Brake Fault warning on dash...

[bigsid]

Recently overhauled brakes, new seals, pistons, cleaned, braided lines, new rear torsion been rigid lines etc. Changed brake fluid to RBF600 and pressure bled system. Wheels went on car yesterday for first time since I'd done it. Took it round the block, brakes felt OK, but a bit spongy and quite a bit of pedal travel, but no warnings or anything.

Tonight, re-bled the brakes, got a few bubbles out, nothing major, and now the car is displaying "BRAKE FAULT" on the dash every time I turn on the ignition. Can't work it out. It doesn't seem to be anything obvious. It wasn't giving the warning before this latest bleed, and now it is. Wouldn't have thought bleeding the brakes could cause it to think there's a fault. Any ideas?

 

[bigsid]

The message actually reads "BRAKING FAULT", not Brake Fault. I took the car out for a spin around the block. The brakes feel fine, much better than before since bleeding them a second time. ABS seems to kick in under hard braking, but I noticed something else. The double beep and the BRAKING FAULT message are intermittent. As soon as the ignition is on it happens, then as you drive it'll randomly beep and the message will come up again, then sometimes it will clear for a moment and then after a few seconds it happens, seems pretty random. The other lights on the dash are the STOP and Handbrake/ brake circuit incident warning light. The ABS light is not illuminted. To be precise, it's this warning light that is on...

 

[Frank Perry]

There's a brake pedal switch right under the plastic trim under your steering wheel (if you follow the brake pedal bar you'll find it, need to get right in the footwell mind). Car fully off - push the brake pedal in fully, then pull the switch pin out - sorta towards the pedal itself (not too much force, but enough so you feel it click a few times) whilst you have the brake pedal pushed in. You need to pull it out fully and then slowly let the brake pedal go back.

You should feel the pedal push against the brake pedal switch pin and push it back in (it'll click a few times as it goes back in). I had a similar fault a few weeks ago but I knew my switch was going because my lights would only illuminate if I put the brake pedal down roughly 20% or more. Quick trip to Euros for a new switch at £12 and the above instructions and it's been like new since.

If this doesn't resolve your issue - how did you bleed your system? Pressure or suction or another method?

I bled my system a few times using a pressure system that uses 20PSI of pressure from a tyre and found this was a brilliant one-man method to bleeding. Also,when bleeding I started from the brake furthest away from the driversseat and worked my way around getting closer and closer. Remember you have 2 bleed nipples that require bleeding on the fronts, too.

Sorry if all of this is literally useless information - not sorry if not!! Let me know how you get on mate

 

[bigsid]

Thanks for the info @Frank Perry , I'll have a look at the switch under the pedal tomorrow. I bled the brake system using a Sealey pressure bleeder at 20PSI and like you say went from furthest caliper from master cylinder to closest. I also made sure to bleed both sides of the front Brembos, although I'm not sure it's necessary or if it is, what order you should do them in, inner or outer first. I am wondering if I've overfilled the reservoir and if that could cause the issue. Again, I'll double check this tomorrow and draw some fluid out if it's too full. I've got an Android tablet with Torque on it, but the battery was flat. Once it's charged I'll check the OBD2 fault codes and see if anything useful shows up.

 

[Frank Perry]

Also worth noting - have you got a OBD 2 reader? I had a cheapy bluetooth one from ebay for a few quid (<£5) and used the Torque app to read fault codes which give a little more info. Recently I have a fastchip RSTuner (www.fastchip.nl) and the RSTuner software on a laptop which gives full information on fault codes etc.

I would recommend the fastchip RSTuner as a nessessary bit of kit just for the fault finding. I think for just under £200, you can get the RSTuner OBD 2 reader, ECU unlock code AND a stage 1 remap from www.fastchip.nl. The guy who runs it is called Henk - he is probably one of the most knowledgeable guysI have had the pleasure of dealing with and the stage 1 maphas transformed my car.

 

[Frank Perry]

Overfilling may have caused it (I'm no expert!) and RE: The order of bleeding, I actually am not sure which nipple should be bled first but by logic, I'd say the inner nipple first and the outer after.

Logically I imagine the inner nipple is the first exit from the brake line and the outer would be the furthest point of the brake line. I could be wrong but this is the order I completed the bleeding in and it seemed to work a treat.

Just seen you posted you have a reader -check that before you do anything tomorrow. When I read fault code when this happened to me, it indicated"brake switch"so I knew instantly it was nothing serious.

 

[bigsid]

Yeah that was my thought process too. I did inner bleed screw first, followed by outer on the fronts.

 

[turkie172]

The warning light comes on for a few reasons but if there is a light there is a code the 172 Clio had a low level sensor but I am not sure about the 197 etc. Two brake switches the handbrake and pedal switch either not mounted correctly, short in the wires or going faulty, the light can come on with "Accelerator pedal position signal" fault. Nearly everything can be checked visually and the switches with a multimeter or battery and bulb. With pressure bleeders you can over fill the reservoir by not removing the pressure before removing the screwcap over filled without enough air gap pressure problems can arrise.

 

[bigsid]

Sorted, rechecked fluid level and it was down a bit. Topped up and now it’s fine. BTW there were no codes stored that I could find with Torque Lite.


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