Intermittent brake light on status board

[bichmgnt]

Here's a god one for y'all to chew on.

The brake light on the status board lights up on a regular basis. I'll be driving down the road and I'll notice the 'CHECK' light flashing so I look at the status board and the Brake light is on. For as long as it's been happening I never figured out if it comes on when I hit the brakes or if it comes on by itself. I would guess when I hit the brakes but I don't know for sure.

The brake lights are good and if I turn the car off and start it up again the light goes out when I hit the brakes. But inevitablly the light will come on again. Probably happens every couple hours of driving, maybe more.

Any ideas?

Steve

PS I'm crossposting this in another forum and we'll see who comes up with the best answer.

 

[Ryan Stewart]

start with the bulbs. Make sure they are good quality nickel plated bulbs. After that clean the contacts with electrical contact cleaner.

 

[demq]

It might be a broken relay (rear lights check relay) or an open wire contacting to the body because of vibrations during the driving... If changing the bulbs doesn't help use the wiring diagram to trace down the problem...

 

[Lillywhites]

hey, my brake light comes on to every time i start the car and when i hit my brakes ,it goes off. However, its does not come on at random times. TRACE IT!!!

 

[jrt67ss350]

Lilly, that's the way it's supposed to work.


bichmgnt, I also have a similar problem, except most of the time my brake light fault light comes on when I start the car but then doesn't go off like it's supposed to the first time you hit the brakes. Sometimes it works normally (rarely) but then it will come on sometime later when driving upon hitting the brakes. It's an intermittent problem, but the fault light is on more than it is off. I know there is nothing wrong with the rear lights, I have all BMW bulbs in the car, and all contacts are nice and clean. I also have replaced the brake light switch, and that didn't fix the problem. Do you think it's the rear lights check relay? Where is this located? They Bentley manual says it's behind the trunk lining near the power antenna motor, but I couldn't find it up in there.

 

[demq]

I am not sure what is it specificly on your car, relays with broken cases have habit of giving that kind of problems, and I guess there are 2 relays in that circuit... Just look at the wiring diagrams and check the circuits you need. You can find the diagrams for your car at
http://www.autolib.diakom.ru:8001/CAR/BMW/1987/325e/
They tell you the colors of the wires in those diagrams, so it's pretty easy to deal with them...

 

[bichmgnt]

All right, I went to look for the rear light check relay and couldn't find it either. Bentley manual does say it is in the trunk near the power antenna. Does anyone know where this relay is really located?

Steve

 

[325ix]

HEY i HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM my brake light comes on to every time i start the car and when i hit my brakes ,it goes off. However, its does not come on at random times,

 

[E30m42cab]

HEY i HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM my brake light comes on to every time i start the car and when i hit my brakes ,it goes off. However, its does not come on at random times,

That's how it's supposed to work. that's how you make sure the circuit is in tact.

All I would do is remove the "check" bulb and unplug the control panel. No more silly lights.

 

[Doughnut]

Old thread back from the dead!

I like my flashing lights and shit, looks cool at night!