BRAKE Light is On - Do I Need to Flush/Bleed My Brake Fluid and Refill With New?

[photo_wed]

Recently my 1999 Corolla BRAKE light on my dashboard come on when I'm driving / accelerating , then when I brake it goes away. But it comes back on sometimes and goes away. What is wrong with my brake?

The emergency brake handle is already released. When I looked at the brake fluid container under the hood it is at minimum, maybe a little bit below minimum so I'm guessing it needs more brake fluid.

So I went to Auto Advance and bought

Valvoline DOT 3 and 4 Synthetic Brake Fluid.

My question is what are the steps I need to do to refill the brake fluid?
I googled and notice you have to flush or bleed the brake fluid? How do I do that? I don't have a front yard or garage and my car is parked in the streets so I can't do major auto repairs in the street. I can't just jack up the car and remove all the tires to bleed the brakes.

Is flushing or bleeding the brake fluid a lot of work?
Or should I just use a turkey baster or syringe to get some old brake fluid out of the brake fluid cylinder and pour in the new brake fluid?
Or should I just simply pour and max out the brake fluid without removing the old stuff?

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

Considering that your brakes are so important and your life depends on the proper operation of the brakes, it would be wise to get your vehicle to a competent automotive technician as soon as possible. There could be many different reasons for the brake light to come on.

 

[trlhiker]

Low brake fluid could mean several things. A small leak to the pads being worn down to the point of replacing. When was the last time you brakes were checked? You could just put fluid in and keep an eye on it and if it goes down again, then you have a leak somewhere that will need to be fixed. No need to bleed the brakes unless you replace the pads.