Low Brake Fluid warning when handbrake engaged.

[SimonTNUK]

6 hours ?

Good grief yer slow

Burn music tracks onto 4.7GB DVD's (6 of them) on your computer.
It is legal to copy original CD's for this purpose by the way.
Then put these 6 discs into your CD changer and set your player to random.
Nearly 30GB of music should last a bit longer than 6 hours.

I'd quite like an mp3, one with a USB slot so I can stick stuff on it and just plug the fecker in, but before I do that I need to sort out the awful speakers somehow. And before that I need to rob a bank...

Dunno if this would work as a temporary compromise for you steve, I've got one of those little radio transmitter thingummyjigs. It's intended for mp3 players, but uses a standard ear-phone jack, so I use it in my truck to get a decent sound when I play DVDs on my laptop. It cost about £7 from eBay and covers the full car radio frequency range. The even cheaper ones, with only a few frequencies seem to be terrible. Mine can be powered from a usb port on my laptop, or a usb-cig lighter adapter.

[mjb]

Burn music tracks onto 4.7GB DVD's (6 of them) on your computer.
It is legal to copy original CD's for this purpose by the way.
Then put these 6 discs into your CD changer and set your player to random.
Nearly 30GB of music should last a bit longer than 6 hours.

Not really, considering the 406 cd changer 1) doesn't play mp3s and 2) doesn't read DVDs

[SimonTNUK]

Not really, considering the 406 cd changer 1) doesn't play mp3s and 2) doesn't read DVDs

1) Use a standard music format rather than mp3 format then.

2) It'll read DVDs if you use a music format. It still won't play films though.

[DaiRees]

It'll read DVDs if you use a music format

'Fraid not Simon

[mjb]

2) It'll read DVDs if you use a music format. It still won't play films though.

The DVD specification was only finalised December 1995, with players not being available for under £1000 until about 1997. There is no way a 1996 car can play DVDs on original equipment

[SimonTNUK]

2) It'll read DVDs if you use a music format. It still won't play films though.

The DVD specification was only finalised December 1995, with players not being available for under £1000 until about 1997. There is no way a 1996 car can play DVDs on original equipment

[r8tdi]

hello there i dont know if this will help but i had the same problem with the beeping so i took it to my mechanic and it turned out the rear cylinder was leaking slightly which was causeing the brakes not to engage fully thus causing the beeping sound when i applied the handbrake we replace the cylinder and made sure the system was full and this has seem to eliminate the problem

[Pugman406]

i kept working the handbrake, but in the end i just replaced the switch, which had been modified, compared to the old one. Only cost a couple of quid!

[steve_earwig]

Part number? (For future reference )

[Coops]

Part number? (For future reference )

The beeping is getting on my chest after some 3 months of ownership, just got a new switch from the local dealers and intend to do the job this week end. The part number is 6339.18 and total cost was £3.09, jobs a good un.

Cheers
Tim

[djheath]

Part number? (For future reference )

The beeping is getting on my chest after some 3 months of ownership, just got a new switch from the local dealers and intend to do the job this week end. The part number is 6339.18 and total cost was £3.09, jobs a good un.

Cheers
Tim

Please take some pics and a write up. I have tried a number of times to get the centre tunnel bits apart but always have to admit defeat as I just cant see how it all fits together and in what order the bits should come apart.

Thanks

[Coops]

Well the bleeping and “low brake fluid” warning finally got on my nerves and I ordered a switch for the handbrake for my W reg 110 HDi from the local dealer’s, part number is 6339.19 for my car and it cost £3.09. Old one on the left, new on the right. Please excuse the rubbish pictures, which were taken on my phone's camera, wife was using the "proper" camera.



Tool list:
T20 Torx bit/short-handled driver. My driver was too long and access to the screws is quite tight so I used a 7mm ratchet-ring spanner to turn the bit. You could use a pair of pliers or mole-grips.
10mm deep socket, extension bar and ratchet handle.
Thin bladed flat screwdriver
Medium bladed flat screwdriver.

Ok, first thing is to move both seats fully forward to gain access to the 10mm bolts on the back end of the central console, one each side.


Move the seats fully back now.
Next, using the thin-bladed screwdriver, lever the back of the ash tray panel up and withdraw the whole thing, remembering to slide the lamp holder down and out.



Lift the front of the gear stick gaiter and unclip the back end, then simply lift it up till it covers the gear knob.



Using the Torx bit, remove the two screws securing the side trim (one screw on each side) shown in the photos below

Left


Right



The trim is now held on by a plastic tag



simply push down with a flat-bladed screwdriver whilst pulling the side trim outwards around about the same location.

