hand brake light not working

[anthony90si]

hello guys! i noticed that my light in the cluster does not work anymore. doesn't work at all even befor i start the car when the ignition is on. i changed the bulb and still doesn't work. what else can the problem be?
thanks

[FrodoGT]

switch might not be working? Try this. Take your brake fluid cap off and let the float drop to the bottom, then see if the light is on. The handbrake and that switch are on the same circuit and both cause the light to come on.

[anthony90si]

so if the switch in the cap is not working the whole circuit won't work? gonna take a look and see thanks

[Christ]

I might be wrong here, but I believe the switch in the cap is a NC switch, and the one on the brake lever is a NO switch (NC = Normally closed, NO = Normally Open).

If the NC switch opens, light comes on... NO closes, light comes on.

However, I may be incorrect, and the light might actually have two circuits, both with NO switches... and the float may be the activator for the MC's switch... I know on some vehicles, this is not the case.

That said, what Frodo was telling you to do was a way to diagnose the light. If you push the float all the way down, and the light comes on, obviously, the light isn't blown. However, if the light DOESN'T come on, that doesn't mean that it's blown... it could, but doesn't necessarily discount that the circuit is broken somewhere as well.

[kris]

Check the wire going to your ebrake handle, underneath the ebrake boot.

[anthony90si]

the light does not turn on if i remove the oil cap and play with the plunger. and the light does not even work when i am about to start the car like the other warning lights do. seems more like a problem with the circuit?

[FrodoGT]

The light doesn't come on when the other lights do, like the oil light. It only ever comes on when the ebrake is pulled, or the brake fluid level is low. It has no diagnostic check procedure like the check engine light does.

[Christ]

If it didn't come on when you pushed the plunger down, it could mean two things:

You have yourself a blown bulb, you have a bad circuit, or both.

Next thing to do is remove the cluster and check the bulb. While you're in there, have a test light handy. Whether the bulb looks blown or not, use the test light, or a NEW bulb. Insert either, and lift the e-brake handle...

If it lights up, replace the bulb, put it back together, and you're good.

BTW, not saying much here, but did you leave the key on when you did the Master Cylinder safety switch check? (the plunger)

The reason you still need a test light is that even a bulb that "looks" good, may not be. NORMALLY, when a 194 bulb blows, it will have black soot-like substance in the glass housing, making it obvious. Sometimes, however, they don't actually blow like a normal light bulb. I've seen times where the lowest section of the filament that is beyond the winding has separated from itself at the glass base. Very near impossible to spot. I checked it under a microscope to see why the bulb wouldn't work when it didn't appear blown.

[anthony90si]

ah thanks guys. 2 points that i will look at. i used the bulb from the flasher of another cluster that i knew it worked, but i am gonna buy a new bulb to make sure.
thanks

[FrodoGT]

The bulbs are actually quite fragile. I managed to break two bulbs that I knew were good when I did my ac controls.. eventually I got so pissed with breaking the damn things that I just went with leds lol.

[anthony90si]

what!!! they make led replacements? is the lighting different or pretty much the same?

[FrodoGT]

alot more vivid, little brighter depending on the bulb. Big part is you can get diff colors.

www.Superbrightleds.com