S60 Electrics: Check brake light warning

[Lion1966]

Evening all. My 2001 S60 2.0T (93k) has been behaving itself for a while but today I've had the check brake light warning flash up when I press the brake pedal. I've checked the rear of the car and all the lights are working fine.
I was wondering if there's something I've missed?

[Georgeandkira]

From my chair, no.

Others have had the same odd occurrence. Here's the thread. It covers a bit of ground (no pun intended). I got the warning twice (no bulbs out) and it has yet to return.
http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=269837

If you keep getting the message I'd suggest changing the bulbs in matched pairs. You might find one is blackening.
Years ago, when a bulb went out in my '02, I went through all my bulbs, tested them with an ohm meter and paired them up.
I also got in the habit of using a tough of dielectric grease on all bulbs.

Maybe it's SPIRITS?

[Simon Jones]

What's the exact message you're getting? The bulb failure message doesn't have the word 'check' in it. However, 'check' can appear in other brake-related messages.

[Lion1966]

Thanks for the replies. I definitely getting check brake light message.
It's only when I press the brake pedal. Is this message linked to another fault?
All the lights at the back are lighting up as they should. I've got an intermittent position light messsge but this is due to a loose connection.
I might just bit the bullet and buy a complete set of new rear bulbs and change the lot!

[Lion1966]

Just a quick update on this. Both messages have disappeared but I've no idea why.
Hopefully this was just a ghost fault.

[Lion1966]

Just an update on this issue in case someone else has the same problem.
The problem was a failed R.E.M. unit on the left hand side of the boot.
Unfortunately it was £583.08 to replace the unit and the problems have good anyway.
The specialist DMW were great as they had the car repaired quickly but it's still a lot of money.
I haven't spent any money on the car in a long while so maybe I shouldn't moan.

[Georgeandkira]

£583.08 ($746.53) for a block of plastic with some circuitry.....?

Feel free to *itch, moan, whine, complain and grouse all you want.

[V70SE]

I've had the same problem and traced it to the relay, I opened up the relay and found that the frame inside had cracked, I soldered it and refitted the relay to prove that this was the issue and hey presto it worked. I have now fitted a new genuine relay and two new Bosch bulbs, total cost less than £20.

[Okky3408]

Originally Posted by V70SE

I've had the same problem and traced it to the relay, I opened up the relay and found that the frame inside had cracked, I soldered it and refitted the relay to prove that this was the issue and hey presto it worked. I have now fitted a new genuine relay and two new Bosch bulbs, total cost less than £20.

Hi, i'm a new member here and i really found the forum helpful with all the tricks, but now i'm facing the same problem on my '06 XC90. The check brake light warning keep appearing when i pushed the brake but all the bulbs works properly, i found the REM module and checked the fuse it just working fine. Can you please tell me where is the relay that you're talking about, i might need to check that one instead of spending hundreds of AED (i live in UAE anyway, so i'm not really familiar with £ currency ) thank you very much for the advice

[Lancee]

Look in the book (or maybe inside the REM cover?) and see which relay does the brake lights. If possible find the exact same type of relay on the REM module and for reference check what it is supposed to do.
Swop the relays over and see if the brake light fault disappears and if a fault relating to the other relay then occurs.
Financially this costs nothing and if it shows the relay is faulty a replacement of same is cheaper than an REM or expensive 3rd party diagnosis.
Worth a try?