Brake light on - will it pass NCT?

rocky

Have booked an NCT for this Sunday for the wife's car, a 2008 Swift low mileage-60k km. She tells me now there's the handbrake light coming on and off today, sometimes flashing. Reading online could be a number of things, brake pads (look ok on closer inspection), fluid (not running low but wasn't changed ever I think), maybe handbrake cable issue etc.

Brakes perform normally on a test drive.

Question is, if it passes all brake-related tests, is the light itself a fail? Will get it looked at of course but won't be before NCT in 2 days.

colm_mcm

Check the brake fluid level anyway. Should be easy to verify.

Brake light would be a fail AFAIK and unsure that it’s just a visual retest or whether they’d have to retest the brakes.

jones 19

Ideally get your brakes looked at front and rear, or pour 4 capfulls of brake fluid in to brake fluid reservoir and see if the light stays on. Pretty sure that's it.

markc1184

Could it possibly be the power steering belt? My old Subaru brake warning light with the battery light used to flash when the wheel was locked if the belt needed tensioning.

colm_mcm

I’d say it’s very unlikely

rocky

As expected, failed for the dash light and also the pedal keeps moving slowly after the initial bite if you keep the pressure. Might it need bleeding?

Before I go to the mechanic, am I right in saying there's some meat left on the pads? Edit: crap, images not viewable on the new site, only legacy.

rocky

I'll try attaching the photos here as well

rocky

Forgot to mention, I topped up the brake fluid yesterday and today wife says light hasn't reappeared.

Squatman

rocky wrote: »

Forgot to mention, I topped up the brake fluid yesterday and today wife says light hasn't reappeared.

was it below the minimum?
did you bleed brakes?
are you sure you dont have a leak., pads look fine, i cant tell from the 3rd image, but the others look fairly fresh

mullingar

Looks like there is more than 1mm wear on the face of that disc. The vast majority of discs only permit a max 2mm wear (1mm per side), you need pads & a bleed too.

To get the exact wear allowed, enter your car details here:

https://www.brakebook.com/bb/mintex/en_GB/applicationSearch.xhtml?reset=1

Squatman

mullingar wrote: »

Looks like there is more than 1mm wear on the face of that disc. The vast majority of discs only permit a max 2mm wear (1mm per side), you need pads & a bleed too.

To get the exact wear allowed, enter your car details here:

https://www.brakebook.com/bb/mintex/en_GB/applicationSearch.xhtml?reset=1

I wouldnt worry about the wear on these discs, and also, they wouldnt bring up a warning light

Cee-Jay-Cee

Pads look to have plenty of life left on them

rocky

Squatman wrote: »

was it below the minimum?
did you bleed brakes?
are you sure you dont have a leak., pads look fine, i cant tell from the 3rd image, but the others look fairly fresh

Wasn't below the minimum, tester also said that he checked it and looked fine...

With the cap off, I pressed a few times on the pedal and could see some bubbles coming out (one per press, half the time). Is that bleeding? from what I read online it's a slightly more involved process.

mullingar

Squatman wrote: »

I wouldnt worry about the wear on these discs, and also, they wouldnt bring up a warning light

I have to disagree. If they are below their specified minimum thickness there is an increased risk of brake failure and thermal control, they simply have to be replaced when they are worn to the specified minimum thickness

rocky wrote: »

Wasn't below the minimum, tester also said that he checked it and looked fine...

With the cap off, I pressed a few times on the pedal and could see some bubbles coming out (one per press, half the time). Is that bleeding? from what I read online it's a slightly more involved process.

The fluid should not have any bubbles, these are compressible and reduces brake performance . It needs to be bled.

Squatman

mullingar wrote: »

I have to disagree. If they are below their specified minimum thickness there is an increased risk of brake failure and thermal control, they simply have to be replaced when they are worn to the specified minimum thickness



The fluid should not have any bubbles, these are compressible and reduces brake performance . It needs to be bled.

There is nothing to suggest that these discs are worn significantly, you said so yourself, - so based of the evidence to hand the discs do not need replacing. Can you agree to that then?

zilog_jones

To be honest I wouldn't go around messing with brake fluid if I didn't have the necessary tools and skills to bleed the system properly (which I don't). If the brake light is on and it's not the handbrake, it's probably low fluid level or low pressure - get it sorted ASAP as you may end up with no brakes at all.

Squatman

rocky wrote: »

Wasn't below the minimum, tester also said that he checked it and looked fine...

