Parking Brake Light
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Freshman User
Joined: Apr 2004
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Parking Brake Light
I have a 69 Ford F250 and there is a light on the left side of the dash that is always lit up that reads "BRAKE". I am assuming that it would most likely be a light for the parking brake but there was no switch on the parking brake assembly. Does anyone know what this light is supposed to be for??
Senior User
Joined: Aug 1999
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From: Bel Air USA
Most people seem to think that the light on the dash that labeled BRAKE is PARKING BRAKE but in fact it is the parking brake/brake fault light. There is a switch on the hydraulic brake line that will also cause the BRAKE light to come on. Some vehicles also monitor the brake fluid level.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 57,025
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From: Virginia
Yes, follow the brake lines down from the master cylinder, and see if you have a block they run into with a wire coming out of it. The block is the proportioning valve. Take the wire off, and if the light goes out, then that is the problem.
What causes it, is either now or at one time you had a loss of braking pressure either on the front brakes or the rear. When this happens, it shifts a little plunger in the proportioning valve, and that grounds the wire which makes the light come on. Most of the time if you fix your problem, the plunger will eventually shift back to the middle, but I guess it can get stuck sometimes too. There is a procedure in the manual for re-centering the plunger.
What causes it, is either now or at one time you had a loss of braking pressure either on the front brakes or the rear. When this happens, it shifts a little plunger in the proportioning valve, and that grounds the wire which makes the light come on. Most of the time if you fix your problem, the plunger will eventually shift back to the middle, but I guess it can get stuck sometimes too. There is a procedure in the manual for re-centering the plunger.
