Brake lights stay on

Posted by Dan Marrin On 2017/2/24 20:30:35

I have a '58 Packard Hawk and am just getting it prepared to go off to the body shop; it is one of the rare models that has a manual transmission with overdrive. I notice that when I pump up the brakes, the brake light stay on. I thought I might have a defective brake light switch, so I loosed it and discovered that the system was holding brake fluid pressure even after the brake pedal has been released. Once I relieve the pressure, the lights go out, so I assume the switch is OK? After some research in the shop manual, I see that my car may have a hill holder. Can anyone confirm this? I suspect that the hill holder might somehow be related to the fact that the pressure does not drop off when the pedal is released. I am afraid to drive the car because I assume that the shoes are being held against the shoes. Is there anything else that may be causing this condition?