couple of car problems, brake light and tight steering Options

[celicarocker]

ok, my brake light is always on. at first i blamed it on it being super cold, but even when its not cold, its still on. and every once in a while, as far as i can tell its completely random when it happens, i can hear my brakes like grind is the best way to describe it. it only happens every once in a while.

second problem... for about 3 days or so now, when i turn more than a little bit, i really have to pull on the steering wheel. like hard... and unless i straiten it out, it will stay like that, not straighten itself out like its supposed too.

i hope these are both becuase of brake fluid and power steering fluid, but im stupid and dont know how to check either one of those... im having my stepfather (hes a mechanic and owns a shop) do it for me on tuesday night....

[Cody]

As far as your tail-light, on most cars theres a relay thats hooked to your brake pedal so when you brake the light goes on...that might be sticking (I had the opposite problem with my old car). As far as the steering wheel, all I have is you need power steering fluid, and if you are low, you might have a leak in your power steering pump.

[macavely]

are you talking about your brake light on the rear of the car? or the brake light on your instrument cluster.. that goes one when the hand brake is pulled up?

[Drocay]

I'm pretty sure he means in the gauge cluster because he wouldnt be able to see his taillights while hes driving.

[Anub1s]

When I first bought my Celi, the brake light was on and it came on sporatically. All I needed to do was put some brake fluid in there to keep it happy. Make sure your parking brake is completely off when you are driving.... that = bad. As far as the power steering thing goes Cody (nice name by the way)... was right. You more than likely just have to add power steering fluid. Hopefully you didnt do any damage to the power steering pump cuz those can be a pain in the azz. I've never done it on a Celi so I'm not sure. Anyways good luck.

[MoralWarfare]

in terms of your steering: I had a VERY similar problem in my celica last week, and it turned out to be my rack knuckle. It was frozen. Cost me 50 bucks (then again, i work at the garage as a gas attendant) for them to remove the knuckle, pry the frozen thing open, lube it, and put it back in. So your problem could be your PS pump, your fluid level, or maybe even this knuckle.

[celicarocker]

so dumb question... how do i check my brake fluid and PS fluid...

[Anub1s]

pm'd you have fun!