With the cap off, I pressed a few times on the pedal and could see some bubbles coming out (one per press, half the time). Is that bleeding? from what I read online it's a slightly more involved process.

thats the resevoir cap yes? if so, then thats not bleeding. if there is spongieness in the brake pedal then it needs bleeding.
your pads and discs appear fine.

barneygumble99

Pads to me look almost gone in the first pic

mullingar

Squatman wrote: »

There is nothing to suggest that these discs are worn significantly, you said so yourself, - so based of the evidence to hand the discs do not need replacing. Can you agree to that then?

Brakes are not one of those times that an opinion will decide if the wear is excessive or not, such as suspension bushes. When it comes to measurable items such as brake thicknesses it's either black or white. It's either within spec or outside spec.

A 08 Swift has a specific minimum thickness of 18mm on the front discs, 20mm new. No mechanic worth his salt would pass a disc out of spec

ION08

I doubt you failed for the brake warning light in the dash.

My car went through with a brake pad warning before and I specifically queried this with the teser and he said the brake pad warning is not a reason for failure

RustyNut

rocky wrote: »

Wasn't below the minimum, tester also said that he checked it and looked fine...

With the cap off, I pressed a few times on the pedal and could see some bubbles coming out (one per press, half the time). Is that bleeding? from what I read online it's a slightly more involved process.

The bubbles suggests that there is air in the system that needs to be removed. Break fluid should be changed out about every 3 years or so due to water getting absorbed into it.

Going by your question "is this bleeding" I suggest you take the car to a competent mechanic and get the fluid changed.

Anjobe

ION08 wrote: »

I doubt you failed for the brake warning light in the dash.

My car went through with a brake pad warning before and I specifically queried this with the teser and he said the brake pad warning is not a reason for failure

The NCT manual lists the warning lights that will result in a fail:

Malfunction indicator for
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
airbags, electronic stability control
(ESC), antilock brake system (ABS),
electronic braking system (EBS),
parking brake, tyre pressure
monitoring systems (TPMS),
electronic power steering (EPS),
or brake fluid warning lamp.

I have no idea why the brake pad wear warning is not among these!

rocky

RustyNut wrote: »

The bubbles suggests that there is air in the system that needs to be removed. Break fluid should be changed out about every 3 years or so due to water getting absorbed into it.

Going by your question "is this bleeding" I suggest you take the car to a competent mechanic and get the fluid changed.

Fluid was changed 2 years ago when brake lines were replaced (I think, could the mechanic have the same fluid put back in?

This is the NCT sheet

RustyNut

rocky wrote: »

Fluid was changed 2 years ago when brake lines were replaced (I think, could the mechanic have the same fluid put back in?

This is the NCT sheet

A leaky seal in the master cylinder or a caliper would cause these symptoms. Still probably best diagnosed by a mechanic.

rocky

RustyNut wrote: »

A leaky seal in the master cylinder or a caliper would cause these symptoms. Still probably best diagnosed by a mechanic.

Care to give me a ballpark figure to fix it, if that turns out to be the case?

RustyNut

rocky wrote: »

Care to give me a ballpark figure to fix it, if that turns out to be the case?

Sorry I wouldn't have a clue. Not a huge job though.

Squatman

mullingar wrote: »

Brakes are not one of those times that an opinion will decide if the wear is excessive or not, such as suspension bushes. When it comes to measurable items such as brake thicknesses it's either black or white. It's either within spec or outside spec.

A 08 Swift has a specific minimum thickness of 18mm on the front discs, 20mm new. No mechanic worth his salt would pass a disc out of spec

Thats not the question that was being debated, but very well. You used be indecisive, but now you're not so sure. lol

Toyotafanboi

OP failed because the red (!) brake warning light was on the dash, which is entirely different to the brake wear warning light. They also failed because the pedal wasn't holding pressure.

You can pass with a brake wear warning light on because the NCT is only checking that the braking system is operating correctly, they are not checking how long the system may last, that's what a service is for, so 99% worn pads and discs will pass with no issue.

OP, you need to get this car checked. You shouldn't be seeing bubbles in the reservoir after using the brake pedal. The brake hydraulics system is a sealed system so no air should be entering, if you are seeing air, there is a fault. It could be a calliper, hose, master cylinder, slave cylinder etc. If the inspector didn't spot a leak during the test then it's likely the callipers and hoses are fine. You did fail on the pedal not holding pressure to so we are likely looking at the master cylinder or slave cylinder as the cause of fault, this seems even more likely with the bubbles in the reservoir.

You could lose braking if the part fails completely so I'd get it sorted sooner rather than later. This isnt chalking up to be a driveway fix for you.