How to React if Your Car's Brake Light Comes On

Video Transcript

"Hello, my name's Tom Brintzenhofe, a certified master mechanic out of Reading, Pennsylvania, and here we're going to talk about how to react if your brake light comes on. On a lot of newer vehicles equipped with anti-lock brakes you got two different brake lights that comes on. If you have a normal brake light, which is a little light that says "Brake", then you have another light for your anti-lock brake that says, "ABS". Now your first one, either way, it's not gonna...don't panic. It's usually not...not a big deal. If you're driving down the road, the light turns on, test your brakes. Make sure you're stopping okay. The easiest thing to check, when you come up front, pop your hood, is this little sensor right here on the side of this thing. Make sure your master cylinder here is full of brake fluid. You want to use .3 or .4 brake fluid you find at your local parts store. Check your....your owner's manual will tell you, vehicle specific, what fluid goes in here. But make sure it's full. Most of these master cylinders they have markings on the side. You have minimum, maximum, make sure it's somewhere within that range. If it's in there, light's still on, most of the time it's just the little sensor here on the side. Not a big deal to change. Cost you probably twenty, thirty dollars at a local parts store, but either way, nothing to worry about as long as you tested your brakes and they're nice and solid. If you have an ABS light that comes on, I would suggest taking it to your local garage and have them diagnose you. You do need, unfortunately, capabilities as a computer scanner, which costs, unfortunately, twenty-five, hundred dollars and up to be able to get in there and diagnose it correctly. But, if it's like I said, your ABS light comes on, leave it to a garage. Leave it to a professional to...to diagnose that one. If you can look at it, and you face the sensor, fill it with fluid, and your brake light still doesn't come off, I do recommend taking it to a garage. You got other problems there that you're probably not going to want to tackle."