UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi all,

I had a longish journey this week due to business. I used to have the handbrake light coming on (not fully but dimmed) before when it rained heavily. During this journey, i had rain for almost the whole of the journey (250 miles) and had the light on after the first 30 miles or so. I was expecting it to go off the next day, but it's still on today.

I always assumed that it was a short circuit that caused it as it was off once the car was dry. What worries me is the possibility of brake pads fading because although the weather is still not too dry, the car has been standing all night and i was expecting the light to go off this morning, which didn't happen.

I've done about 13000 miles since i bought it in september 04 and didn't get the pads changed yet.

How long are they supposed to last? I'm not sure when they were changed last time...


On a general note though, the little polo did all well during the journey to and from the client site. (500 miles return) and was well impressive on the motorway staying with the majority of the traffic most of the time.

It was a lot scary on the way back though, because the rain was so heavy that there was 0 visibility and heavy braking on the fast lane from 80 really gives you the creeps when the traffic stops for no reason

I had 40mpg consumption during the journey if anyone wants to know. (filled up 30 liters after 260 miles)

Well, the handbrake warning light is operated by two switches. Firstly, there's a switch which monitors the physical position of the handbrake lever - if the lever is down, ie released, the switch is pushed, circuit breaks and the light goes off. It may be worth removing the handbrake lever and just checking that this switch hasn't become loose, and that the lever is still making good contact with it (the lever assembly is simply bolted down to the floor with two nuts, so easy to remove).
The second switch is the more important one. The cap of the brake fluid resevoir has a float and a switch built into it with a couple of wires leading off it. This monitors your brake fluid level - if this drops too low the brake warning light will come on. Check that your fluid level is high enough, if it's looking a bit low then have the system checked for leaks, flush it and refill it. If the light still stays on, maybe try replacing the fluid resevoir cap.
You don't need to worry about the brake pads. Well, you may need to worry about them, but that's not what the light is telling you about, there aren't any sensors on the pads so you just need to check them fairly regularly to make sure they've still got enough lining left on them.

I think you're right on spot groovy... It must be the second switch because first of all, when i pull the handbrake, the light comes brighter, so it's a bit dimmed at the moment. Secondly, my brake fluid cap has always been broken since i bought the car. It's broken around the radius of the cap. Imagine a metal can that has been opened from the top with a can opener. Exactly like that. Right at the top, but the dipstick and cables are still there, and i never had a leak problem from the top with it, so i didn't really care before. Maybe i should check the level of the fluid and start looking for a new cap from ebay... Thanks for the advice mate.

If your cap's broken like that I'd get it replaced ASAP.. even if you're not losing fluid out of it, you'll be letting water and condensation into your brake fluid. Brake fluid acts a bit like a sponge with water - it absorbs it straight away and this completely alters the composition of the brake fluid. If you flush your brake fluid, which you really should having got a new cap, take a bit of fluid and add a couple of drops of water to it, you'll see it change colour and consistency very rapidly. Doesn't do good things for the performance of what is already a pretty dodgy brake setup

I'll be looking for one on first chance then. Funny, i'm always playing with death. When i changed my bike's rear tire, i realized it had a nail in it and it was a remould and it was completely flat!

Not very clever when you're doing 120+

that happened to hayeseys gt hatch as well. he drove all the way to inters with it like that (250+ miles) Then when he opened his bonnet to top up the water level, i noticed the top of the cap was no longer attached to the rest of it. It was temporarily fixed with some insulation tape I had.

I found one from ebay for £7 inc p&p. Not bad...

the brake fluid light has been doing that on and off for years in my mk2, where it glows dimly when its wet. Im kinda used to it now

optima21 wrote:the brake fluid light has been doing that on and off for years in my mk2, where it glows dimly when its wet. Im kinda used to it now

lol so its not just me then