As the title says, my parking brake light stays on and my ocd is going wild. My parking brake works fine. It just randomly decided to do that. Does the parking brake go near the spare tire well? I was playing around back there looking for a rattle and squeak which turned out to be the hatch and the spare tools. Could the cable just be loose?

 

check you brake fluid reservoir level.

and no. the emergency brake cables run underneath the car.

 

Weird, i've had the car for 12000kms now and the brake fluid has never gotten any lower than full. It's about half full now. i heard that could cause the brake light to show, but forgot about it until you posted. I'll fill it up tonight.

 

Its a closed system... meaning that your fluid shouldnt be going anywhere. Check for leaks.

 

Yeah, I'm going to be changing the front pads soon, so at the same time I'll check the lines and the ebrake line as well. If I do have a leak I should see it on the snow, right? So I could move my car tomorrow morning and see if anything leaked.

 

You should be able to feel it... something will/should be wet - not water wet, but oily. It really depends on how big the leak is. Don't forget to check the rears too. Has a pretty distinct smell too.

 

The parking brake is entirely mechanical, nothing to leak.

 

Pull off the surround for the hand brake. There is a small push on clip/connector make sure it's on properly and the spring behind where it connects to isn't binding and the adjuster is correctly adjusted the light comes on when the stopper with the spring makes contact on a small tag off the handbrake

 

It goes into the caliper's pistons as the pads wear. You can add fluid, but check your pads for excessive wear. But don't rule out a leak as a possibility.

 

Ahhh... that had been somewhere far in the back of my huge head... totally forgot to add that.

 

Doesn't the cluster have separate lights for Ebrake and "regular Brakes"?
Like ( ) and BRAKE ?
(winter,I lose track.)
If so,Which Light is showing??

 

^ one is to let you know a taillight is out

 

It was just getting low on brake fluid. I filled it up and the light went off. I will check for leaks when I get the chance, but I will check it again in a few days and see if it loses a decent amount again. To get an idea of how much is leaking.

 

If it is losing fluid then you should not drive it.Fix it.
If you fall off a bicycle you can get back up.If you fail to stop and hit a family of 4 then you will never "get back up"..

 

Checking it out tomorrow. It's nice now that my dad opened up his business again = heated shop.

 

So it keeps losing fluid meaning I have a leak and not worn pads, right? Are there any areas that leaks are more common on rx7's or other vehicles? I'll take a look at all the pads and rubber hoses and where they connect to hardlines etc. But could the hardlines be a problem at all?

 

check all fittings first, could just need to tighten one. after that start looking for cracks. or just have a buddy pump the pedal while you look for drips to get an idea of where its coming from.

 

Brought it to a mechanic and they can't find any leaks... They also said my pads/rotors still have more than 50% life left in them. I'll replace the master cylinder and hope that's the issue.

Also, I told the idiots that they can't just start the car up and shut it off right after because it could flood and they ended up flooding it. They then began to stare at me and ask me "what are you going to do now?" assuming I was going to tow it myself on my dollar... They said they had the car running all morning looking for the brake leaks and exhaust leaks yet the car wasn't warmed up at all. -.-

 

Just to shoot another possibility, a shorted wire?

 

seal in the master bad, leaking back into booster?

 

I was told by someone else that could be the issue. I'll check to see if the booster has any fluid in it.

 

I was low on fluid; sure enough a top up fixed the light staying on.

 

i think we're past that... but thanks

 

check the cabin side of the firewall. near the pedal assy. not sure on these cars, but some hondas are notorious for leaks there.
how does the brake pedal feel though? does it feel firm, then slowly sink to the floor? if it's leaking, it won't hold pressure. if the shop you brought it to is as incompetent as they sound, then i wouldn't take their inspection seriously.
if there are brake lines that run through the inside of the chassis, there may be a spot that they've rusted/rubbed through and is not visible without pulling up carpet.
usually an external leak that happens out of the blue, and not after work was performed, will be due to a rusted line, leaking caliper piston seal, or ruptured soft line

 

I know brake fluid ***** paint up and notice the paint between the brake booster and master cylinder is peeled off easily like paint thinner was used on it. It wiped off very easily. The pedal doesn't feel that firm, but it doesn't go to the floor no matter how hard I press on it. There's still plenty of pressure in the system.