today my brake light came on.when it came on istopped and turned the car offto reset and it stayed off for about 1/2 hour but it came on again.after resetting it stays off about another 1/2 hour and that's the way it went all today.there was no loss in braking power and i see no difference in the way the brakes are working. i have checked everything i could think of with no luck. any clue as to what is going on?


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you dont specify car model ...

we are in the Allante section, so Allante? if so what year?

Should your brake light come on there are several possibilities, one of them being your e-brake not fully released,
the other being a failing component and a subsequent crash.

except for the e-brake not being fully released, the only advice is PARK THE CAR.

when that light is on, you get maybe 3 or 4 more pushes of the brake pedal and after
that your only recourse is to look for a fence or bushes to bring it to a halt.

go to allantesource.com and do the diagnostics posted there.

 

From symptoms, if you are also getting ANTI-LOCK DISABLED and TRACTION CONTROL DISABLED error messages when the red brake light comes on, the most common cause of what you have described is Code 64 (if you havea 1990 through 1992 Allante') being set by the EBTCM. This is one of the plausibility fault codes, which means steps are happening out of sequence inside the master cylinder when the brakes are applied. To confirm this is the case, run the ABS diagnostics. Procedure for doing this can be found on our website at http://www.allantesource.comunder the "ABS Information" heading on the left menu. If you are getting a Code 64, this can be caused by either nearly worn out brake pads, a weak ac***ulator,or worn (internally bypassing) internal master cylinder seals. Two people have told me they were able to correct this problem by changing the brake fluid. I have never been that fortunate. It is not a good idea to drive with the red brake light on. Pull over and shut off the car then restart it to get the light out. If the light ever does not go out on restart, do not drive the car. Most likely there is not adequate internal pressure to operate the braking system. If the ABS pump fails,the red light will come on, there is no hydraulic assist other than the few pedal applications stored inside the ac***ulator,and stopping ability is very greatly reduced.You cannot assume braking will remain and continue to be OK if the red light is on. The red brake warning light is there for a very important reason, to get you off the roadif there is a problem. Not all problems with this system result in significant loss of stopping ability.If you get used to driving with the red brake light on, you may not heed orget the warning if/when something changes that does reduce your stopping ability.

 

it's funny because i get the ANTI-LOCK DISABLED,TRACTION CONTROL DISABLED and that lasts from 3-5 seconds then it will display ANTI-LOCK OK, TRACTION CONTROL OK,SYSTEMS OK but the red light will stay on.yesterday i drove all day and there was never any time that there was any reduced braking. when the light comes on i pull over and restart the car and the red brake light goes out.it does come back on sometimes and sometimes it doesn't but it always comes back on when i put on the brakes.i think i heard the brake pad squeeking the other day so i will also check my pads.

 

You really need to check for codes. The condition maybe in early stages, and brakes may let you down when you need them.

 

On the front side of the e brake pedal (firewall side) if you run your hand up from the pedal there is a lever that you can push with your thumb while pulling the brake pedal towards you (toward the seat) There have been a few times while getting in or out of the car my foot (without knowing it) slightly pushed in the e brake enough to cause the light to come on but not affect driving or braking , and it was in only a little so putting the car in gear would not release it the rest of the way.
If that is not the problem then heed the advice of the posts above.

G.A.R.Y.

 

jono...,

I know you are new to Allante, but please heed the cautions, and
if it is not the ebrake as some members above have eluded to,
PARK the car. Check the ebrake, if that is it, the fix is simple and
not a big problem. BUT, if not, you got a dangerous situation.

That RED BRAKE Light is the Allante's way of telling you to PARK it
until you find out why it comes on. The Allante computers are as smart as
it gets. They rarely cry wolf.

My archives are full of owners that crashed cuz ignored that RED Brake Light.
We have already got more than plenty of parts cars as it is.

You will NOT feel a degrade in braking until there is none.
The Allante ABS is like an Alkaline battery, full power until the very end.


How many TECH's have issued the warning?





* * * * PARK IT * * * *

 

i can do that since it's not my regular driver.i quess i'll just pull out the 3.5 rl until i can run some diagnostics andget it to my mechanic.

 

well seeing the beast chained up got the best of me today. i took her out for a 15 min tour.when i cranked her up the brake light luminated for a couple of seconds and went out.during my tour in stop and go traffic i didn't see the brake light not once.it was like the problem dissappeared. i am still going to have the pads looked at and a brake systemflushed because i know that problems just don't dissappear.

 

Actually what you just posted, your brakes are acting normally. When you turn the key the pump will operate normally to build up pressure in the ac***ulator and you should have a brake warning light and the anti-loc inop message on the dic. Should both dissappear after the pressure is built up and not appear again until car has been shutdown for several minutes. If you don't like seeing it, try turning key on and waiting several seconds until all lights are off and then turning key completely off and then starting the car. You will have no warning lights at this time if system is normal as I believe. The first and only time you had them driving could have been an Allante "glitch!|" Just remember if the red master brake warning light illuminates you will have maybe "four" brake applications. That's the number I had!
On one of your posts you stated that the only time you got the red light was when applying the brakes which means your electric pump had to run to supply brake pressure. "Bad ac***ulator" but now seems to be doing it's job!