Dash warning light (!) I beleive it's brakes?

[MBS206]

Hey all,

I just put some brand new brake pads, and brand new rotors on my VR Acclaim (Front and rear).
But I now have a warning light up on my dash that is red, right beside the hand brake parking light, and looks like a bracket, with a circle around a "!" mark.
The brakes themselves work brilliantly, stopping on a dime, but I want to know, is that symbol actually the brake warning lights, or something else?

And how do I find out exactly the problem that it is pointing too?

Thanks

Matt

[hako]

The Brake warning light indicates that there is a brake problem. I recently changed my pads and also bled the system with the engine running to help push the fluid out. During bleeding, the pedal gets pushed to the floor and this triggers a switch inside the master cylinder which turns on the warning light. I reset mine by pressing hard on the brake pedal whilst stationary - you will hear a click as the switch resets itself. As stated before, the light only comes on if the switch located in the master cylinder is tripped by the pedal going to the floor (or past halfway mark). It is a safety item to warn you that part of the braking system has failed ( the braking system is split diagonally for safety). Bleeding the system will trigger the switch. It will also be triggered if someone pushed the brake pedal down past the halfway mark whilst the brakes are disassembled. If you cannot get rid of the warning light by the method I've outlined then you may have a separate problem. Good Luck.

[MBS206]

How long did you have to hold down on the brake pedal for?

My dad was the one who decided to bed the brakes in, and the pedal went a LONG way down as he first seated the pistons back in, I beleive this could have triggered the issue.

Is there another way to reset the safety switch?

[MBS206]

Problem fixed. The sensor in the master cylinder decided that it would die.

[hako]

Sorry I didn't answer back straight away - I just pushed hard on the pedal and "click". Glad you got it fixed in the end.

[Gilly91]

Reviving a very old thread here...

I have a similar problem to Matt's, however my brake warning light "(!)" comes on when the engine is started, and turns off when I apply the brakes. It has only just started happening and I havent changed brake pads or anything recently that could have caused this to happen.

I was just wondering if anyone has any idea what the issue could be? My brakes have always worked, but are not the best in terms of stopping power which I really realise when I drive anyone elses car and nearly put everyone through the windscreen for the first few times I brake. Could this be something to do with the diagonally split system hako was talking about? I think my brakes should be above average as they have larger drilled rotors on the front.

Thanks for your help.

Gilly