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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?
Comments: To: Dan Scott <vancampers@ATT.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

----snipped ----- The dashboard warning light for the parking brake has decided to come on and stay on ---- end snipped ------

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

IMPORTANT!!! In order to reply to me, you must have the word "FISH" somewhere in the subject line of the email. Otherwise it goes directly in the trash.

<º)))>{ <º)))>{ <º)))>{ <º)))>{ <º)))>{ <º)))>{

Robert S. Fish Salzburg, Austria 1987 Wolfsburg Vanagon 2.1 GL Weekender 1987 Golf Cabriolet 1991 Golf


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