Warning light when braking

[mbr1.2i]

right the last week i have had the warning light (!) come on and iv just relised it was when i was braking for longer then 5 seconds, or if i have to put more presure then normal for a few seconds, ne ideas y this might be happning ?

[General Baxter]

low brake fluid?

[rysmee]

for long periods of braking the pedal will 'go long', ie, you will have to press down more to get the same amount of breaking force as the pads/discs and fluid all heat up.
while u want the brakes hot to work well, too hot means they are crap, and as u have found out, will suck up more brake fluid from the reservoir causing the light to come on so u must be pretty low on fluid.
i could have just said that in one sentence but i like to explain!

[General Baxter]

:lol: :lol: :lol:
i was not explain i was asking a question
:lol: :lol: :lol:

[rysmee]

no i didnt mean that as a dig to u, i just meant i go on a bit sometimes!

[CP]

It can also sometimes be dodgy connection on handbrake switch or just dodgy connections on the sender on the brake fluid reservoir cap.

[Stuart]

if you fluid is low, then you may wish to investigae as to why its low. normally pad wear will brgin the level down as the piston is moved out, and returned to normal with new pads.

but you may have a leaking cylinder or piston somewhere. unless its jsut simply low :)

[mbr1.2i]

i looked at the fluid but it was about 3/4 full ill cheack again tomorow just incase

[Aragorn]

thats the problem then

when u brake the fluid level falls

the harder u press the pedal the more the level drops as the fluid is being pumped out to the pistons on the calipers

mine does this too and its about 2/3 full - infact it did it today on the motorway wen some fud in a mondeo pulled out infront of me while i was sitting at 95 :roll:

i recon that the biggest culprit is badly adjusted rear drums - there is a bigger than normal gap between the drum and the shoe so the master cyl needs to pump more fluid down that line to properly pressurise the rear - resulting in a large drop in fluid level when u brake hard