I leave my Lancer parked for an extended period (10-11 weeks) one to two times a year. The second time I did this, when I started driving the car again the reverse lights would not turn off. They would go off momentarily as I put the shifter into/out of the reverse gate. For now I have just removed the bulbs. The last time I parked her, when I got back the parking brake light stays on all the time as well as the low voltage light. The parking brake seemed frozen because when I went to back it out of my driveway it felt like I had forgotten to lower the lever at first and then made a loud 'pop' noise when it came free. I tested the brake and it does not appear to be stuck on and it still holds fine on hills. I read in another forum that the brake light can come on if the brake fluid is low, so I will have to check that when the sun comes up. For the low voltage, I have a voltmeter on my radar detector and it indicates ~13 volts after shutdown and ~15 volts during alternator operation, so the light should definitely not be on. It seems all of these problems are caused by electrical position sensors/switches getting stuck while the car sits. Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can get these problems fixed? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. The old girl just hit 175K, and except for these little issues is in fine shape! Thanks, everyone.

 

I checked the brake fluid today and it was just fine. I took off the center console and checked the parking brake switch and it is also working fine. I noticed that when the parking brake switch is engaged (handle in the down position), the light gets dimmer. From reading other posts, the reverse lights switch is on top of the transmission, so that will be something I have to look at in the future. I haven't found where the sensor for the low voltage light is located.