red_brake_warning_light_from_cold

[Turkster]

Iv fallen fail of the red_brake_warning_light_from_cold issue, its been on for about a week or 2, Iv read the fix it bit in our DIY section,

My question is , has anyone here ever fixed it by doing the advised ?

or

is there a part that can just be changed in the car and fix it that way?

Thanks in advance

Paul

[marktdisport]

NEW BATTERY

[quattrojames]

That (the battery) cured it instantly for me I have to say.

[Turkster]

the battery is on its way out then? oddly , today, the car did not do it at start up, covered in snow too!

[bez101]

my old a4 used to do it when realy cold days
my daughters a3 did it until last week till i fitted a new battery

[stu_m]

ive had it twice recently when it wasnt so cold but i had been messing with the car with the lights on not running and outside temp was +6 degrees

never done it since even at minus 5 covered in snow

[brillo711]

defo the battery on way out. mine been ok since..

[da4]

Mine does this too since it started freezing,first time in 5year since i bought it.

[benjie]

It's defo battery. Mine will do it daily when temps are below about -4 (I usually do a few glow plug cycles) Warmer temps are usually fine. Trickle charged my battery yesterday (just to top it up) as I do several short journeys. I'll be replacing soon though. The battery on my 2003 car was installed in, ahem, April 2003.

[slappy]

Mine done it on Thursday at -4 but when I got to work (15 miles away), I switched the engine off and turned it back on, the symbol never came back on.

It's been fine on Friday, Saturday and this morning, but the temperature was +2.

[Turkster]

Ummmmmmmmmm,

looks like i'm not alone with this one right now,

it seems that the outside temp has a firm part to play in this issue, Maybe my battery is lower than normal due to the cold weather, i mean iv heard of the cold killing battery's,

My car is a daily runner as its my main car, im not doing big daily miles right now, some days its less than 10 as i work from home a fair bit,

My battery holds out even if i leave my lights on for 30 mins parked outside, turn the key and it fires up with no issue, when the car is warmed up and i re start it there are no beeps,

maybe a good 80 mile london run next week will give it a good charge up,

Also i cant see any paperwork to say the battery has ever been changed in this 2001 car, Iv never changed it and iv had it since 2007 !

[Greeny233]

Mine has developed exactly the same problem over the last couple of weeks. Replacing the battery seems like an expensive fix especially as the car starts fine every morning, the light goes out after a couple of seconds and it only does it once or twice a week.

[Turkster]

i think im in the wait and see boat, if the car gets starting issues then i will get a new battery, my car is a my daily use car and i cant afford to get the nasty surprise of it not starting one day and having my wife give me an ear bashing for making her late for work as she would have to get the bus,

how long should a battery last for?

[boya]

I changed mine in September... Was on the car since new as far as I am aware (2003). I was getting the brake warning all the time no matter what the weather was like. I was out in the car on the morning the battery let go and had just completed a 60mile motorway blast when I parked it up. A hour later the battery was completely paggered!! Couldn't believe it! Wouldn't even turn over! Got myself a new one and job was done. No more red light. I am 90% sure that will be the cause mate. Battery's can be sneaky little devils that let you down when you least expect it lol.

[slappy]

Well the error hasn't come back on mine, so I'll leave mine be until I need a new battery.

[Grangey.]

mine did it today, turned it off and straight back on again, fault cleared.

I wondered if it was to do with fitting HIDs but luckily not from the sounds of it!

[Turkster]

I'v noticed that if you turn off everything in the car before you fire up the enging, the rate of it comong up drops by 50%,

lights, fans, radio,

[marktdisport]

turkster you cursed me last night at 3am after leaving the motor at work from 6pm got in and straight away ding ding turned ignition off and back on and strange it didnt do it..... my question is ??? i think this must be somethink to do with the ampage being drawn from the glow plugs being switched on, as mine had a new battery few months ago and i do 20miles on dual carriageway to work so its alsways having a good run, and never turns over slowly 1st time this as happened to me thpough and outside temp was -5.5

[vorsprung dork]

my 2.5 uesd to do it all the time! got another year out of the battery tho before it was totaly goosed! if you can get over the winter with it it should last till next mine did! anyway if you can get to 21\12\12 you might not have to buy one at all!!!!!!!!!!!!

[quattrojames]

My understanding on this has always been that on colder mornings, the low cranking power (as a battery ages) causes low pressure in the ABS pump which triggers the warning. It doesn't necessarily mean the battery is knackered, it is probably fine and might keep going a lot longer, but it's reached the point in it's life where it's cranking power isn't enough to keep the ABS pump happy.

