Emergency brake light won't turn off

Hey guys I have a question, my dash light is on and won’t go off. Fluid is good also

 

Check the switch at the parking brake lever

 

Talking about the little button on the handle ?

 

No, the switch that lets the electronics know the lever is full down. My son keeps having to press the release button at the end of the lever a second time because he leaves it one click shy of the bottom. That does not activate the switch and clear the light.

 

Sorry but I’ve had this Tacoma about two weeks and I have no clue what switch your meaning lol.. my bad guys

 

Does the light go out if you push the handle in as far as it will go ??

If so there is the spring on the intermediate lever on the parking brake in front of the fuel tank that needs lubed now and then.

this spring helps push the handle forward.

Good luck.

 

It’s your parking break. It either not fully released (the lever) or the switch it presses could be bad or am Indicator of a failing parking brake. If I remember when I get home I’ll take a few pictures.

 

If I work on my brakes and the fluid gets low, the float in the reservoir will stick down, illuminating your red brake light even after filling it. I can tap the brake reservoir with my hand and it will come up, and the light will go out.

It also could be the parking brake switch, like the other guys said. Make sure it has retracted all the way.

 

Yes, i forgot about this too. Mine would flicker as i drove and it was literally only less like 2 tablespoons of fluid!!

 

See @Bivouac 's questions - this is **likely** to be a simple mechanical issue. Start at the top, with the parking brake released, try pushing in the handle. Does the light go out?

Does your ebrake work as expected when you pull/set it? If so, don't focus on the ebrake adjustment or any of the hardware at the rear wheels.

I just went through this a month or two ago, replaced both the front and rear e-brake cables and as it turned out in my case the front cable was stretched.

Begin as he says, under the truck right about where the driver's seat is is a lever (intermediate lever) where the front cable and rear cable join. Ensure all those parts are fairly loose and can move easily, there is a spring that pulls it back into position when you release the brake. In my case the problem was when all that was functioning normally, the front cable was stretched just enough to not allow the cable to retract all the way against the parking brake switch. More details in this thread.

 

I took some pictures of the switch for you. You can pull the e-brake and then press the button with your finger and see if the light goes out. Make sure the brake fluid reservoir is full too.

 

Another possible cause could be the front cable is starting to break the frayed cable is keeping it from retracting completely .

Do the simple things first!

Good luck.

 

Mine just needed brake fluid.

 

I had this issue for a really long time. I replaced the front cable and back cable as they are 2 separate pieces. Used rock auto twice and it broke pretty quick. Went oem and it’s been great ever since. Getting under the drivers side and adjusting tension on the pull cable and rear cable fixed my issue of that light always coming back on.

 

Mine did this when the bell cranks started to and eventually seized up and the cable stretched under the driver seat area. Check your bell cranks on the axle and lube them if need be. I used my parking brake multiple times daily and the damn thing still rusted and seized up on me.

 

I just ran into this as well. I just adjusted the tension on the rear cables and it helped a bit but my parking brake lever still has a half inch of play in it when fully released. Is it normal to be able to push the brake lever forward by half an inch before it bottoms out? I don’t see any way to adjust that front cable to I’m going to assume that its stretched out. This is more an annoyance for me as the parking brake works, but I don’t like to look at warning lights on my dash if I don’t want to.
-Karl

 

There's an adjustment at the intermediate lever. By adjusting that nut so that the lever is pulled back further you may be able to get the handle to go all the way back. Also possible the front cable is just stretched. Every Toyota truck I've owned has required me to either replace that cable or make an adjustment at the lever.

 

I found your thread yesterday, but my setup looks different. My Taco is a '97 MT - RWD so I wonder if they got different parts.