Re: [DML] Brake Light...

["Walter" <Whalt@xxxx>]

Nate,

There are two things that can make the brake light come on. The first and
most obvious is having the parking brake on. The second reason is as a low
fluid warning indicator. There are other reasons why brake warning lights
can come on with other cars, but the Delorean only uses the two mentioned
above. The following is a quote from the Delorean Worship Manual, err, I
mean Workshop manual L:09:01, "Testing the operation of the low fluid
warning device: Press the small rubber diaphragm located on the reservoir
cap, if the brake warning light (on the instrument cluster) illuminates, the
operation of the fluid warning is correct." So perhaps you may be low on
fluid after all.

I doubt that the presence of rain has anything to do with your brake light
coming on. If your car runs bad in wet weather, that is a symptom of a
problem in the ignition system. Perhaps it is from a spark coil sensitive
to humidity, bad insulation on a plug wire, or water getting inside of a
spark plug boot. Another possibility is corrosion in the electrical
connection at the frequency valve. You might try checking that your spark
plug wires are properly seated on the plugs. My D came with two plugs
disconnected! This wasn't visible because the boot hid the problem. The
car still ran pretty good because there was enough spark to jump the gap.

If your brakes go soft after keeping your foot on the pedal for a while,
this is a symptom of a leaky seal in your master cylinder or fluid leaking
out of the system at a bad caliper. If it is the later, then you will soon
run out of brake fluid and you will really have a problem. If a caliper is
leaking, there usually isn't enough fluid involved to make a puddle on the
floor.

It sounds like you need to have your brakes done again. Perhaps the
previous owner was misleading you about the recent brake job or maybe the
wrong type of brake fluid was used which rotted out the seals. Maybe they
did a brake job but decided that the master cylinder or some of the calipers
didn't need rebuilding but now it does.

Food for thought...
Walt Tampa, FL

-----Original Message-----
From: Nathan E. Green <gzen21@xxxx>
> Could someone explain under what conditions the
>red "brake" light on the dash would come on?
>So, does this indicate a brake problem, like leakege or a master cyl going
>bad?
> I have noticed the brake pedal getting a bit soft, esp if you sit on it
>for a LONG time(like at a traffic light). The previous owner says the
brakes
>were done last January