# MK4 Jetta GLS Blinking BRAKE light and beeping



## neorpheus (Apr 9, 2013)

So I just got the car back from the mechanic and it still has a bit of an issue going on. First a bit of back-story, when I bought the car about a month or so back I knew it needed rear brake pads. In the process of installing the pads it came to my attention that the pistons in the calipers on both sides were seized. New caliper time hooray! So I got the new calipers in and the brakes finished up (Yes, I remembered to bleed the system). I decided to do some preventative maintenance and swap in some new E brake cables while I was under there. Everything went well or so I thought .A few days later I went to take a quick drive across town, and being the doofus that I am, I left the E brake partially engaged for about half of the trip (1-2 notches, not fully engaged or anything) I eventually got the brake light and the beeping warning me that the E brake was up. So I released it and the light went away. I'm not sure if this is even relevant but I figured it should be mentioned just in case just in case.

Now the current issue that I am having is not like any of the similar issues that I have seen mentioned in other threads (Unless I missed something). So below I will walk through exactly what makes the light come on and what I have tried so far to fix it:
1: get into car
2: insert key
3: turn engine on
4: ABS & BRAKE lights come on
5: release parking brake 
6: BRAKE light goes off
7: back out of drive way
8: switch to drive
9: get to about 5mph
10: Brake light starts blinking and first 3 blinks are accompanied by 3 chimes
11: BRAKE light continues blinking until i turn the car off
12: return to 1

So I have seen several suggestions about things to check to make this light go away, again most of the time people were getting these lights/beeps as soon as they turned the car on so these steps may or may not have been worth my time but I figured it couldn't hurt to try:
1: check brake fluid level - Was near full marker
2: check for vacuum leaks - The line running from the back of the upper intake manifold to the master cylinder was the stock plastic one which is prone to cracking. replaced it. No change
3: swap brake fluid reservoir cap sensor - Swapped one off my other Jetta which did not have the BRAKE light issue assuming the sensor in that Jetta was good. no change
4: double check brakes are fully bled - Had the mechanics do this to save me the time. pedal is a little firmer but no change
5: check the e brake lever sensor - Didn't check because as the walk through above shows the E brake sensor is functioning otherwise the light wouldn't go off when I release the brake

So at this point I'm not really interested in solving the ABS issue because like I said I'm used to driving big vehicles with no ABS, so I should think something that weighs 1/3 as much should be easier to manage. This brake light however is keeping me from getting my car legal and I am already 3 days past my free 10 day grace period so I've got to get this thing legal pronto before I get a ticket going to work or what not. Also I can include a VAG scan if necessary but again the only related codes I saw were for the wheel speed sensors, which my other Jetta has 1 bad sensor which trips the ABS light but not the BRAKE light so I don't think that's the case. Any help would be greatly appreciated also if this is in the wrong place sorry, feel free to move it.


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## neorpheus (Apr 9, 2013)

Quick bump with new info. I read on another thread that when 2 or more ABS wheel speed sensors are malfunctioning it can cause the issues I was seeing, so I'm off to Auto Zone to grab some cheap wheel hub/bearing assemblies for $56 a side and new brake rotors for $16 a side while I'm at it. Seeing as I have new calipers and pads and soon to be a new hub/bearing assembly I figured I might as well do the rotors while im in there. I'm doing the hub/bearing assemblies because as I understand you cannot reuse the old bearings and I have to remove the existing hub/bearing assembly to get the 4 bolts off to remove the dust cover to be able to drill out the old bolt for the wheel speed sensor as it broke off when I tried to remove it. I will try to get these installed tonight and update this thread with any results in the morning.

for anyone who is interested here are links to the parts i listed.

hub/bearing assembly $55.99:
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/pa...ta/_/N-jd7b5Z6o2nz?itemIdentifier=972371_0_0_

brake rotors $15.99:
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/pa...Z8knrr?itemIdentifier=268226_172993_2708_8159


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## KG18t (Aug 9, 2006)

Have you looked into replacing the fluid level sensor in the reservoir?


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## neorpheus (Apr 9, 2013)

See (things I've tried) number 3. I swapped one off of my other Jetta that was presumed to be good. Also should have mentioned that the ball float in the original sensor was free to move around after I tapped it on the table. Once the ball was freed I did the continuity test to see if the switch inside was closing when the ball was at the top of the cap and it checked out fine. I reinstalled it and still no change. So at this point I'm pursuing the wheel speed sensors to see if that fixes it. Going to replace the wheel bearings and rotors while I'm in there. Just fighting with broken bolts now. I managed to snap off 3 of the stub axle bolts on the driver side and I'm waiting for the PB Blaster to do its work on the passenger side before I crank on it some more.


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## KG18t (Aug 9, 2006)

Sorry, missed that. Was in my mid morning first cup of coffee procrastination mode. Do you have access to a vagcom again? That would make this quite a bit easier as opposed to shooting in the dark. A simple scan won't do it. Looking for abnormal sensor readings would.


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## neorpheus (Apr 9, 2013)

Haha its all good. Yeah I have my own usb vag. At this point though I already have everything taken apart. Just fighting with a few broken stub axle bolts. Then once I get everything back together I'll worry about whacky sensor readings if its still not fixed.

Edited typo.


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## neorpheus (Apr 9, 2013)

Just an update for anyone who is interested. I managed to get the passenger side completely finished and tested the new sensor in vag-com. It looks like I'm at least halfway done. No thanks to the newest addition to my broken bolt collection. I decided to replace the stock stub axle bolts with brand new 8.8's, so as I'm tightening the new bolts down one of the heads pops off. It was my last damn bolt on that side too! After I got the anti-seize goop cleaned off and got a good look at the bolt it was apparent that there was an air bubble inside of the bolt. I've got this nagging suspicion that there must be a reason the stealership wants 300x the price I paid for these bolts. At this point I just have 1 more bolt on the drivers side that's being a c*ck tease. Once I manage to collapse the remaining threads in the hole I guess ill be done aside from buttoning everything back up. baring nothing else happens


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## neorpheus (Apr 9, 2013)

One last bump to fill everyone in. I finally got that last pesky bolt dealt with. Took the car for a quick run around the block (Less than a quarter mile) and the ABS light went away! Took it in yesterday for inspection and passed with flying colors. However it was somewhat humid and on the verge of raining and I popped a check engine light for cylinder 3 misfire right after leaving. Simple enough. a new coil pack will fix that. But all in all this wasn't really that bad of a project for a first timer at this sorta thing. Now to clean up the veritable tool box that my back seats and trunk have become, what fun!


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