1991 Mercury Capri Hand Brake Light Stays On

ROYSTER0922

MEMBER
1991 MERCURY CAPRI

Brakes problem
1991 Mercury Capri 4 cyl Two Wheel Drive Manual 54K miles

Jump started the car after sitting in the garage for months. Drove around for awhile and then just let it sit to idle with appllied handbrake.
After disengaging handbrake, the dashboard brake light stays on.
How can I reset the handbrake light?

5 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Hi Royster0922,

Thank you for the donation.

Have you checked the brake fluid level in the master cylinder reservoir?

If the level is low, the handbrake indicator light would stay on as they uses the same indicator.

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Monday, August 16th, 2010 AT 11:53 AM

ROYSTER0922

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4 POSTS

Yes, the brake fluid reservoir level is fine.

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Monday, August 16th, 2010 AT 2:38 PM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

There are no resetting available as problem seems to be a fault with the circuit being grounded somewhere.

At the reservoir, unplug the fluid leve indicator and test if the light goes away.

Is your vehicle equipped with ABS?

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Monday, August 16th, 2010 AT 3:56 PM

ROYSTER0922

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4 POSTS

I unplugged wire connector to resevoir and noticed that the brake light turned off.
Brake light indicator came on like normal when handbrake was engaged and then turned off when handbrake was disengaged.
Brake light came back on when wire connector plugged back in.
The car is a 1991 and I believe there is no ABS.

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Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 AT 9:53 AM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

If the fluid level is correct, then the fluid level indicator, at end of the wire that you unplug is bad or stuck.

Remove the master cylinder reservoir cover and check if anything is restricting the movement of the fluid level indicator.