Calais Auto V8 - Brakes lights on randomly

[vk4kij]

How do I check the brake light switch and how do I pull it out?

Thanks.

 

[Redline16]

Try putting your foot behind the brake and lifting on it. If the lights go out you'll know for sure its the switch out of alignment. Im not sure how you go removing it. I know in vn vp it was sort of a push in/pull out to adjust it

 

[Mookie01]

How do I check the brake light switch and how do I pull it out?

Thanks.

I doubt very much that you have a switch problem , if you look behind the pedal you will see pedal depressing on to a switch , a lot of cars usually have a rubber stop bump on it which either gets worn out or just pops off it’s like a little rubber bung which causes in worst case brake lights to remain on even when car is turned off

 

[Mookie01]

How do I check the brake light switch and how do I pull it out?

Thanks.

Also you have not recently put aftermarket rear taillight bulbs in the car have you ? Customising tail lights can cause more problems

 

[stooge]

I doubt very much that you have a switch problem , if you look behind the pedal you will see pedal depressing on to a switch , a lot of cars usually have a rubber stop bump on it which either gets worn out or just pops off it’s like a little rubber bung which causes in worst case brake lights to remain on even when car is turned off

it works the other way around, the pedal releases a switch in front of the pedal arm.
more modern versions will have a switch on the side like this...

Spoiler: pic

 

[Mookie01]

it works the other way around, the pedal releases a switch in front of the pedal arm.
more modern versions will have a switch on the side like this...

Spoiler: pic

That’s why I said a lot of cars have the rubber bung I did not say all cars , pretty unlikely it’s the switch anyway on a car of this age , what I am thinking is the guys put aftermarket bulbs or taillights into his car which are creating this issue

 

[stooge]

That’s why I said a lot of cars have the rubber bung I did not say all cars , pretty unlikely it’s the switch anyway on a car of this age , what I am thinking is the guys put aftermarket bulbs or taillights into his car which are creating this issue

i am not sure what mean by a rubber bung but a brake pedal will have a variable travel distance when you push on it and having something stopping it like a bung or a switch could stop the brakes working so they engineer the switch as a "release switch" from the resting position of the pedal because the resting position is the same all the time and it would allow the brake pedal to basically go to the floor.

the picture i posted shows a switch on the side which is a modern design which can allow you to tap the brake to cancel cruise control and not illuminate the brake lights because the modern switch can sense position not just on/off and it can also detect the speed you press the pedal so if you jump on the brake hard/fast the vehicles computer systems can detect that.


you do have a good point about the lights because if he has put led bulbs in they could be illuminating from residual current as some cheap led bulbs will do that.
if the lights randomly come on and cruise control cancels its self then it is probably the switch.

without any more info from the op we can only guess.

 

[vk4kij]

Sorry for the delay.

As the problem is very intermittent it is hard to catch, and I cannot see if the problem is happening while driving. The most obvious tell tale is the cruise control will play up.

I have seen the brakes come on by themselves while the car was parked and I was unloading stuff from the boot, it took a couple of pumps on the brake pedal before they brakes lights went out. Unfortunately I didn't try to raise the pedal as dan_vz suggested and will do that next time.

I found the pedal normally needs about 0.25 inch of movement before the brake lights come on, so I guess it's not an adjustment.

The car is completely standard, all bulbs are original as bought, ex demo from a car yard, and I have checked that the current bulbs are not LED after Mookie01 pointed that out.

I suppose I will source the cost of a new switch but first try to figure out how to remove the existing switch, which I cannot see any screws attaching it and so far I cannot even unplug the wires to it.

 

[vk4kij]

it works the other way around, the pedal releases a switch in front of the pedal arm.
more modern versions will have a switch on the side like this...

Spoiler: pic

That's a great picture there stooge, better than I can see for myself. It gives me an idea where the screws are now.

 

[Z31na]

Sorry for the delay.

As the problem is very intermittent it is hard to catch, and I cannot see if the problem is happening while driving...

Do you do any driving at night?
The trim that covers the brake light in the window on mine was rattling so I put foam tape there. Its a bit wide so the red shines onto the c-pillars at night and I can see it in the mirror.

If you can do something like that for night time you’ll defiantly see if its happening when your moving.