"Check Brake Light"

[mgminimk1]

"Check Brake Light" This warning is comming up on my dash messages, I have checked the bulbs, fuses for the brake light switch in the engine bay and the fuse in the rear compartment, all OK.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in hope!

[Simon Linton]

What the light means is "check the brakes" not the lights.

Could be a faulty abs connection in the wheel area, and if you're really unlucky it's the abs controller.

If your car is a turbo model, this failure could also be due to dry solder joints on the controller's pcb; use the search facility to find out the fix if this is the case.

[mgminimk1]

Brakes are fine the two rear stop lights aren't working, the high level is.

[Simon Linton]

Get the connectors to the bulb block out and use a multimeter (and friend on brake pedal) to see if the current is getting to the light cluster.

Electrical faults are a process of elimination; you've already eliminated the brake switch with the working high level light, and probably the fuses as well.

Since you have no lights on both sides you should look for a common factor which is where the multimeter comes in - if one side is getting current and the other not, then check connectors in the boot area for the unsupplied block and check the "supplied" bulb block for a faulty bulb socket.

If both sides are getting current, change the bulbs AGAIN just in case using brand new ones or known working ones.

Contact cleaner on the bulb block is always a good idea; I find it very hard to believe that both have failed simultaneously - connectors are the prime suspect here.

Careful elimination should effect a solution eventually.

[mgminimk1]

Thanks Simon
I will try your advice.( I have fitted a towbar recently and multiplug in the boot,but the lights are not working with or without the plug in,plus this started befor the plug-in).
Alan

[mgminimk1]

Relay in boot was gone!!

[ewan husarmee]

Im getting this message. I'm pretty convinced its the relay, having been doing the google all day.

So diagram in hand I thought I'd swap the fog light relay with the brake light relay to test. Unfortunately in position RMI5 there was a different relay, a double one (pn 9494782) covring RMI5 and RMI6. Does this mean my diagram is wrong, or should I try and get a replacement for this relay instead. All the other relays are the standard 91144161 5 pin ones.

Thanks in advance

[Verglas]

Originally Posted by ewan husarmee

Im getting this message. I'm pretty convinced its the relay, having been doing the google all day.

So diagram in hand I thought I'd swap the fog light relay with the brake light relay to test. Unfortunately in position RMI5 there was a different relay, a double one (pn 9494782) covring RMI5 and RMI6. Does this mean my diagram is wrong, or should I try and get a replacement for this relay instead. All the other relays are the standard 91144161 5 pin ones.

Thanks in advance

Just got the exact same problem, the double relay seems to serve both the stop lights and fog light, one coil in my double unit is o/c (there is no connection between the two sections, there seems no logical reason to use a double unit as it's an even smaller module inside when you open it up) but on a saturday I couldn't find any source of parts except a rootle around the breakers and found a couple of ford single relays with the same contact arrangement except for the middle small tag (similar size to all the rest in the panel) but these turned out to be 'normally closed' type, not 'normally open' (what on earth do they use crazy 'normally closed' relays for ???)
However, plugging one of these in the two vacant slots enabled testing the bulbs without having to operate the pedal (it puts the lights off if you do press). I have some relays ordered on the web so should be here in a couple of days as we no longer have a local volvo dealer.
One thing puzzling me was one of the lights in the lower section (V70) which never seemed to illuminate, but it turns out to be the corresponding light to the fog on the off side, which although the wiring is there has a break in the bulb holder contacts in the lens assembly so it never lights !.

What an awful amount of dismantling to get at the relays though, the side pocket in the rear doesn't allow access to the complete unit, nor can you unclip it and withdraw it to work on through the hole, so the floor and side trim has to come out to get at it !
I did find the layout drawing for the relay panel (on another thread) but it was not very clear which was which, and what the other devices were, but by tracing wires and colours enabled things to be identified, the thin plug-in modules would appear to the the shunts which enable the checking system to detect if the lamps are taking current or will produce the error messages if not.

All will be clear when I get my new relays and I'll be a happy chappy again if it works !

[Chris_Rogers]

If you look at the 2000> forum you will find this subject covered many times.

[Lancee]

search for 'brake lights cure'.