Hello, First day on this page, and first problem.

I have a problem with my 98' Camry.
The Park/Emer brake light stays on. (Handbrake light)
I'v checked the brake fluid resevoir and the handbrake switch.


When it's cold outside, it sometimes dosent come on before i put it in drive,
and sometimes it dosent come on befor i driven 100meters. ??

And brake pads and brake plate is OK.

Need a permanent repair, not a quick fix.
Live in Norway, so the car have to go to a shop and get checked/tested out, if it's not OK, need to fiks det problem and then a new check/test.

 

The light is wired directly to the fluid level and E-brake switch. If either switch is closed light will come on.

Unplugging fluid switch will eliminate it completely from wiring circuit. If light still on the investigate E-brake switch. Could have debris in E-brake switch.

Wire colors for both switch are Red/White goes to light and for fluid switch White/Black ground.

The glove box is bolted down with two bolts on the floor inside box and two forward of box outside it. To access the front bolts need to remove the center console upper panel.

Obtain a thin bladed object such a thin narrow putty knife and apply tape to metal section to prevent damage to trim when using. Slide blade between edges of center console upper panel and center console box it mounts to below, on the front and rear areas of the side of the panel area. This will push back 4 plastic clips molded into the the upper panel. Once panel is free can access bolts holding down front of glove box.

Find E-brake switch and unplug wiring. If like goes off and stays off E-brake switch has a problem. Check for debris, etc.

If both E-brake and brake fluid switches are unplugged and light stays on there is a wiring problem.

 

For info,

Checked wire between e-brake and junction box, think it was 3 or 4 ohm.

Between fluid sensor and junction box it was 1.9 mega ohm, think thats the wire.

Will check the voltage between fluid sensor and battery (minus) tomorrow.

 

Not sure I understand what you are stating.

For the light to turn on, the wiring between the negative terminal of bulb and wire connected to any switch needs to 0 ohms or very close it.

A higher ohm reading will result in a dimmer bulb or no light.

Check ohms between junction box wire and unplugged wire end from any switch or sensor. Should be 0 ohms or close it.

Can remove dash console and unplug wire harness plug, check ohms between the wire color terminal provided in previous post and end of wire connected to any switch. Should be 0 ohms or close to it.

To check fluid switch use ohm meter to check ohms between two wires of switch. Switch is on/off thus ohms should be infinity or 0 ohms. Same for E-brake switch but one terminal of switch is grounded.

 

When i check the wire between Junction box and E-brake Connector (Not the switch) it's 3-4 ohms (due to the resistants in the wire)

When i check the wire between Junction box and Fluid sensor (Connector) i get 1.9 mega Ohms, the same if i check between Junction box and ground (This is with fluid sensor disconnected)

That means that the wire between junction box and fluid sensor is shorted to ground some where.

To test this theory i can check the voltage between wire (Red/white) at the fluid sensor connector and the minus pole on the battery.

Or replace the wire between wire (Red/white) from the fluid sensor connector to the junction box.

Better explanation?

 

Suggest the following:

Leave both wires at junction box disconnected and determine if light starts to act as before in coming on and off when driving, etc. If light no longer comes on and off continue below:

Reconnect E-brake wire to junction box and again determine if light starts to act as before when driving, etc. if not this wire appears OK.

If OK, disconnect E-brake wire and reconnect fluid switch wire and determine what now happens when driving. If light now acts as before in being on/off when driving the fluid switch wire has a problem.

If fluid switch wire has a problem disconnect both ends, use an ohm to check resistance between one end of the wire and chassis ground, then check resistance between other end of the wire and chassis ground. The readings should be infinity as there should be no short or leakage between this wire and chassis ground. If readings not infinity, there is a problem.

A 1.9M ohm reading between ends of the fluid sensor wire means the wire has increased resistance. Why? Perhaps the wire is damaged. If this wire is was linked to light issues as explained above perhaps it is shorting at times to the chassis or other wiring. My guess is at the firewall through point but?

If so, replacing the wire should fix problems and given the close location of junction box and brake fluid sensor would seem to be a quicker fix then attempting to find a problem in this wire.

 

Will check that this weekend, i measured the voltage between red / white wire at fluid connector to minus on battery it was only 0,09v, then the light was on,
Is that normal, i thougt 12-14v was normal ?

 

One connection to the light is wired to the cars 12V power system and is powered when the ign key is turned on. The other connection runs to ground via the fluid and E-brake switch.

Don't know if the 0.09v is normal but it doesn't matter.

There will only be 12v at the 12v side of light, the resistance of the light will drop the voltage to something else.

 

Hello...

Now i got some help from my father, and we checked all the wiring and every wire is OK.

The only thing that's left is the instrument panel...

Found 2 bulb's that not working, not sure which... Tryed to remove the small bulb's from the black bulb holder, is that possible ?

Any clue's what can be wrong??


________________________
K.Hermansen

 

You may have to remove the dash console to access the back. Then find the red/white wire end terminal inside the harness plug that connects to the dash and remove it.

The terminals slide in from the rear of plug and are retained by a built-in clip on the terminal. Inserting a small dia pin from the front of the plug on the side of the terminal having the clip will force the clip up and allow the wire to be pulled out. Try an internet search on removing terminals from plug for directions.

One the terminal is removed there should be no other external wiring to the light. Reconnect plug then the check for light still on. If now off, there is still a wiring problem, if still on then a console problem.

As to bulb, YouTube has video's on changing bulbs.

If a console issue don't know if the console can be taken apart. The light is on a large circuit board, you can view the circuit. The ground circuit ties into to a couple diodes on the bulb check relay. Suppose it possible this relay is bad and now acting as a ground.