My brake lights wont go off.. Sorted!

[adam73bgt]

Yes its me again

I thought I had this problem sussed out but it would seem not..

So basically, the brake lights on my MGB are on whenever the ignition is on. Having browsed the web for this problem, the (mostly american) mg forums seemed to point to a brake light switch in the pedal box. I duly removed the box and there was no switch!

So I think this is the brake light switch, situated on the inner wing


now the american forums all said to wind the switch in till the light turned off..

I've turned this switch in quite a few turns, and out quite a few turns but the lights are still on :/

when I removed one of the wires from the switch the lights did go out

any help would be greatly appreciated here as its probably only a matter of time before the local police notice I appear to have rather bright sidelights and no brake lights ;D

thanks

edited to remove mahooosive picture

[Dez]

thats a hydro switch rather than a mechanical one. don't screw it out, your brakes will stop working!

they do fail quite often and are cheap (sub £10) and easy to replace- screw the old one out and quickly stick the new one straight in before any fluid leaks and you usually wont need to bleed the brakes.

removing one/both wires should turn you brakelights out though, so id guess the problem lies elsewhere.

[adam73bgt]

yeah i was thinking that it might get a bit bad if i screwed it out all the way....

seems i may have to invest in a new one then, oh hang on, are you saying that since the lights did go out by removing the wire, the problem may not be the switch?

[jrevillug]

If the lights go out when you disconnect a wire, the fault is in the switch.

[Dez]

yeah. removing one/both wires should break the circuit even if the switch is jammed on. id be looking for wiring damage or a short in the rear light clusters or something.

[adam73bgt]

oh thats ok then as the lights DID go out when i took a wire off thanks for the help, now i just need to find somewhere in coventry that might actually sell the switch i need

[Rich]

I got fed up with the hydro switch on mine because The brake lights only works when you really stamped on the pedal. I fitted a push to break brakelight switch on the inside of the car on the pedal, so that the pedal moved away from the switch and completed the circuit, and just rewired to suit that. Much more reliable and a better deployment time.

[bl1300]

Yep time to replace that switch. Id also like to point out from the your photo 2 things. One of the pipes is rather corroded and also the area seems to be wet and paint it flaking and bubbling I wonder if that switch is leaking brake fluid

[cobblers]

If you've got a mate handy, swap the switch real quick then when it's mostly screwed in but not quite sealed get them to press the brake pedal slowly to pump out any air through the threads as you tighten it the last few turns.

[adam73bgt]

got a new switch on order which should hopefully arrive soon, i think the corrosion is mostly just a bit of surface stuff, the car went into a garage not too long ago for a brake fix so i would have hoped they would have told me if it was getting really bad, i will keep an eye on it though

the wetness is just wd40 from me trying to get the switch turning ;D

ah thanks for the tip there cobblers, i reckon i might get a mate to help me when i do it in that case

[adam73bgt]

New switch sorted it, thanks again for the help