Emergency brake light on

[chilmark01]

in my 1997 Tacoma 4WD the ebrake light stays on sometimes after its been released. when i push the lever down it goes out.... oddly, when my foot is on the accelerator it cant be pushed in far enough to go out, but I take my foot off and that works for a bit. Sometimes it just wants to stay on.
Any help on this one? I find myself not using the ebrake ever just to avoid this.

[Flash75]

Have you checked the brake fliud level?

Clifton

[chilmark01]

the brake fluid level is fine.

i seem to remember once hearing that this could be because of the e-brake line having slack in it?

when i go over a bump the light will come on. my main concern is that i am, in fact, driving with the brake set. help! hehe

[Flash75]

I have a 2004 but I think your handbrake handle is under the dash like mine. Look down around the gas pedal and you should see a plastic pulley for the cable, the handbrake handle assembly ends above the pulley. When the handbrake is released the cable should reel into the housing over the pulley. When the handle is all the way down there is a metal arm that contacts the switch located on the lower end of the handle assembly. Check that everything is working smoothly and the cable freely returns into the housing when the handle is fully down. I don't think a slack cable would cause the problem. The switch may have an intermittent problem. Make sure you don't have a rag or something jamming the cable in the pulley. The cable housing could also be damaged unde the truck.

Clifton

[chilmark01]

thanks very much for the info.

it does seem that the cable cannot freely go back all the way down. the light stays on as the arm to disengage the switch does not fully disengage the switch.

guess its time to see what's wrong with the cable then, and why it doesnt go all the way back in.

[Glenw]

If your setup is the same as mine on my 99, its actaully a simple fix. Time consuming yes...but not an expensive one.

Answer #1 - yea..your brake is probably sticking some, but not really enough to do damamge.

Answer #2 - to fix it (if its the same thing) it is a combination of what you've already been told. The cable is not returnig, but its not really cable related. If you follow the main cable to the rear axle, it is connected to two others. One for each rear wheel. One side or the other is sticking(mine was the passsenger). Follow the cable to the end. It attatches to a "lever" of sorts. I simply pulled in the cables to see which side (lever) moved freeley back into place. If you pull down the rubber boot, you will see a pin that holds the bracket to the main hub assy. That pin is more than likely, rusted. I took mine out, wire wheeled it, put a little never-seize on it and it has been good ever since. The boot is a PIA to get back on, but make sure its fully reseated when you are done to keep water & dirt out of the pin. Not a bad idea to do both sides while your at it.

Hope this helps!