Parking Brake Warning Light Flashing

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teslacoil

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Hi,

2006 Ram 5.7. The parking brake warning light on the instrument cluster is turning on at random while being driven, and when it does the computer is signaling the chime to activate in tandem with every time the warning light flashes. Sometimes I will drive the truck and the parking brake warning light stays off the whole time, and others it stays on. It also sometimes activates when I hit a bump on the road, and of course the chime activates every time this happens which is a bit annoying. I don't think the problem is within the parking brake assembly because the E-brake pedal fully disengages when the E-brake disengagement lever is pulled, and when driving the truck with the parking brake partially depressed, even slightly, the brake warning light flashes on and off (not at random like I am describing above). So this is telling me the sensor in that assembly is probably working like it should. There is no play or sagging of the E-brake pedal.

One thing that I will note is the cluster's RPM gauge doesn't work and the airbag warning light always is illuminated. I know there have been cluster failure issues with 3rd gen Rams. Sometimes the tach works for a few miles in colder weather or at random, but usually it always just stays at 0. It's something I just learned to live with as I didn't want to spend the money to fix a fairly trivial issue. But now that I think about it, I am wondering if it's a faulty cluster that's causing the brake warning light to activate as I described above, or should I look elsewhere?
 
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crash68

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Sometimes I will drive the truck and the parking brake warning light stays off the whole time, and others it stays on. It also sometimes activates when I hit a bump on the road, and of course the chime activates
Sounds like the switch in the parking brake assembly may have a weak spring causing it to randomly trip.
 

Smokeybear01

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I agree with Crash. The next time it acts up, try pulling up on the park brake pedal with your hand if you can reach it. Springs stretch. Good luck
 

HemiLonestar

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Stupid question, is the pedal released all the way? I have this habit of accidentally dragging a big foot across it; it doesn't go far enough to really pull the cable but sometimes it's enough to engage the switch.
 
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teslacoil

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The pedal is released all the way. I have made sure the pedal isn't partially engaged. My friend who's a mechanic thought the master cylinder may be the culprit because he pointed out that the brake warning light flashes at a preset sequence (not at random like in my OP) when the parking brake is deliberately engaged while driving. He wasn't sure, though, what was causing this issue. I tested this, and the dash warning light will blink on and off when the parking brake is pressed down just a few millimeters while the truck is in motion. That is what it's supposed to do and is not what I was describing in my OP.

This tells me the electronic switch in the parking brake assembly is doing its job. I'm not saying the switch and/or spring isn't bad, but this issue is hard to solve. To clarify, if the switch and/or spring were a potential issue, why is it signaling the computer to activate the E-brake dash warning light as it's supposed to by sensing the pedal is depressed (even slightly), but when the pedal is released the warning blinking sequence stops and then that random intermittent blinking issue with the chime crops up?
 
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crash68

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I'm not saying the switch and/or spring isn't bad, but this issue is hard to solve.
To test the current switch, unplug the switch and jumper out the wiring if needed to keep the dash light off. Drive around to see if the problem goes away.
 

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