Brakes lights not working and brakes are seizing and smoking

Tiny
KELIGRL36
  • MEMBER
  • 2008 HYUNDAI ACCENT
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • MANUAL
  • 95,000 MILES
About three days ago someone stopped me and told me that my brake lights were not working. I have three to lower ones and one in the middle of top of the hatchback none of them were working. At that time we figured it was the brake light switch that is located underneath the brake pedal. As we tried a fuse and bulbs and those were not it. So we replaced the switch and the car was running great brake lights were working no issues whatsoever. The person who replaced it which was a friends said they couldn't get in there well enough to tighten up the nut on the part so I had my son get in there and tighten it. The next morning I went to take the neighbor to the emergency room and within ten minutes the car felt like it was being held back as the brakes were seizing or something. Had the pedal to the floor and having it in third and fourth gear I was barely going. By the time we got to our destination the car was barely moving at all and smoke was coming from both front tires and you could smell the burning brakes badly. Dad came and checked it out but by that time it cooled and was not having issues. He drove it to his house and it drove fine. I drove it home from there and again no issues. I went to a friends that afternoon four miles away and by the time I got there the brakes were seizing again and it was barely moving. She messed with the brake light switch and loosened the nut thinking my son might have made it to tight and took it for a drive around the block. Drove fine. I went to drive it home after about an hour and it made a really loud nose like bad brakes but drove home fine no issues and no more sound. Is it possible for the brake light switch to cause this issue? It was fine before we did that Just had new brakes on April 2018.
Monday, May 27th, 2019 AT 10:24 PM

5 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,747 POSTS
Welcome to 2CarPros.

Anything is possible. Based on your description, it sounds like something wasn't put together properly and the brakes may have been slightly applied all the time. The thing with brake fluid is this. When it gets hot it expands. Therefore, I have feeling the longer you drove it, the hotter it got, the more it expanded in the calipers, and the tighter they got.

Please understand that is a theory at this point. If it happens again, let me know.

Joe.
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Tuesday, May 28th, 2019 AT 7:11 PM
Tiny
KELIGRL36
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Thank you for your reply I took it into the shop who did the brakes and had them check it this morning and it's the calipers they said. However the calipers getting hot and causing the lock-up has messed up my rotors so I'm currently fighting with them to replace the rotors as well as the calipers. There has been a brake leak small ones since they put new brakes on back in April and I took it back in in August and told them that every two weeks I've been having to put brake fluid in. At that time they said it wasn't anything to do with them replacing the brakes. They noticed there was a small leak down by the clutch as the brake line runs adjacent to the clutch line and said it was probably just a loose screw. And that I needed to take it to another shop because the shop who did the brakes only does brakes and that's it. Well had it looked at and no loose screw no one did anything said there was nothing wrong with it and it finally stopped needing to be refilled all the time so I didn't worry about it and now this with the calipers happens. So yes I think your theory is probably correct and I'm wondering since I'm not a mechanic if the brake leak was caused by them even though they said they didn't touch the brake fluid or lines they just changed the brakes. Do they not bleed brakes anymore? It's been years since I watched my brother do brakes
( he has since passed so I can't ask him these questions anymore )and I always remember him bleeding the brakes and brake fluid would come out with any air etc. But the brake guys said we don't touch the brake fluid so I don't know. Just hoping to get the rotors and calipers replace at this point I need my car back. But I have no intentions of paying for the rotors in my mind the calipers they installed are faulty which caused my rotors to overheat when driving which caused the hot spots and the need for them to be replaced. Let's hope I win this battle.
Thank you for your reply.
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Tuesday, May 28th, 2019 AT 9:10 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,747 POSTS
Welcome back:
Honestly, if they only replaced the brake pads, there was no need to get into the brake lines. Can you take a picture of where it was original leaking and upload it for me? As far as the brakes, if this happened on both sides, I question if the calipers are the issue. It can happen, but for both to go bad at the same time is odd.

As far as bleeding the brakes, if the hydraulic system isn't opened, there should be no need to bleed them.

Let me know what happens or if you have other questions. You are always welcome to come here with questions, so feel free.

Joe
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Wednesday, May 29th, 2019 AT 4:16 PM
Tiny
KELIGRL36
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Okay, we found out what was wrong. It had everything to do with the brake light switch and not being adjusted properly, there is a nut on it that we had tightened as we thought we should however it was keeping the break peddle on just enough to cause all the issues it did so they loosened and readjusted and I have no more problems with the breaks locking up. This was a big lesson learned, next time I will let someone who knows what they’re doing replace those things. But I also blame Hyundai, they had said I could just pull the old one out and pop the new one in it was that easy so I will be calling the dealership today and tell them they are wrong and everything that happened because of that. Hopefully in the future when someone calls they will say bring it in or make sure it is adjusted properly. So it was essentially my fault the calipers burned out and I’m very thankful to Les Schwab for replacing them and not charging me for it after they found out I was the one who caused it.
Thank you
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Monday, June 3rd, 2019 AT 11:12 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,747 POSTS
Welcome back:

You know, that isn't a hard thing to have happen so don't be too hard on yourself. If you look at my first response, I explained the idea that something may have been slightly applying the brakes all the time and how brake fluid heats and expands. So, we were both on the right track.

I'm glad you got it figured out and it's repaired. Please feel free to come back anytime. Also, when you have a project, let us know and we will provide the directions for you. That way things like this are prevented. And trust me, you are not the first. This happens more than you think.

Take care of yourself and I hope to see you again in the future.

Joe
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Monday, June 3rd, 2019 AT 8:01 PM

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