QuestionI am having problems with the dash "brake" light for my 1968 Ford Custom 500. I am a newbie when it comes to custom cars. The car previously belonged to my grandfather who has passed. Problem started after driving 3-5 miles with parking brake engaged. It doesn't grab much and could tell it was on. I have fluid in the master cylinder and have blead the lines at all 4 wheels. I can hear the brakes engaging at all 4 wheels. Not sure where to go from here. Light doesn't stay on all the time but will come on during short drives. I am reluctant to drive it too much for fear of losing all the brakes. I'm sure with a bump in the right direction I could probably figure out what to do. Thanks in advance for your help.
AnswerI think you might be a bit confused. The parking brake is a completely mechanical system. When you apply the parking brake, it pulls a long cable that goes back to the rear wheels- it has nothing to do with the hydraulic system - so the fluid in the master cylinder and the bleeding of the brakes has no effect on the parking brake.
The light that comes on at the dashboard is controlled by a switch on the mechanism for the parking brake- if it is coming on at the wrong time, it is because the switch that controls the light thinks the parking brake is on - and this switch is operated by the parking brake handle and levers - so to investigate this problem, you need to investigate the adjustment of the switch on the parking brake linkage.
Since the car was driven with the parking brake on for some distance, it might have worn out the rear brake linings- but you can tell this if the parking brake doesn't seem to hold the car when you apply it. If this is the case, you need to take the car to a brake shop and have them inspect the rear brake linings - and replace them if needed. They may also need to adjust the parking brake linkage and the light operation switch.
There is also an unbalance switch that senses when either the front or rear brakes are not operating as they should - it also lights the same light on the dashboard- and since the rear brake linings are probably worn out, it may be telling you about that also. Regardless of which switch is turning on the light, you need to drive the car (slowly!) to a brake shop and let them check out the whole system for you.
If your grandfather seldom used the parking brake, it is possible that the only problem is the adjustment of the rear brake shoes - so you could check that yourself - fixing that might make the whole problem disappear. Frequent use of the parking brake is required to keep the rear shoes in adjustment - many folks do not realize that and let the brakes get way out of adjustment, causing the warning light and poor parking brake performance.
If you are not familiar with adjusting brakes, you should let the brake shop do that for you as a first step-- that might be all that is required.
Dick
