Car takes forever to start. Also brake light stays on

[AaronC702]

I just bought a 95 mighty max. Nice car. Runs good. 129k miles. Manual transmission Im having problems. 1 is it takes forever to start. When i turn the key it just clicks modt of the time. Just one click. So i gotta mess with it for it to start. And when i start driving the check engine light turns on...as soon as i turn the truck off and turn it back one check engine is gone. Clutch switch maybe? & my parking brake light always stays on. Not sure how to fix it. Cor where to get the part

[geezer101]

Hi and welcome to mightyram. First thing to look for is error codes off the ECU. It'll give you an idea of where to start to search for the fault. If the ECU is throwing a major fault code, the next place to look is the ECU itself. They are known to fail but don't panic as the ECU's are easy to fix. The primary failure on them is leaking/bad capacitors. Once you open the ECU case they are normally easy to spot (swollen/leaking capacitors, stains on the circuit board around the capacitors etc) If you can read the values on the capacitors and are confident enough with a soldering iron, you can manage the repair yourself. Something I seem to fail to recommend while the ECU is getting a once over is to also look at the general integrity of the other soldered joins. A dab of fresh solder on a dry or incomplete join can make a big difference.