showing up but now it is back again. Both brakes lights work when someone steps on the brake pedal. Is there some kind of reset button or does this indicate that lights other than the brake lights have failed?
What about the center high mounted brake light? Is it working? Also if the wrong bulb is used, the lights may work but still set the failure light. The bulb failure light is also connected to the tail lights, if there is a problem with one of them it will illuminate. Other problems can cause the lamp failure light to illuminate such as a broken wire or a bad ground. Basically the circuit know how much current should be drawn when the bulbs are on and if it sees something else it will turn on the failure light. The light will light within seconds after detecting the failure. When does it come on, when you press the brakes, when you turn on the tail lights, when both are on? Answer this question and have someone work the lights in all possible combinations while you are watching and you should be able to see what is going on.
Low brake fluid? However: NEVER ADD BRAKE FLUID!! The brake master cylinder is designed to hold just the right amount of brake fluid for your brake system. There are two things to note. 1) As the brake pads wear out, the calipers piston has to move farther out to press on the brake pads. As the piston moves farther out, the area behind the piston becomes filled with more fluid from the master cylinder, and the level of fluid in the master cylinder goes down. When the fluid level in the master cylinder gets too low, a light should come on indicating that your brake fluid is low. That does NOT mean you need to add brake fluid. It means your brake pads are VERY close to being worn out. 2) If you add brake fluid today, and have your brakes done tomorrow, when the mechanic compresses the caliper piston ALL the excess brake fluid is going to spill out of the master cylinder all over the engine compartment and make a huge mess. Not to mention ruining your car. Just a note: Brake fluid does not evaporate. So, unless you have a leak, NEVER add brake fluid. Have your brakes serviced. Anybody that says add brake fluid is an idiot, or is not well educated. ADDED: It could be a bad ground at the rear light assemblies?
