KevyWevy

yeah, well ever since i lifted my 4Runner using the coils off a 96 land cruiser, when i shift (not always, mostly durring semi-hard shifting) my parking brake light flashes between gears. its a manual. i thought this would go away after i made my lbvs (or whatever its called) bracket, but its still there. any thoughts? do i need to still adjust the lvbs or whatever? thanks guys.
KEVIN

jimbo74

might need to adjust it, also i wonder if the sensor for the fluid level is going crazy when you shift hard, like too much shockload to it?

Mad Chemist

Either emergency brake cable, or fluid is low in the reservoir. I had the reservoir thing happen to me, topped off the fluid, and was good to go.

MTL_4runner

That is my vote.

ravencr

I've got the same problem. Mine does it when I'm flexed out, which I know why mine's doing it. I need to adjust my cable, but I'm not sure how to do it. Does anyone know how to adjust the emergency brake cable?

Chris

KevyWevy

well im pretty sure its not the brake fluid level because when i did my lift i put on steel braided brake lines and flushed the system so it should still be fine, but i'll be sure to check that.

and when you say the brake cable, are you talking about just adjusting the line? mine is kinda loose, so i'll check that out.

Mad Chemist

A slight tug on the e-brake cable will trip the sensor/dash light.

ravencr

So how do I adjust the e-brake cable? I want to loosen it!

Chris

rpeAMP

Exactly. You added additional feet of brake line causing spare fluid to have to be used in the lines. Before you go into figuring out how to fix/adjust an e-brake, just simply look under your hood and make sure the level is at "Max". Anything else and any bumps/jerks will cause the fluid to move around intermittantly triggering the sensor.

ravencr

So does anyone know how to loosen the e-brake?

Chris

Gadget

How in the world is the PARKING brake cable going to activate the brake warning light?

It can't.

There are only TWO switches that can activate the light. One is in the resivore to warn you of low fluid, the other is on the PARKING brake lever which activates the light when the lever is raised.

So unless somehow the cable is pulling the lever up to activate the switch you can focus your attension on the resivore.

If the low brake fluid warning light is activating when you get your truck twisted up at odd angles, I would not worry about it. I have seen it on mine. As long as you have the proper fluid level when the truck is sitting lever, then you are fine.

Gadget

KevyWevy

yeah, i have plenty of brake fluid, as i thought. i'll tighten the ebrake cable since it needs to be done anyways and see if that fixes it.

ravencr

If you tighten it, it's just going to make it worse, I think. I loosened mine today, and I flexed it some, but now much, and it didn't come on. I know why mine comes on is because when I made up my custom panhard mount it pushes some on the e-brake cable causing it to activate during flex, or at least I think.

Chris

Gadget

So, you are saying that when you flex, that pulls your cable and makes the parking brake lever GO UP?

I will bet you a box of donuts that is not what is happening. If more tension was put on the cable it would want to pull the lever DOWN. Think about this. When you pull the lever up it puts tension on the cable, right? So, when you pull the cable it will want to pull the lever DOWN. DOWN does not turn the light on. UP turns the light on.

Trust me here, you are focusing in the WRONG place. When the truck gets all twisted up the fluid in the resivor slushes around and casuse the light to come on. Just line the gas gauge changes due to fluid sloshing around.

Gadget

ravencr

So, I've been meaning to do another full brake flush. Maybe that will fix it.

Chris

Chapman88SR5

i dont have this problem
i dont have an e-brake

Mad Chemist

Where is the sensor for the e-brake? Is it actually in the lever, or is it based on brake sensors? An easy enough test is for someone to crawl underneath and pull on the cable and see if the dash light comes on...

ByThaBay

same problem here.. when I accelerate from 1st to 2nd the light flashes during the shift...

any proven solution(s)?

TACOMANATOR

Proven solutions:
1. Top off the resevior

2.Don't worry about it

3. Electrical tape over the light

KevyWevy

hmm mine pretty much just ended up going away? don't remember that was a few years ago.