Hey guys

My EF brake light indicator has come on. I have also noticed that there is very little tension in the brake pedal, and nearly have to push the brakes down to the floor for them to work

My disks were shuddering before this for a little while and i need them machined. could this have anything to do with this? Can the light also indicate that there isnt much wear on the pads left?

cheers
daniel

Your pads could be well worn out or you have a problem with your master cylinder/brake booster. You may also have a leak in the hydraulic line which causes brakes to have less pressure and thus less "tension" on the brake pedal. Should get that checked out.

alright thanks for that?

cold it be that the pads have worn low and an air pocket has come into the break lines, causing less tension in the pedal? If i bleed the brakes, could this help? if so, is it pretty straight forward to bleed the brakes? is there any place on here that explains how to do so?

I guess it could have if your brake fluid level has run so low that it has sucked in air. You can bleed the brakes and see if it works. Pretty simple procedure if you have one man bleeding kit. If not you'll need another person.

If it's a 2 man job, then get someone to pump the brake pedal while you work on the bleed nipple.

First you need to remove the wheel obviously and locate the bleed nipple on the brake caliper. Fit the right size spanner, I think 10mm (preferably ring spanner).

Find a hose, preferably a clear one and squeeze it over the top of the nipple (needs to be a nice snug/tight fit), find a container to catch the brake fluid. If you can use a glass one and fill it up maybe 1/3 of the way with some clean fluid, sit it higher than the brake caliper and dip the other end of the hose in it, this is to ensure that no air bubbles get sucked back up the caliper when the person at the pedal accidentally releases the pedal. Clear tubing is so you can see the fluid/bubbles easier.

Tell your mate/partner/street bum to push the brake pedal slowly without the pedal touching the floor while at the same time crack open the bleed nipple and watch the brake fluid come out with air pockets...you can put a piece of wood or something on the floor to stop it just in case they forget to stop before touching the floor (maybe 5cm above floor). I believe this is to ensure that the internal seal or something of the booster/brake master breaking/failing.

Once the pedal touches the stopper (or they stop pushing), close the bleed nipple, depress brake pedal until it is fully extended. Make sure the bleed nipple is closed before the pedal is depressed.

Once again tell them to push the pedal again at a slow rate, undo bleed nipple, close bleed nipple upon brake pedal stop, release brake pedal. <--- Repeat this as many times until you see no more air bubbles coming out...but make sure you top up the brake fluid as you go, you don't want it to run below the low line only for you to suck in more air into the system.

If you are bleeding all four brakes, then start bleeding the brakes furthest from the master cylinder. In your case you would start with rear passenger, then rear drivers, then front passenger and finish off with front drivers.

If you are not confident in doing this, I would suggest taking it to a brake specialist, they will do it for you for under $100...and they can inspect everything else for you.

However if you are running that low on fluid, I suggest new discs and pads.