Hate to have this be a negative first post, but....

Ok, so when I bought the car, it seemed to run just fine. Its a utility SUV, I use it to haul DJ equipment to and from my gigs.

I noticed yesterday, that for some reason, the brake light stays lit (Its like, an exclamation point, with a P next to it) I look to see if the parking brake is on, and its not... the light will flicker off, and right back on again when I hit the brake, and get right off of it real fast...

Also, when i'm on the highway, doing 55+ or so, if I hit the brakes, the jimmy will kind of veer to the left for some reason, i'm thinking this may have something to do with the brake light being on??

One more symptom, when i'm driving, i hear the brakes screetching, but not loud enough to make it seem as if i'm driving with the brakes fully on, but more like theres a floating pad or something, and its staying sort-of engaged...

Please help, I hope I don't have to do a FULL brake job on a car I just bought..

Thanks!

 

well first off welcome to the forum and secondly i wouldgive ur brakesagood looking over just to make sure nothing needs replacing and go from there. also if there are anymore problems please post them inthe correct section i.e. general tech help.

 

Welcome.

 

Welcome from New Zealand.

 

I have moved this thread to '2nd Gen Tech' since the 'New Member' area is not for asking technical help questions.

 

If your brakes are pulling to one side, you likely have an issue with a caliper hanging up. The rear brake lights are not tied to anything but the brake light switch and the multifunction switch. It likely is caused by a failing or faulty multifunction switch, but try messing with your hazard switch first to see if it impacts the problem.

 

Have you made sure that the parking brake pedal is all the way released, that would cause the parking brake warning light to stay on also. As for the veering like swart said could be a caliper hanging or even with the noise you have it may be that the opposite side is worn out. Based on the noise and the pulling to one side I would definetly take a good look at all 4s and report back the findings.

 

also, check your brake fluid, that can make the light pop on. and brake pull would probably a caliper as said by the others. either that or you may have a problem in a deteriorating brake line

 

--Update on brakes--

K, so I took it to the mechanic this morning, and he took off the rear 2 wheels. He said that theres a pin-hole in the rear brake lines, and its leaking on the passenger side drum. He claims that they don't make the lines anymore, and for a 10 minute brake line change, it actually takes about 2 hours, because he has to fabricate them himself, because when you order lines apparently, they come in like 30-foot lines, and he has to cut them, and put the ends on them...

Then he said that my tie rods are shot, and need to be changed (Thats for a separate problem though, I was compalining to him how the steering was very lose, and I could go between 12 and 2 o'clock on the wheel, and it would still go straight)

So he wants me to bring it back when I can leave it there for a while, and hes going to make lines for it, and then see what happens. He also checked the brake fluid, and there was almost nothing!! He made a joke (Why even put any in, its just going to go to the floor) What he thinks is happening is there is some sort of distrbution like 60 front 40 rear in the master cylinder, and since the rear has a hole in it, all of the braking force is going to the front brakes (Thus wearing out the pads really fast, and making the grinding noise i've been hearing)

So......
What do ya'll think?

By the way, does anyone know where to get brake lines for my jimmy>?

 

Please tell me theres an aftermarket place to get brake lines for my 96 Jimmy 4wd, and I don't have to have my mechanic MAKE lines like he claims he does... That would be much more costly than to just buy them from someone....

If you know where, please post it here...

PS-Is there an outfit that sells stuff specifically for my Jimmy? (IE Brakes n stuff, shocks, etc...)