No brake lights-help

JIbe-it · Posted: Sat May 07, 2005 7:13 pm Post subject: No brake lights-help

Just bought a 73 Thing and have a problem with brake lights not working.
All other lights/signals working fine.
Looking for advise on what I need to do to determine what is going on.

Don't know if this has anything to do with it, but when I drove it for a few yards and when I went to brake, the pedal was soft as mush. I let up on the brake and then depressed it again and it held fine.
I'm a new owner, so any help is appreciated.
Thanks

edgy · Posted: Sat May 07, 2005 10:21 pm Post subject:

Have you tested the brake light switch on the master cylinder? May have rust in it. If so, probably need to put on a new master cylinder not merely a switch. It the master cylinder is rusty, check the wheel cylinders as well. Cound be air in it but if you didn't take it apart, air would be a sign of something else being wrong.

Maybe you'll be lucky and only need a new switch. You will have to bleed he system after you replace it.
_________________
62 Single Cab (Work Truck)
63 Bungartz Tractor VW powered

Towel Rail · Posted: Sat May 07, 2005 10:33 pm Post subject:

Did you check the wiring under the hood?

- Scott
_________________
1974 Thing -- under the knife
1967 Beetle -- spring/summer/fall driver
1996 Subaru OBW (EJ22, 5-speed, AWD) -- winter car, 3-seasons "don't feel like biking today" car

049 > 070 > 053 > 009

JIbe-it · Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 5:43 am Post subject:

Thanks for the replies.
Already checked wiring in back under hood and getting juice just fine.
Will check master cylinder switch and see what kind of crud exists there.
Any insighs into checking to see if that is the culprit?

Is there any technique for bleeding brakes with only one person or is it a two person job?
Appreciate the wisdom!

Touch Nicks Thing · Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 6:33 am Post subject:

Check your fuses, seems simple but it happened to me before and I wondered and wondered and it was just a fuse.

markie61 · Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 10:56 am Post subject:

I had a trailer have BOTH light bulbs go almost simultaneously - spent over an hour troubleshooting only to find that the filaments on both bulbs were gone Embarassed

.

So....

Have you checked the bulbs?

Mark
_________________
Whut is that-there Thang!?
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Chicks dig my Thing - so what if it's little and yellow...!?

JIbe-it · Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 11:52 am Post subject:

Bulbs good, fuse good.

Cleaned brake switch connections at master cylinder and tried again. no luck.
Was reading in the manual about troubleshooting and it says to test the brake servo unit by pumping brake pedal several times at medium pressure and then with pedal depressed, start engine. Pedal is supposed to give slightly. Well, it didn't.
What is the brake servo unit and does it have to do with master cylinder?
Brakes are a bit hard, but I am only driving it up and down the drive until I get everything ready and register the beast. Could it be that this will "loosen" once on road?
Brakes do grab pretty good!

Help-I'm getting cross-eyed!!!

edgy · Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 2:00 pm Post subject:

Brake servo is the vacuum boost on power brakes. Never have to worry about that on a Thing. Just short across the wires and see if you have brake lights. Make sure you have the brake light switch not the brake warning light switches. If lights lite up when jumped, the switch is probably bad. If they don't, the wiring is bad. Need to trace it to the signal light switch which is the next most likely culprit, assuming the wires are good behind the dash. You can check the brake light switch itself by having someone hold down hte pedal while you put an ohm meter across the contacts. If it is open when the pedal is up and closed (contacts) when the pedal is down, it is not the switch.

Good luck. Wiring problems can be frustrating.
_________________
62 Single Cab (Work Truck)
63 Bungartz Tractor VW powered

JIbe-it · Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 3:48 pm Post subject:

As it is used, people made their own personal wiring configurations for add on gadgets. Behind the dash is a nightmare and I'm finding many additional loads on the fuses, and some of the fuses are very thin and one glass one has no marking for the amp. Thinking about replacing them all per specs just to rule out such a silly potential and then determine what additional amp load each gadget requires and determine which terminal it is going to.

EDGY-Thanks for the troubleshooting guide.
Will give the brake switch (by master cylinder) a try once I get thru the wire mess and report back.


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