Possibly the wire going to the hand brake is shorted to ground somewhere
along it's length. Also my 84 vanagon does not have a level sensor in the
cap.

Joe

----- Original Message -----
From: "Daniel Schmitz" <djs@GENE.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, November 20, 2000 7:04 PM
Subject: Re: Brake Warning Light

> You might check the brake fluid level in your master cylinder reservoir.
There is
> a level sensor in the filler cap, and if the level falls too far, your
brake light
> may come on.
>
> The master cylinder is located on top of the dashboard under the plastic
> instrument housing. The fluid level is very easy to see if you simply
un-snap the
> plastic instrument housing.
>
> If your fluid level is too low, this may be from normal wear of the
friction
> surface (in which case, just add a little), or you may have a leak in the
system
> somewhere.
>
> Dan
>
> John Houser wrote:
>
> > Volks,
> >
> > A few weeks ago,I bought a 1984 Westy.  The brake system warning light
stays
> > on when the engine is running.  I checked the emergency brake release
switch
> > and it is ok.  This means that either I have a problem with the brakes
or the
> > system thinks I have a brake problem.  As far as I can tell, the brakes
work
> > all right but I haven't driven  it fully loaded in the mountains or any
place
> > that would put the brakes to the test.  Does anyone have an educated
guess as
> > to what most likely is the problem or advice on how to trace down the
problem.
> >
> >                                             TIA,
> >                                             john
>