[mmcpeck]

Well you already proved that fluid was the cause, because you said that replacing the pads solved the problem, when you did that all of the fluid was pushed back into the master cylinder. If you had a master cylinder full of fluid as you say, then you would have had an huge overflow when you put those new pads in.

I have worked on cars professionally for 15 years, 4 of them for Nissan, and trust me when I tell you that the ABS module has nothing to do with that light. If you had a problem with your ABS system, then you have a separate light on the dash for that. And you never would have fixed and ABS problem by just putting new pads on. The ABS module monitors wheel speed at all 4 wheels and tells the pump when to kick on, and which whell to reduced fluid pressure to, that's it. It has no idea what condition the pads are in.

Let me just ask also, that when you checked the float and lifted it as high as it would go, was the car running or ignition just on, and if it was running was the parking brake on? If only the ignition was on then the brake light will stay on, and obviously if the parking brake was on while you were checking this, then your brake light would stay on also.