Wow, A Bit More Than Expected

[Bolo'sTalonTsi]

Now, I'm trying to remain happy with my 92 Talon Tsi, but the guy I got it from I feel did not tell me everything that I needed to know about the car. Maybe part of it is just me not doing a complete sweep of the car after I got....I don't know.

Other than what I've previously posted about my DSM, such as the trans. going to crud, rich fuel mix, slight MAF Translator issues and so on and so on. The brake system I could've been told about so I could tend to it ASAP. The guy rode the rear brakes soooo long it got down to the metal on the pads and grinded so thin that they cut into the rotors, pad slipped out of the caliper and stuck against the rotor keeping the car from going backwards(very embarrassing when you go to spend time with the lady friend), along with the metal shims on the back of the pad sliding off and crumpling at the bottom of the pad. All in all, found all that out after I got the rear caliper off and changed the pads(only did one side because of nightfall), will be doing the other side in a day or so. But now my brake light stays on. Any ideas why?

Thanks for listening for my ranting and raving

 

[Jesse2012]

The brake light will sometimes come on from low fluid, have you checked that?

 

[Bolo'sTalonTsi]

The brake light will sometimes come on from low fluid, have you checked that?

Please try to refraim from calling me half-way retarded....but no I have not. Just by glancing at the resovoir, it didn't look low to me.

 

[SlickPyro]

Low brake fluid
Bad brake fluid level sensor
Parking brake pulled
Parking brake sensor shorted to ground

Check those few things those two things are the only items that makes that brake light come on.

 

[3052Talon]

Trust me, those things are minor.

Mine will run at idle with the fuel pump off, and the second you apply gas it dies. It doesn't even start with the fuel pump switched on...

That's what I get for converting to speed density and upgrading to V3.

 

[born2tune]

you bought a 20 year old car, so you should trust no one, except your own inspections before you accepted the car. at the very least you could have ended up paying way less had you found so many discrepancies, or flat out pass on the deal.

anyways. have you checked the brake fluid level?the cap has a rubber poppet inside, making it look full when it is not. once you remove it the vacuum will break and the poppet from the cap will retract/ and then the actual fluid shows.

if its good, I would flush the brake system while you are at it but that wont get rid of the light. also look at the connector to the brake reservoir for security and proper connection. also it may be your e-brake switch. troubleshooting wires starts after all those check out.

 

[Chris25]

I feel your pain I just bought my 90 GSX and it had so much ghetto fabbed stuff done its ridiculous but i got it for a great price and slowly but surely everything is coming together.

 

[93TSiguy]

Your first mistake, if you didn't already do this, was not buying a southern dsm (i.e. florida car) you save serious trouble the majority of the time with out having near as many rust problems, paint fading, parts/bolts/caliper bolts snapping off and stripping. Its crazy how much a difference it is from, say, Mass... where i was dumb enough to buy my car in 2004 like a clueless teenager.

And yeah... been there on that one with a girl on a date (actually Prom) and the dsm has a serious casulty. Not fun, definitely embarassing... but that brings me to my 2nd point: don't take a girl out on a FIRST date, hell... 1st few dates in a DSM ever ever ever, ever, EVER... E V E R... Ever.

^unless you're a builder and/or really savy/experienced with fixing dsms... and i don't mean you "think" you're those things, but others know you are.

go drilled or slotted rotors... there's great group buys for a set of 4 & coated for like $175ish out there on these forums. grab some EBC pads and a set of Goodridge SS braided lines (~$100obo each) while your at it

 

[jmartinez1228]

Trust me, those things are minor.

Mine will run at idle with the fuel pump off, and the second you apply gas it dies. It doesn't even start with the fuel pump switched on...

That's what I get for converting to speed density and upgrading to V3.

Are you 100% positive your fuel pump isn't dead? I bought a car with the exact same issue and after I put a new pump in the car ran just fine.
Switching to dsmlink speed density is the best thing for these cars. If your car isnt running right after your switch then something was not done right.

