95 Ls400 dash light

[Malc]

just last evening first time ever for me ....  and I suspect everyone else here too ........  the dash red warning light came on and stayed on for the full about 100 mile round trip ....  not re-checked it yet today tho'

for the                   " if parking brake is off stop and check"

I stopped and popped it on and off a few times ...........  I so so rarely use this parking brake

car drove as impeccably as ever 

no mention at the last MOT and service of any parking or any brake issues upcoming ...... about 3 months, 2k miles ago .........  just popped the Q to my indy mechanic .......  hoping it will just vanish as they do and it's just an age and mileage related aberration 

1995 238k miles upcoming and always given full mechanical tlc 

Any thoughts one and all ?

Thank you

Malc

[royoftherovers]

12 minutes ago, Malc said:

just last evening first time ever for me ....  and I suspect everyone else here too ........  the dash red warning light came on and stayed on for the full about 100 mile round trip ....  not re-checked it yet today tho'

for the                   " if parking brake is off stop and check"

I stopped and popped it on and off a few times ...........  I so so rarely use this parking brake

car drove as impeccably as ever 

no mention at the last MOT and service of any parking or any brake issues upcoming ...... about 3 months, 2k miles ago .........  just popped the Q to my indy mechanic .......  hoping it will just vanish as they do and it's just an age and mileage related aberration 

1995 238k miles upcoming and always given full mechanical tlc 

Any thoughts one and all ?

Thank you

Malc

Coinciding with the appearance of the Snow Moon (16 Feb) Malc ? An astronomical coincidence maybe ?

[Razor61]

I would guess it's either the parking brake cables/shoes/mechanism etc actually stuck/seized a bit in some way and not allowing the parking brake pedal to fully return
or
the parking brake cables/shoes/mechanism are fine and it's the parking brake pedal return spring or damper which is the issue.
On my 95 I had the same issue with the parking brake light not going off even though the parking brake itself was fully released, if I put my foot under the pedal and lifted it up the light went off. I replaced the damper which didn't cure it, in the end it just needed the damper adjusting.
I personally always use the parking brake to keep all the bits moving but more importantly just using the car in Park without applying the Parking Brake will put strain on the 'Parking Pawl' or pin, my Dad told me about this a few years ago and the link below explains it. I was told the correct procedure when stopping and parking the car should be - put car in neutral - apply parking brake - release the brake pedal - car should not move - put gearbox in park. The strain is then taken on the parking brake and not the 'Parking Pawl' or pin. Of course the parking brake needs to be working well and hold the car. If the strain is on the 'Parking Pawl' or pin you can feel hear a dull thud/clunk when taking the car out of park which is cause by the strain on it being released. If the car is parked on a perfectly flat surface all the time then it's not much of an issue but that isn't possible and it doesn't take much of an incline to put pressure on the 'Parking Pawl' or pin given how heavy an LS400 is.

Parking pawl - Wikipedia

[Malc]

Thank you ....  I'll pray it just vanishes then ........... 

seriously, I'll tell my indy and see what he can do for me sometime soon .................. my twinkle toes efforts haven't improved with my age tho'

Malc

[Malc]

one of my buddies to whom I gave a lift last night for our qtly supper get-together had a beautiful 1999 Jag 4.2 ltr (that his son now has ) and that car had lots of electronic brake park issues in its time

thankfully ours are just simple old fashioned non-electronic controlled eh !

Malc

[Malc]

On 2/18/2022 at 10:28 AM, royoftherovers said:

An astronomical coincidence maybe ?

yes of course have we just had the " snow moon " ? ... had coffee today with another local owner off here with  TWO  Ls400s .....  he suggested a brake light bulb and lo and behold, one side doesn't work ..  so it's probably just that BUT doesn't look as tho' anything has ever been touched in that area in 27 years and I'm loth to start to prise and pry just in case I bust anything ...  my indy can change it when we visit in the summer with the Honda Legend for its annual service and MOT 

I remember a 100yrs back when the self same thing happened on my Mk1 Ls400 ...  but I could change that easily .  it looked ok for me to fiddle about in those days

Malc