Brake Lights - Always On!

[Guest Souljacker]

This started off as an intermittent problem with the brake/tail lights remaining on even when the brake pedal was not depressed. It is now a constant problem and the only way to turn the lights off are to remove the bulbs!

 

I know absolutely nothing about the electrical system of cars, and by the looks of it, some problems can very difficuly to isolate.

 

Following many problems (locks, head gasket, radiator) in the 2 years we have had this car, I'm reluctant to pay out even more to resolve this one.

 

Any ideas, anyone?

[gregers]

try this it might work,been plenty of posts about broken wires, lift up the rear hatch look up to your right,peel back the outer sleeve to expose the inner wires and try to locate a broken wire in there somewhere,or it could be the brake switch is sticking or knackerd (thats been covered b4 aswell)good luck in sorting the problem.or a bad earth somewhere.

 

regards gregers

[Masked Marauder]

Thr pedal switch needs re-set. Press the pedal down and look up at where it rests, there is a pin that works the brake light switch, Pull the pin OUT and then let the pedal go, that will reset the switch.

[Ivor_E_Tower]

Could just be the brake light switch - have you tried unplugging the wires from it and seeing if that puts the lights out? (Or could be like mine a couple of weeks ago - duff filament in bulb shorting out from the sidelight circuit, but if your brake lights are on all the time, even when the sidelights are off, it's unlikely to be this).

 

There are usually 2 "braking" switches, mounted on the underside of the brake pedal under the dashboard.

[Guest Souljacker]

Okay cheers for your quick response guys. It certainly does appear to be the brake light switch, however the pin will not come out any further.. if I push the pin in another 2mm or so, then the lights go off.

 

If the switch is knackered, is it as simple as replacing it is there more to it? Like I said the pin just needs to go in a tiny bit further...

 

Thanks again guys.

[Guest tonycoates]

another way to check the brake light switch is to set the car in cruise, if the switch is faulty you wont get cruise control.

[bigdaddy]

very easy to remove the switch, its on a baynot fitting like a light bulb,,,,,,when i done mine i had to remove the lower dash facia under the steering wheel,,,,,20mins in total for full repair.... :lol:

[Masked Marauder]

The pin is hard to pull out, get a pair of long nosed pliers on it.

[GSMGuy]

another way to check the brake light switch is to set the car in cruise, if the switch is faulty you wont get cruise control.

Yes and no... There are actually 2 sepate switching circuits insode the switch, hence the 4 wires in the multiplug... One operates the brakelights, whils the other controls the selector interlock and cruise disengagement... They can go 50%faulty, ie one works and the other doesnt... Causes the system to have silly faults like this, and when mine went the stealer said it must be ok as the lights are working... But it wouldn't release the interlock for the selector when the pedal was pressed... After replacing the switch, I metered it across the contacts... One pair was ok, the other wasn't....

 

Mike