My brake check light is on and won't go off. When I turn the key I also hear a single click and then second click a second later when the Check engine & D4 lights simultaneously turn off. I cannot remember if the D4 light regularly comes on but I don't remember ever hearing the click. The car does not click when I am driving. (I drove it down the street, realized the brake warning light was on and drove back home- aside from the light being on, there did not seem to be anything wrong with car performance during that short drive). The click sounds like it's coming from the center console area...??? Please help. Thanks!
My brake check light is on. on 2000 Honda Civic
by deelore in Citrus Heights, CA on December 04, 2009
ANSWER by patrick mannion , December 04, 2009
The Honda's don't use a "electrical sensor" like many European cars use to indicate brake pad wear. They use a metal finger on the brake pads at each corner of the car, when the pads wear down to a point where they should be replaced the metal finger contacts the rotating brake disc and makes a noise like fingers being dragged down a chalk board. A noise annoying enough to make the owner bring their car in to have the brakes checked. The brake light if it is red is usually due to a defective hand brake light switch or more common, low brake fluid level in the brake fluid reservoir. This could be due to normal brake pad wear or a brake fluid leak which needs to be investigated. The clicking sound you hear in the center console is the shift lock solinoid. On an automatic transmission Honda, it prevents you starting the car in gear, each time you go to start the car and take it out of Park you have to put your foot on the brake pedal, it receives a signal from the brake light switch to say your foot is on the brake and allows you to take the car out of Park, this is normal to hear when you operate the brake pedal. Try first checking the brake fluid level. Then check the auto trans fluid level, it is checked with the engine off, dipstick is hard to see (low down in the transmission casing) top up if required. A flashing D4 light indicates a transmission fault and needs to be investigated.