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Thu Mar 29, 2012 5:24 am

I have brakes and brake lights but the brake lights don't come on until the pedal is pushed all the way down. Could the switch be clogged? But then would it still even work?

I have bled the brakes numerous times because I thought there might be air and that is the reason the pressue switch doesn't come on till the pedal is on the floor?

It is very consistent when it comes on and goes off, and it is pretty much as far as you can push the brake pedal down.

Any ideas?
Thanks
matt

Thu Mar 29, 2012 8:28 am

get a new switch. You've already bleed the system for any air in the systme. Pretty much ruled out the master cylinder in that your brakes work (properly?), so ... brake light switch.

Thu Mar 29, 2012 10:07 am

That is what I thought, but wouldnt a bad switch just complete stop working?

Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:10 pm

Well, what else could it be? Your brake lights do work, your brakes work, you've bled the system. YOu can always bleed the system again, but if your brakes seem fine, it doesn't make sense to me to do it again. You can tinker with the switch, you could maybe get it to work properly. It's possible that the switch is about to fail completely, or has some minor issue. It's a $30 part. Get the part, remove the old unit and check it over, if you get it to work properly, the worst case is you have a back up unit.

Thu Mar 29, 2012 1:29 pm

good point. I will try it tonight.

Fri Mar 30, 2012 4:24 am

well, after a new master cylinder and a new brake light switch and 4 or 5 more bleedings...I have brakes and lights again!

:D

Fri Apr 06, 2012 11:15 pm

I'm going threw the same thing with my Oval. I'm going to get a German switch and see if that works.

Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:33 am

@fatvolks
Honestly, it was just air in the system. I bled that system 4-5 times and everything started coming back and then the light started coming back on in the right place again.

Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:54 pm

Glad you got it figured out.

Sometimes you get this same result when the brakes need adjusting.

Remember it's a pressure switch and you only get pressure as a result of the resistence to the push of the master cylinder piston. So if the shoes have a long way to travel to the drums, the only resistence is in the brake return springs.

With a single circuit master, it only takes one wheel out of adjustment to cause a pressure drop in the whole system.

So always start with adjusting the shoes. This will also make your bleed job a LOT easier!

Tue Apr 24, 2012 12:28 pm

@Matt. I put a new GERMAN switch in and now she works like a charm :).