Author Topic: rear brake light warning????  (Read 1405 times)

Offline budgie

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rear brake light warning????
« on: 16 June 2013, 12:09 »
does the rear brake lights come on warning you of somthing when your not in the car? twice this has happened 1st time neibour came to door and told me id left my lights on, went on and they wasnt but the rears was on so started the car then switched it off and they went off.  And this morning the neibour came again and said uv left ur lights on again all night, so went out and battry was dead but the rear passenger side brake light was on :sad:, got mate over jumped car and left it running to charge battery and the brake light went off......   WHAT THE HELLS THAT ALL ABOUT,LOL. AND I HAVE A HANGOVER!

Offline mcgee9t2

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Re: rear brake light warning????
« Reply #1 on: 16 June 2013, 12:31 »
never heard of that before, could possibly be the switch for the break lights?

Offline Wazzzer

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Re: rear brake light warning????
« Reply #2 on: 16 June 2013, 13:41 »
the brake lights are permanently live so even with the ignition off if you press the pedal, the lights will come on. As Paul said the switch is probably faulty and not returning to the open state


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Offline mcgee9t2

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Re: rear brake light warning????
« Reply #3 on: 16 June 2013, 14:12 »
had a look around on the internet at this cause I was curious to see if there was any kind of warning, found a few threads from people saying theres was doing this, and if they pulled the pedal back the light went off..

theres was the switch jamming closed and when they pulled the pedal back it opened the switch again. could be worth a look.

though ide be 99% sure its the switch. that's where ide start anyway


http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?1158315 DIY
« Last Edit: 16 June 2013, 14:17 by mcgee9t2 »

Offline budgie

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Re: rear brake light warning????
« Reply #4 on: 16 June 2013, 14:17 »
had a look around on the internet at this cause I was curious to see if there was any kind of warning, found a few threads from people saying theres was doing this, and if they pulled the pedal back the light went off..

theres was the switch jamming closed and when they pulled the pedal back it opened the switch again. could be worth a look.

though ide be 99% sure its the switch. that's where ide start anyway

where would i find this brake switch to have a looky?,, did find it odd that when the battery was flat i couldnt get it to go off but when conected to mates one to charge it up it went off once car turned over, then again id have had my foot on the brake once it turned over so mabey releasd it

Offline mcgee9t2

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Re: rear brake light warning????
« Reply #5 on: 16 June 2013, 14:22 »
just edited my post to show a DIY.

looks relatively straight forward to do. give it a go. see what the outcome is

Offline budgie

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Re: rear brake light warning????
« Reply #6 on: 16 June 2013, 14:26 »
just edited my post to show a DIY.

looks relatively straight forward to do. give it a go. see what the outcome is

was just reading that on other forum,lol... il give it a go. does seem to look like the problem...  1st time it happened neibour was closing his curtains and they just came on so he stood there waiting for me to get out the car but never did.. thats when he came to door and told me they had just came on... my cars got polterguist (or how ever you spell it)

Offline budgie

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Re: rear brake light warning????
« Reply #7 on: 16 June 2013, 17:11 »
went out to car again, pressed brake pedal came out car and round the back and the light was still on for about 3 seconds so must be what you said, the brake switch. cheers guys.

Offline budgie

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Re: rear brake light warning????
« Reply #8 on: 16 June 2013, 19:42 »
anyway you can tell if its a 2 pin or 4 pin without taking the old switch out to check? dont want to go ordering the wrong one and also dont want to drive with my brake lights on, tried lifting pedal but they just come on again, now stuck pedal up with a ruler for the night :smiley:

Offline mcgee9t2

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Re: rear brake light warning????
« Reply #9 on: 16 June 2013, 20:14 »
im guessing you could just unplug the harness with the switch in place?

that's just a guess, unsure if there is anything that would be in the way stopping you from doing that.