Some people dispute my theory however.

[murran]

nothing to do with the abs im afraid. the light flashes up cus of a fake low brake fluid warning on start up, this is read via the instrument cluster.
change the battery as people have reported this as a fix.

but..... personally i think its the reservoir with its integral sensor. as at work this seems to fix them too.
might be dirt or a tiny bit of moisture in the reservoir sensor thats effected by cold tempertures?

[quattrojames]

Everyone has an answer

[vorsprung dork]

only smarties have the answer!

[Turkster]

LoL, well when it does warm up a bit my 1st job is on the 2 front flexi hoses and a break pipe replace on the calliper, no doubt that a brake bleeding session will take place and the break fluids will be changed, if there is any said moisture in the reservoir then that will surly be delt with,

a new battery will cost me about £60 from a mate who works selling car battery's without any paperwork

@ vorspung dork

(just for fun)
And if we all get past 21/12/12 alive and with our ECU's not getting solar flare fried, i will inform the other illuminate members that we failed to take over the world and head back to work with the rest of the slaves! Im sure the Reptilains will be upset too of there mass feeding frenzie will also have been missed as Niberu would have missed the connecting flyby pass of the earth,

[vorsprung dork]

lol! luv it!

LoL, well when it does warm up a bit my 1st job is on the 2 front flexi hoses and a break pipe replace on the calliper, no doubt that a brake bleeding session will take place and the break fluids will be changed, if there is any said moisture in the reservoir then that will surly be delt with,

a new battery will cost me about £60 from a mate who works selling car battery's without any paperwork

@ vorspung dork

(just for fun)
And if we all get past 21/12/12 alive and with our ECU's not getting solar flare fried, i will inform the other illuminate members that we failed to take over the world and head back to work with the rest of the slaves! Im sure the Reptilains will be upset too of there mass feeding frenzie will also have been missed as Niberu would have missed the connecting flyby pass of the earth,

[murran]

changing the fluid in it doesnt do it.
reservoir is about £20 odd quid.
make sure the plenum drains are free of crap.
get a large amount of very hot water ready in a large watering can.... cus your guna spill brake fluid!!
under the reservoir is a 25/30 torx bolt going from left to right as you look at it. undo this.
clamp the rubber clutch feed pipe.
pull the reservoir out of its rubbers (not as easy as it sounds, its pretty held in) and pull the clutch pipe of as quickly as you can without spilling too much brake fluid everywhere.
quickly get the new one, push it on the rubbers back on the reservoir, shuv the clutch pipe on but dont unclamp it yet.
grab the watering can you prepared earlier and liberally rinse off all areas youve got brake fluid on.
refit the bolt under the reservoir.
fill the reservoir with brake fluid. unclamp the clutch pipe. done. no need to bleed anything!

done probably 3 in the last year. theyve not come back.

[marktdisport]

murran in post 21 you state change the battery this is a fix !! mine was renewed in november the battery removed was the original from 2002, voltage check's show no faults and charging at correct rate,..... off topic a little but i owned a 2003 gttdi 150 and the starter had an internal fault of using to much amps to crank the engine apparantly this was a common fault as i lost some power and glow plug light flashing i swopped the starter as told by my local specialist and it cured it.... just wondering if the audi as a similar issue were the cranking power is being sapped i'll have a look at some voltage readings over the weekend whilst being cranked over etc......


so my post no/2 ive changed my mind, dont change the battery lol........

[murran]

you guys say changing the battery seems to fix this fault. im not guna say it doesnt as i dont know if it does or not.

i can only comment on what i know!

id change the reservoir first, its cheaper and easier to do than the starter motor.

as a rule you shouldnt see less than 10v at the battery while cranking. not sure how many amps the start will pull in operation underload??

[the jammy one]

well ill throw a spanner in here also lol i have this issue and hae had 2 batterys in both still causes fault only cold starts tho

[marktdisport]

have you checked you voltage on cranking m8

[Turkster]

my car has not done it now the temps have risen, 2 days on the trot!

[Grangey.]

Mine still does it- it appears the HIDs trigger it though- a restart of the engine sorts it but I dont know if this means it is HID related or one of the other possible issues related....

[Turkster]

spoke too soon, did it this morning, but i only heated the glow plugs once and could have left it a few more seconds before i fired up the car, did have the smell of un-burnt fuel to,

[murran]

change the fluid reservoir. it'll keep happening til you do.