okay, im having this e-Brake light problem. this started happening after i got my AVN-6610 installed, im wondering if that will have anything to do with this problem, first of all, its totaly random. it never happens in the same place, at the same pressure of braking etc... so totaly random. now im tring to figure out what the problem would be but all i can think of is the headunit install,

but does any one else have this problem.???

 

Are you sure you didn't accidentally bump the ebrake pedal? All it takes is a slight tap and the light will come on. Or possibly the pedal is right on the verge of contacting the light switch...and bumps on the road is causing the light to come on intermittently. Try to step on the pedal and then release it to see if that fixes your problem. Many people overlook something this simple.

If the problem presists then it's possible that your installer that did the headunit install didn't properly shield all the wires. The wire to the parking brake could be grounding out every time you hit a bump.

 

I would bank on the latter of the 2 things, but it never hurts to try the first one

 

^^ I bet money that it's neither of those ^^ ... When I first bought the car I had the same issue and I also thought it was the e-brake but I was wrong ... I had my mechanic check it out and it turns out I neded to replace the brakes (rotors+pads) ... He told me the car has a sensor that will trigger the little red brake light on the instrument cluster when the brakes need replacing, not only when the e-brake is depressed ... Only cost me $300 total and it's been 4 months since and no light, plus the car brakes much nicer now, Good Luck

 

TruPlaya26, I hope you didn't get played (pun intended lol )

BUT...there is no brake pad sensor on our cars. The e-brake sensor switch may get a little too sensitive over time. I work on these cars all the time and I have yet to see one with a brake pad sensor. Ask anyone else here and they will confirm that. I seriously hope your mechanic didn't just fix the sensor switch on the ebrake and charge you $300 for it!

 

Jeff, so how can i adjust the sensor switch??? is it something i can do or do i need to take it in?

 

Doubt it man lol, he's a family friend ... All i know is that when i bought the car the brake light would go on every once in a while randomly while i was braking, so i took it to him and asked him what the problem might be ... He told me the rotors were slightly warped, and the pads were worn, he said that more than likely the sensor detected a problem with the brakes ... He replaced them both with OEM Lexus Parts and only charged me for the parts, he never charges me for labor ... Ever since he replaced the rotors+pads I have not seen the brake light come on unless i use the e-brake ... I trust his opinion because he and his father own a shop and he's been in the business over 15 years, his father has been in it over 30 years and they only work on Japanese/Chinese/Asian cars ...

 

truplaya,thx
ill take off the wheels and take a look at the rotors and pads, and see what needs to get done...

 

In a sense your freind was sort of correct. If your brakes are worn sufficiently and your brake fluid level has dropped low in the master cylinder reservoir because the caliper pistons are almost fully extend, this will cause the brake light to come on due to the low fluid level. In a round about way you can call this a built in sensing mechanism for worn brakes. In actuallity it is just the low brake fluid sensor. This is not a unique Lexus design. Most cars have had this feature for decades.

 

Nice, thanks for clearing that one up I knew I wasn't crazy

 

Good luck man, hope you can figure it out, you should check into what newgsman suggested ...

 

okay, i got back from my cousins shop, he is a mechanic and he just put in more brake fluid, just like what Truplaya and newgsman had mentioned.
my brakes are down to less than .25 inches. so what he was telling me, is that since the piston has to be pushed in more to compensate for the lost pad, the lines are now filled with more fluid to push the piston in more which is causing the reservoir to have less fluid causing the light to come on meaning that it is low on fluid. I guess it happens when i brake because when the car is angled while braking it is setting of the float sensor causing the BUILT IN LOW PAD sensor to come on, hahaha
so all in all, its time to get some SUPRA TT calipers, kekekeke

 

I had this problem too, the brake light would ocme on randomly. After I got my brakes checked though, the light never came back on.