This will also release the tags on the back end of the trim, near to where it abuts against the console



it will be a bit tight but persevere. The front end just clips around the heating vent pipes and both trims are then easily removed. You might find the vent pipes come out, don’t panic they’re easily replaced during the re-build.

Remove the two 10mm nuts from the front of the console.



Lever up the front of the plastic trim immediately in front of the hand brake lever, and remove it.


Likewise, lever the back of the coin holder/airbag switch up, disconnect the switch wiring and remove the whole thing.

Then lift the back end of the console up towards the front of the car (after removing the centre armrests if you’ve got them), watch out for the cigarette lighter cable which you must disconnect. I didn’t need to fully remove the console but just jammed/propped it up on the passenger seat. This is what you see underneath



The offending switch is under the rubber boot and the only way I could find to get at it was just to pull it over to the right.
Here’s the switch in place, you’ll notice I’ve already unplugged the wiring connector, which simply pulls off towards the rear of the car. Make sure the hand brake handle is pulled up as far as it will go.


Getting the old switch out is a bit tricky, in that you really need three hands. One to hold the rubber boot out of the way. One to push the whole switch assembly forward with a screwdriver until the back end is free and one to push down on the switch plunger. Once the back end is free, push the switch backwards to free the front end. Removal of the switch is just(!!) a question of wriggling it out of position. I didn’t need to slacken the handbrake cable to give me more space by allowing the handle to come up a bit further, so I don’t know if this is feasible if you’re really struggling in the confined space.

As you saw earlier the new switch has a large flat bit on top of the plunger which make fitting it equally as hard as the removal. Again, careful wriggling gets it in place and pushing the back end into the bracket first, then the front, locks it into place.



Then it’s just a case of putting it all back together again.

Re-connect the switch wiring.
Reposition the console into it’s proper place, whilst remembering to to re-connect the cigarette lighter cable. Fit the coin holder/airbag switch into it’s location (front end first), reconnect the switch cable and then push the back end down into it’s location.

Refit the back of the handbrake lever plastic trim into place then push the front down.
Refit the 2 10mm nuts but don’t fully tighten them.

Refit the heater vent pipes if they fell off when you removed the side trims, they clip over the front then you just position the tag towards the rear, into the console.


Refit the side trims by getting the front end clipped in place and then relocating the plastic tags on the rear, so that they locate behind the console, then push the locking tags into place.
Refit the two Torx screws (wriggling the console/ side trim to align the holes). Once fully in place move the seats forward and locate then fully tighten the 2 x 10mm bolts at the rear. Now tighten the 2 x 10mm nuts at the front, relocate the gear lever gaiter and replace the ashtray after refitting the lamp holder (if memory serves me correctly, it’s slightly D-shaped when you look down from the bulb).

That’s it, total time of about 30-40 minutes and no more bloody bleeping when you put the handbrake on. Job’s a good un.

Cheers

Tim

[djheath]

*Stands ups*
*Applauds*
"Woooooooo!! Bravo! Thank you sir!"
*Sits Down*

[waue1978]

Just did this on mine. 40 mins to complete. Did have to slacken the handbrake cable a bit for some extra clearance to remove the switch, but got away with leaving the front armrests on the seats - mainly because I didn't know how to remove them. Was a little bit restricted as the armrests stopped the console coming right up, but still managed to change the switch by just propping everything up as far as it could go.

Well worth doing as it's not as bad as it first seems & the bleeping does get bloody annoying after a while.

[seasonshu]

To follow this up:
The armrests can be removed the same way the headrests are removed: at the base of seat (where the metal rods of the armrest are pushed into the seat) there is a plastic in the seat. On one side of it (as I recall the one that is to the front of the car) you can press in the plastic which releases the lock so the armrest can be wriggled out by the other hand. Preserve and it will be done. If you don't get the idea, examine the headrests first where this can be easier to see.

Regarding the switch, there is no need for three hands: the rubber boot can simply can removed as clothes through the neck. You'll need to make it free first in the back of it where it is put under the metal base (where the console originally ended). Then pushing the top of the switch forward made it loose. However I haven't removed it in the end (so making it loose is not necessary either), I kept pressing to for 15-20 times (i.e. the good workout you'd give it using the handbrake -- which has the risk of leaving the brake pads on..).

The bottom line is that you doesn't necessarily have to order a new switch right away -- try this trick first. I'll see in the days coming if it solved the problem.
This one down (hopefully), so I have left the Connects2 + 12v socket split to do.