"Break" dashboard light is ON in freezing wheather

[DK]

It started intermittently last winter. Cold weather has downed
on us now and it seems to have become nearly permanent:

Subaru Impreza 1993 - every time the car is left for an
extended period of time in the freezing temperatures, the "break"
warning lights up on dashboard permanently and never seems to
go away (the same as the one that comes on and goes off every time
the car is started).

I would start from heated home garage with no light, then half way
to work the light comes on and would stay for the rest of the day.
The, overnight in the garage, it disappears. And so on.

Breaks work just fine - same as in warmer months when the problem
never shows up. Parking break is fully disengaged and works OK, too.

All in all, there seems to be no ill effect besides annoying red light
on the dashboard. Is this something to be concerned with? What can

DK

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

It started intermittently last winter. Cold weather has downed
on us now and it seems to have become nearly permanent:

Subaru Impreza 1993 - every time the car is left for an
extended period of time in the freezing temperatures, the "break"
warning lights up on dashboard permanently and never seems to
go away (the same as the one that comes on and goes off every time
the car is started).

I would start from heated home garage with no light, then half way
to work the light comes on and would stay for the rest of the day.
The, overnight in the garage, it disappears. And so on.

Breaks work just fine - same as in warmer months when the problem
never shows up. Parking break is fully disengaged and works OK, too.

All in all, there seems to be no ill effect besides annoying red light
on the dashboard. Is this something to be concerned with? What can

DK

Very common. (2 of my daughters have Nissans that do this regularly)
Likely the car is nearing a point of needing brake pads and the fluid is
low in the reservoir. There is a float that warns of this. At night, the
brake fluid contracts just enough with the cold to trigger the light.
The light is dual/triple purpose and low fluid is one cause of its
illumination. It MAY also indicate a brake fluid flush is due to too
much water in the fluid. You can top up the reservoir, but I'd recommend
having the brakes inspected soon or at least be aware the noise
indicators may begin squealing soon.

Carl
1 Lucky texan

 

[DG]

Break, brake, breaks, brakes.

 

[jMon54]

For a couple of years, I had this very same problem with my 1995
Mitsubishi Montero. It meant I needed to add brake fluid. This also
meant I had some kind of leak or problem. I should have gotten it
looked at but... I sold it instead.

 

[mulder]

Very common. (2 of my daughters have Nissans that do this regularly)
Likely the car is nearing a point of needing brake pads and the fluid is
low in the reservoir. There is a float that warns of this. At night, the
brake fluid contracts just enough with the cold to trigger the light.
The light is dual/triple purpose and low fluid is one cause of its
illumination. It MAY also indicate a brake fluid flush is due to too
much water in the fluid. You can top up the reservoir, but I'd recommend
having the brakes inspected soon or at least be aware the noise
indicators may begin squealing soon.

Carl
1 Lucky texan

As Carl said it is normal for the fluid level to drop as the pads
wear. This is because the pistons move out further in the calipers and
fluid from the reservoir fills the space.
Assuming this is the case here and there aren't any leaks (which is
likely considering that this seems to be a stable situation from your
description), the proper way to proceed is to check the pads and
replace them, BEFORE adding any more brake fluid. If you just add
fluid to bring the reservoir up to full, and then replace the pads
later, the reservoir will then overflow when the pistons are retracted
to install the new pads and you'll have a mess with corrosive brake
fluid all over the place. As long as no fluid has actually leaked out,
the level should come back up to the proper point on its own when the
new pads go in.

 

[Hugo Schmeisser]

Break, brake, breaks, brakes.

Don't break your brakes!

If you should have the unlucky break of having your brakes break on
you, you may need to break the bank fixing the damage your brakes
failed to prevent.

 

[Scott Dorsey]

Break, brake, breaks, brakes.

Breaks broke, lots of smoke. Can't brake when brakes break.
Give me a break, brake pads fake. Broke brake takes the cake.
--scott

 

[mst]

Breaks broke, lots of smoke. Can't brake when brakes break.
Give me a break, brake pads fake. Broke brake takes the cake.
--scott

You sure Dr. Seuss didnt write that first?

 

[DG]

Excellent!

Breaks broke, lots of smoke. Can't brake when brakes break.
Give me a break, brake pads fake. Broke brake takes the cake.
--scott

 

[DK]

Very common. (2 of my daughters have Nissans that do this regularly)
Likely the car is nearing a point of needing brake pads and the fluid is
low in the reservoir. There is a float that warns of this. At night, the
brake fluid contracts just enough with the cold to trigger the light.
The light is dual/triple purpose and low fluid is one cause of its
illumination. It MAY also indicate a brake fluid flush is due to too
much water in the fluid. You can top up the reservoir, but I'd recommend
having the brakes inspected soon or at least be aware the noise
indicators may begin squealing soon.

Thanks! I looked at the brake fluid reservoir today and it's right
in the middle bewteen low and max, so it's unlikely it's the level
per se. Oh well, I guess it's time to pay for brakes work.

DK

P.S. Sorry for the misspelling if the "brake" in the original message.

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Thanks! I looked at the brake fluid reservoir today and it's right
in the middle bewteen low and max, so it's unlikely it's the level
per se. Oh well, I guess it's time to pay for brakes work.

DK

P.S. Sorry for the misspelling if the "brake" in the original message.

Could also be some slippage/maladjustnent of the emergency brake switch
- or possibly an ABS 'warm-up' or other indicator. Might be worth
checking your manual for items related the that light. ABS is one of
them I believe. dunno for certain

Carl

 

[Guest]

It started intermittently last winter. Cold weather has downed
on us now and it seems to have become nearly permanent:

Subaru Impreza 1993 - every time the car is left for an
extended period of time in the freezing temperatures, the "break"
warning lights up

-Why not? I saw someone trying to sell bails of hay the other day.