intermittent light and normal braking action made me think electrical, not fluid level. I've had the car since new in 2006, so it's been a while since I've looked at the manual, and I didn't find any reference to it online!

 

Only time I've had that happen is when the parking brake wire was pinched/shorted. Not sure where the wire in the MINI runs, though.

 

When the hand brake is released is the brake light on the tach orange or red?

 

Did this get resolved?

 

Not yet, will work on it later this week I hope. "Brake" light is red, whether from this or from parking brake. I have never seen it orange.

 

What about worn pads? I cannot recall if the MINI does, but some vehicles display the brake light when they are low and need replacing.

 

Keep us posted!

 

FYI for previous poster, there's a separate light for worn pads.

Adding fluid fixed it. I'm still somewhat surprised since the level didn't look low, certainly not below the low indicator on the tank.

Thanks for the advice, and this should probably be moved to the stock issues section. I'm surprised I didn't find anything using the search function, and I guess I should've RTFM'ed.

Also, I had ASC light coming on after about 10 miles. Took out the front wheel speed sensors and cleaned the rust off of them, so far the light has not come back on. I hope it stays that way for a while!

 

Thanks for letting me know about a separate light for pads. I've never waited long enough for the indicator to show me they were low.