Warning Lights And Vibrations

[culky]

Hello all,

Does anyone know what this could be?:

I was driving the wife into work this morning and noticed the red exclamation symbol was on after moving off from a set of lights. It wasn't on at the start of the journey and we must have travelled about 5 miles up to that point. The car was behaving perfectly normally. The symbol is a red exclamation inside a circle, just next to the parking brake symbol.

Unsure what to do (and now on the M53) I had to make a choice of getting to Chester Lexus or getting my wife into work (she's a doctor so it was fairly important to get her in). I'd passed the local Lex agent already so i decided to come off at the next junction and check things...

pulled off the road and had a good look - no other lights on, temperatures fine, the engine seems fine. Switched the car off and waited 10 seconds, then switched it back on. The light has gone out.

Pulled back onto the road and head up the sliproad slowly to rejoin the motorway and i felt quite a juddering. Pulled up to the side of the road and stopped, called the RAC out and had the car recovered to the Lexus dealer.

Whilst waiting for the recovery chap to arrive, I tried starting the car and moving it backwards and forwards - fine. Same result when i tried driving around Chester Lexus. For peace of mind, I asked to chat to someone and i got to see the chief technician for a few minutes - a brilliant bloke who took the car out with me for a bit and it behaved faultlessly. I checked all the fluids - brake and 'box and they're fine. Had a squint and the pads and they were fine too. Lexus couldnt' fit the car in until tomorrow so I took the chance and drove on to hospital and then took the motorway back home (about a 35 mile round trip) Nothing.

Any ideas what it could have been? Whatever it is, the technician and I came to the conclusion that it's unlikely to be major because it seems to have corrected itself and hasn't reappeared but i'm still curious... Brakes perhaps? could it have been a sticking calliper or a confused ABS? It felt like it could have been but I just wondered if anyone else has had anything similar...

Thanks for any help you can give.

The worry of this morning, and the thought of a large transmission bill is subsiding..

All the best,

Darren

(car pics up soon)

[eMJay]

The same light has started to come on in My Dad's GS, but he's not getting any vibration problems. Everything checks out fine, but he hasn't had chance to check the pads yet.

I can't remember what it says in the owner's manual about this light. I'll post it when I can check the manual again, unless someone beats me to it.

[Fmrl]

Lumpy petrol?

...I'll get me coat

[KELLTINA]

The warning light is letting you know that one of your brakelights has blown.The replacement on the mk1 is of the capless type.Im not sure what it is for the mk2.kell

[eMJay]

The warning light is letting you know that one of your brakelights has blown.The replacement on the mk1 is of the capless type.Im not sure what it is for the mk2.kell

That's one of the things my Dad thought, but we checked them and they worked (his GS doesn't have a high level brake light).

[culky]

thanks guys.

Just got a chance to check the manual back home. On the mk1, if this light comes on with your foot on the brake then it means that a bulb has gone. If it comes on at any other time it means a suspected fault with the braking circuit (Usually low brake fluid).

If as in my case, the light comes on when driving and the fluid level is fine, according to the manual it means an error in the warning system - so long as the car is still braking okay you can drive it but they advise getting the system checked over by Lexus.

Mine only comes on when i stop. I've moderated my braking behaviour today and it hasn't come on at all. It came on once yesterday after coming off a motorway, leaving the roundabout on the exit and coming to a stop again at a set of lights.

Very odd.

[eMJay]

My Dad has changed his rear brake bulbs despite them working and one of them looked a little burnt, but still the light comes on, this time only when he brakes hard.

[culky]

Just an update - Finally solved this problem on my car when the red exclamation light occasionally came on after braking..

I *had* decided to eliminate the Brake fluid sensor by removing the connector, shorting it out and leaving it for a while, but before i tried that I removed the brake bulbs and checked them and the connectors. All seemed fine - bulbs and connectors looked like new. Upon putting the offside bulb back in and testing it though, it didnt light.

I cannobolised the Caterham for it's rear indicator bulb which happened to be the same fitting and wattage. The exclamation light has not come on since!

It would seem that a failing bulb can be enough to fool the system into thinking there's a fault. So if you get the same symptoms and you're brake fluid level is good, try replacing both rear brake bulbs with some fresh ones even if they're working - its a very cheap first stab at solving the problem! I'm guessing your dad's prob must be something else eMJay - might be worth disconnecting/shorting the brake fluid sensor and see if the problem still occurs - if so the sensor may be dodgy (assuming you've got enough in there, that is..!)

Just need to buy an indicator bulb for the Caterham now! :winky:

[Jiberjaber]

I have had a similar experiance before with an indicator bulb where the filiment has broken, in a straight line the bulb didnt work, in a turn it did, just as the turn momentum was enough to swing the broken filiment into the other side of the filiment holder to make the circuit.

:D