 

[Arthris]

Every car has issues. The seller doesn't have to tell you anything is wrong with the car. As the buyer its ## responsibility to ask questions and drive the car. I had to find a massive oil leak on mine when I first got it. But I knew about that. But didnt know about the CLT sensor and the O2 sensor being broke. And on and on but I did find that it had other cool things in it. Ive used my car on my first date. No issues. There where some times when she would stall out when in traffic after swithcing to SD

 

[Chris25]

Every car has issues. The seller doesn't have to tell you anything is wrong with the car. As the buyer its ## responsibility to ask questions and drive the car. I had to find a massive oil leak on mine when I first got it. But I knew about that. But didnt know about the CLT sensor and the O2 sensor being broke. And on and on but I did find that it had other cool things in it. Ive used my car on my first date. No issues. There where some times when she would stall out when in traffic after swithcing to SD

Ya my GSX the seller said had a small oil leak what he neglected mention was the tidal wave of oil that was coming out of the return line good thing I didnt live to far from where I bought the car.

 

[Bolo'sTalonTsi]

What ever it was with the brake light, it's fixed. Put the brakes on on the other side, bled the caliper, filled the resovoir (may have slightly overfilled). Test drive, brakes are tight, no more light. AND NO MORE BRAKE NOISE! Not that it really matters, but it wasn't the first date. The rubber poppet thing though didn't retract, it was sticking out when I pulled the cap off. Any cause for concern??

 

[preludeachris]

What ever it was with the brake light, it's fixed. Put the brakes on on the other side, bled the caliper, filled the resovoir (may have slightly overfilled). Test drive, brakes are tight, no more light. AND NO MORE BRAKE NOISE! Not that it really matters, but it wasn't the first date. The rubber poppet thing though didn't retract, it was sticking out when I pulled the cap off. Any cause for concern??

Just a small tip: When break pads wear down your fluid reservoir will show lower, because it must use more to push the thinner or worn down pad change pads, bleed breaks THEN add as needed

(something I learned not to long ago myself)

 

[born2tune]

You would want to retract that rubber poppet back in the cap or folded I should say.

its purpose is to maintain a air tight seal in the system. so when fluid is pushed into the caliper and fluid lessens in the reservoir because of it you wont create a void in the reservoir, instead the poppet pushes IN along with the fluid to maintain its seal. makes sense?

as the fluid returns into the reservoir the poppet retracts in to the cap automatically.

A tip is to NOT over fill it/top it off because there will be NO room to return the brake fluid into the reservoir. this may cause braking problems, or busted lines or seals.

 

[BLAKSUNSHINE]

Why do people with no knowledge of how a car works buy a car and then blame the car for their lack of know how,I think this is the reason dsm have a reliability issues to these owners.If they were to drive any car in their minds it would be unreliable.I mean how do you not feel brake pads getting to the point of ruinning rotors.I know even if it were a geo metro you would feel some kind of vibration,chatter,visually see low fluid levels,hear metal to metal grinding.To me one should inspect their car at least once a month or so,not wait for something to fail and then blame the car or the previous owner!

 

[boostadd1ct]

Why do people with no knowledge of how a car works buy a car and then blame the car for their lack of know how,I think this is the reason dsm have a reliability issues to these owners.If they were to drive any car in their minds it would be unreliable.I mean how do you not feel brake pads getting to the point of ruinning rotors.I know even if it were a geo metro you would feel some kind of vibration,chatter,visually see low fluid levels,hear metal to metal grinding.To me one should inspect their car at least once a month or so,not wait for something to fail and then blame the car or the previous owner!

This if you can't feel the difference between a good rotor to pads vs metal to metal contact you should really get someone else to check the car out for you.

Not to mention the noise that it creates.

And while it would be nice for a seller to tell you everything it's mostlikely not going to happen, just like you and me they are after more money. So it's up to you to check it out thoroughly.

 

[turboglenn]

aside from it not benefitting anyone reading or involved in this thread except maybe making the person saying it feel better about themselves, dogging on some one really is useless. I'm sure he's feeling it enough on his own.

One thing i will add is that although he's learning the hard way, learning is the key and at least that's taking place here, so think back to how you learned some of the things you know before telling some one they should know what bad brakes feel or sound like when it is possible they've never been in a car with bad brakes or drivenb one, especially if it's one of their first cars..

 

[snowborder714]

Please try again with a more descriptive thread title. A generic thread title like this does not help me when browsing new threads to see if I can offer help or when searching old threads for info to help myself or others.