Rear Brake Lights

[rambo82]

ive just bought a 2001 1.9tdi. the rear brake lights have stopped working. early on today the glow plug light started flashing. ive turned it off, the glow plug light went off, pressed the brake pedal. the lights come on. they work for a couple of times then stop all together. any help out there guys, cheers

[sparky Paul]

Welcome to the forum B)

 

Either the brake pedal switch, or broken wiring in the flexible conduit between the car and the tailgate... both common issues.

 

Renewing the brake pedal switch is covered in the FAQ section, in particular this bit.

[rambo82]

thank you. here's another 1 for you. the car is using a litre of water a day. its running fine. not over heating, no loss of power ect. I can't see any water on the floor underneath the car. any ideas??

[victor meldrew]

Check the fuses, mine blew the fuse which stopped the back lights, this caused the glow plug light to flash

It was broken wires in the gaiter on the drivers side of the tailgate that caused it all

Easy fix with a soldering iron

Edited August 22, 2012 by victor meldrew

[victor meldrew]

Regarding the water loss I would check for water marks around the water pump pulley, check to see if the pulley wobbles as they wear out, the pump not the pulley

Hope that's it, new water pump front is quite cheap

Edited August 22, 2012 by victor meldrew

[sparky Paul]

The water's going somewhere.

 

Get the car up to temperature somewhere shaded, and have a poke about with a torch looking for any sign of damp areas, staining or vapour... pay particular attention to the ends of the rad, the thermostat housing, water pump, etc., i.e. all the most likely candidates. Have a good look under the car, in particular the pipes to the back heater and the heater itself.

 

Any problems demisting? Suspect the heater matrix.

 

Check the area above the expansion bottle cap for staining, indicating a faulty pressure relief valve, or excess pressure in the cooling system. Is the cooling system pressurising? You could be losing it to exhaust via the headgasket. Any problems starting?

 

Good luck. :unsure:

Edited August 22, 2012 by sparky Paul