So the last few weeks I've been experiencing an ever increasing issue with my handbrake indicator in the instrument cluster. Generally speaking, it functions as per normal, but appears to have a lose connection somewhere, which is causing it to turn on and off while driving.

Fairly consistently, it illuminates when you turn right, and off again when you turn left. Sometimes it can be triggered by hard straight line acceleration, sometimes not.

I'm not doubting it's just a lose plug or bolt somewhere, I just can't be bothered pulling the car to pieces working out where it wires in. If someone can shoot me some pointers on where to look, I'd appreciate it immensely!

Cheers :happy:

I believe the light can come on if the brake fluid is low. Check your brake fluid levels first.

Handbrake light comes of for several reasons

Low Fluid Level
Faulty fluid level indicator
ABS Modulator faulty (is like the engine check light for the brakes if that makes sense)
Switch or wiring to handbrake faulty

Now given it is when there is a movement of force of your vehicle I would start with fluid level and switch. If it comes on and stays on, when it is staying on bring up your handbrake to the point where the light would normally come on, does the light go slightly brighter as the warning light will generally be a little duller if that makes sense when it is in brake warning mode

Well that's something I didn't know or expect..

The light is as bright as it normally would be if the handbrake was up. It doesn't come on if you turn gently, only if you turn tightly or at speed, but once on it stays on until you turn left using similar motion. So if it's on when I turn the car off it'll be on when I turn the car back on, and vise versa. Having said all that, checking my brake fluid shows it's on minimum, so a top up is on the cards tomorrow which will hopefully solve the issue. I'll keep you guys posted.

Cheers.

Check your pads mate, may be low due to pad wear and not being topped up during services etc

Check your pads mate, may be low due to pad wear and not being topped up during services etc
Pads are less than 12 months old and would be lucky to have done 10,000km. I'd be surprised if there's anything up there. It's due for a service shortly, they always check pad wear then, I'll get them to make a note of it.

As a short term solution for top up, I've got a near full bottle of PBR Grade 3, Super D.O.T. 4,Brake Fluid in the shed. It's been sitting around for probably 4 or 5 years now though, honestly don't remember why I have it at all. Is that a suitable type for the Magna, and is age going to have had an effect on it? I'd rather go to the shops tomorrow for the right thing if there's any risk involved with type or age.

Cheers.

Edit: I know the lid specifies Super D.O.T. 4, I'm just not sure about the grading system.

I'm under the impression that brake fluid, even in the bottle does expire after a number of years. 4 to 5 years is a long time. No point to save what? $10?

Super DOT4 is fine, as the min requirement is DOT4, you just can't mix DOT4 and Super DOT 4.

Seriously, brake fluid is really cheap. I buy Castrol Super DOT4 fluid for a whole $11 at supercheapauto. You can get DOT4 fluid for $8.

The issue you have sounds like low brake fluid. It's happened to me after I took my car to Winton. As expected from plowing your brakes all day, I cooked the fluid but didn't realise it. Everytime I took a bigger turn the fluid would move and the handbrake light would turn on. I did a service about a week after the Winton funday and bleed the lines, filled the fluid reservoir and the intermittent handbrake light disappeared. Bit of research enlightened me that many cars indicate low brake fluid via the handbrake light. Go figure.

Brake fluid is hydroscopic - absorbs moisture out of the air, and should not be kept for an extended period of time on an opened container.

As MagnaP.I said, just go grab a fresh bottle of super dot 4.

Fair enough. I'm not worried about the expense, it was more the wastage buying some if there's already some in the shed. Guess I'm off to the shops tomorrow :)