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  #1  
Old 02-18-2007, 04:58 PM
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Emergency Brake Light in Cold Weather

Every time the outside temperature dips below freezing, (which has been most of the time over the recent weeks) the red emergency break light on my dash comes on as soon as the car is started without engaging the break! It remains illuminated (as long as the car is on) until the outside temperature goes back above freezing. Does anyone else have this strange issue? Is there anything "real" to it? What I mean is this: does the break somehow become partially engaged or does ice build up on the cable/mechanism, thereby triggering the light?
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Old 02-18-2007, 05:03 PM
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Open your hood....dust off the brake fluid resevoir cap....open the cap and then close it again. The light should go off. Check your fluid level also to see if its fine. This happened to my SVX also when it was cold and I didn't even have the parking brake on. I did was i suggested above and everything was fine. It seems like a common issue.
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  #3  
Old 02-18-2007, 05:07 PM
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It doesn't take much drop in the level of the brake fluid to make the light come on. Sometimes all it takes is for it to warm up from the warmth of the engine heat for it to go off. Open the resevoir cap and make sure the diaphram is up inside the cap. If the fluid is down, add some and it should be fine again. Good luck.
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Old 02-19-2007, 08:24 PM
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O.K. I'll try that. It got above freezing today, so this afternoon the light was off. Thanks for the tip!
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  #5  
Old 02-19-2007, 09:54 PM
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I was just starting to have this problem with mine before the front diff died. I never got around to looking at it, But I know the fluid was full and so on as I did check the fluid and cap and so on. Let us all know what you find out.
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Old 02-20-2007, 12:56 PM
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Maybe this is the problem...

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/show...00&postcount=6
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Old 02-21-2007, 01:01 PM
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Thanks! That first picture is what mine looks like. That's obviously what ensteel meant, but it took the 2 photos of the right and wrong positions for me to understand. My fluid level is only a millimeter or 2 below the "full" line, which means it's way far above the "low" line. I haven't had the light come back on anyhow since the temperature has remained above freezing. I'll push the diaphram thing back to its collapsed position, and wait to see what happens when the weather gets colder again.
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Old 02-24-2007, 09:47 AM
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The light has not come back on again, even though I've driven the car when the tempurature is below freezing.
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  #9  
Old 02-28-2007, 08:25 AM
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My brake light came on yesterday so I swung by my friends shop (he has a Euro car repair business). I thought I'd show off my new found knowledge from the forum. As I put the vice grips on the hood strut to keep it open he, without saying anything, unscrewed the brake fluid reservoir cap and popped the diaphram back into the cap. Other cars must have the same set up.
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