Parking Brake Indicator Light Problem

[jaegerbiker]

Hey all. About 4 months ago, my parking brake light indicator started coming on at odd times. Meaning, I didn't have the parking brake engaged. At first, it only seemed to happen when I would brake, and then I noticed it happens when I'm accellerating, and then quickly take my foot of the gas, causing the car to jolt forward a little. It doesn't stay on all the time, and sometimes doesn't even go on when I brake.

I took it into a mechanic thinking it was a brake problem (as noted in the manual) and he changed the back brakes which needed replacement, but did nothing for the freaky brake light.

I'm thinking this could be some bad electrical wiring, but haven't found any recommendations. Any ideas?

Also, the oil light did something funny this morning, just once. It came on and blinked really quickly on and off for about 3 seconds. It stopped and nothing else seemed to be wrong with the car. Checked the oil and all looked well.

Thanks - John

[shaneland]

post what year your car is...

[hundahunta]

you may have a bad low level brake switch... There are 2 things that will turn on the brake light on the indicator only. The switch in the master and your hand brake... As for the oil light I have seen this problem before... The complaint was oil light flickering when at idle...

[shaneland]

Originally Posted by hundahunta

As for the oil light I have seen this problem before... The complaint was oil light flickering when at idle...

Oil light at idle could mean your engine is getting clogged up from the sludge that is created from using regular oil.

I would flush the motor right away and switch to synthetic...

[theFREAKnasty82]

jaegerbiker, check the fluid in your master cylinder. If it's low, the light will come on. You could have a leak somewhere in the system. Also do you have a firm brake pedal or is it sinking?

[jaegerbiker]

Wow. Y'all rock. Sorry about not posting the year. I thought about it after I posted.

The Intrepid is a 2000, with about 63,000 miles.

The brake pedal seems to be fine. No sinking. I'll have a mechanic check out the switch though.

Very interesting about the oil light. I just took the car into get the oil changed and they said it looked pretty dirty, so they did a flush with a throw away set of oil. I'll take your advice and start using the synthetic though. Thanks for mentioning it!