Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2002 10:05:23 +0100
Reply-To: Robert Steven Fish <fish@SALZBURG.CO.AT>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Robert Steven Fish <fish@SALZBURG.CO.AT>
Subject: Re: parking light?
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The dashboard warning light for the parking brake has decided to come on and
stay on
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You need to have your brake system checked... starting with the brake fluid
level in the resevoir behind the speedometer in the dash cluster.
You should do this NOW, before you drive down any hills or worse yet,
mountains (better yet, before you drive at all).
What VW has done, in order to save like 18 cents in production costs, is to
combine the function of the "your parking brake is set" warning light, with
the "Your brake fluid is getting dangerously low" warning light.
I went through this crazy situation several years ago where I would wiggle
the parking prake handle and the red warning light would flicker..... hmm I
thought, this must be a loose contact in there... so I'll just ignore it.
Turns out that my wiggling the car was making the fluid wiggle a bit, and
triggering the warning light for low brake fluid. Eventually, when the
light continued to glow red, I also ignored it... "knowing" that it was just
the hand brake.
Luckily, at a yearly inspection, the guy at the shop saw this, and saw that
there was almost no brake fluid left, and diagnosed the problem to a leaky
brake componant (cannot remember now which part it was). I was not yet a
list member, and was completely at his mercy... but he showed me exactly
where the leak was, and repaired it. The leak was a slow one, thank god, so
it didn't just drain the fluid completely all at once (which would of course
suck).
The red light has not come on since (except of course when the hand brake is
pulled).
I hope that this helps. I have met now several folks since my experience
with the low brake fluid indicator, who are driving older golfs or other
VWs, who also have this flickering light syndrome, and none of them know
that this is also "brake system maintanaince alert"!!! Poor design by VW
in my opinion... but hey, the cars cost a buck less to buy then too, right?
Anyway, good luck, and please post to the list when you find out what the
real problem was.
See ya,
RSF
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Robert S. Fish
Salzburg, Austria
1987 Wolfsburg Vanagon 2.1 GL Weekender
1987 Golf Cabriolet
1991 Golf