Intermittent Brake Warning Light 99 Tacoma

[PurpleT]

The vehicle is my wife's 99 Toyota Tacoma 2.7L, AT, 4X4 Extended Cab, 76K.

The brake light is intermittently flashing on for 2-3 seconds. I have checked the brakes and all are in good working order and adjusted (front pads will need to be replaced within the next 5000 miles or so as they are getting thin), master cylinder if full of fluid, and the there is no fading when braking. Happens most often when turning right however it will also happen on occasion when driving straight down the road or turning left. All of our driving is mostly in town city driving on paved roads. The brake pedal is not depressed when this occurs and all of the wiring appears to be in good working order as well.

Recent suspension upgrade back in May took the truck back to about two inches above stock height however the brake light did not start flashing off and on until about 4 weeks ago.

 

[01rangerxl]

Check for stretched, frayed or otherwise damaged ABS sensor wiring and check the sensor itself, especially if the truck has been in mud. Maybe mud got in the tone rings on the brake rotors as well.

 

[eljefino]

check the ebrake warning switch... disconnect it for a day.

 

[PurpleT]

The truck does not have ABS and the rear drums have been off the truck two weeks ago and are clean.

The ebrake switch is something I had not thought of but would be a possibility. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[artificialist]

Try plugging and unplugging the brake fluid level sensor if your truck has one. Sometimes the sensor gets stuck, or develops an intermittent short circuit, causing the warning light to illuminate when all is normal.

 

[PurpleT]

I went out and unplugged the sensor. I will post an update tomorrow. Thanks for all the suggestions and guidance.

 

[PurpleT]

The wife reports the brake light did not come on during her driving today. It would seem the unplugging and plugging back in of the sensor in the master cylinder might have done the trick. We will see what tomorrow brings. Thanks again for the advice.

 

[PurpleT]

Continued success for the second day in a row. Hopefully the issue is resolved.