Damn Brake Light Switch,

You guys are forgetting...

The brake lamps are dual filament bulbs.
You've got running lights burning away as well and your directionals.
All together they draw a surprising amount.

Try (with your car not running) putting an ammeter in line with your battery, turn the car "on", (warning! do not start!) check the current draw, then turn on your running lights, then your brake lights.
You will be shocked how much current all those lights draw. (add a sorry 7.5A for the Bosch ignition unless you have one of Jeff N's rebuilt Bosch units, his is about 3.4 amps)

When I converted to LED, I brought the total draw down to just 3 Amps, plus the headlights and ignition. Jim (WYOX19) as my witness.

Hi Bob,

I'm sure they're just a single filament bulb - the parking lamp is a separate bulb located directly above the brake.

You're right Myron

I had to take a second look. :doh:
Maybe if I get time I'll do an ammeter comparison.
It's surprising how much current the X takes with incandescents.

artz1731 said:

almost got rear ended today. I am replacing the brake light switch for the third time in two years. What's up with these switches? Are they just made too cheaply these days? Not much to them, can't figure out why they keep failing.

Click to expand...

artz1731, Did you happen to figure out why your brake light switch was failing? I just purchased and am replacing tonight my third brake light switch in two years, with not many miles on it.

This last one is pushed in all the way and won't come back out. I adjusted this one so the switch held my peddle in the rest position. But I don't have the rubber piece that fits on peddle. Is that needed?

The first one I think I didn't have adjusted right with my peddle box axle being seized. My peddles weren't retuning to the rest position properly. So I think the first one shorted out by constantly arching on and off.
Thanks Jon

Mine gets lubricated by a leaking master cylinder

The current batch of brake light switches are terrible. I repaired one at this past Oregon event for JT. What I found was that the contacts just were failing to complete the circuit. I bent the tabs slightly up and then it seemed to work fine. To get the switch apart you have to pry the crimped section out slightly, I used a flat blade screwdriver to do this. Crimp it back using a large pair of channel lock pliers to get the plastic section held firmly in place and you should be good to go.

I just found this thread due to the recent additional comments.

Interesting situation. I would not be surprised if some of the switches being sold are not of high quality. There are some really inexpensive (and very poor quality) ones available from some unusual countries. They look just like all the others but are not well made. It would be tempting to buy a bunch of them and resell at the price of the 'good' stuff (I'm not accusing anyone of anything here).
But some of the situations described above also sound like possible electrical issues (bad grounds, bad wires, bad connectors, etc), which as we know is a common issue on these cars. The idea of checking all of the adjustments and movements related to the switch is also good.

Installed my new switch tonight. The new switch has a much stiffer spring than the one that went bad and the one I had on first that also went bad. Both of these switches were purchased from the same place. So I am thinking and hoping that these were from a bad batch of switches and my troubles with brake lights is over.
Thanks for all comments. Seemed like it was very unusual to have two go out in such a short time. So when I found this thread I knew I wasn't the only one.

What fixed my issue was the conversion to LED. I too purchase switches from the same vendor and like you received different ones every time.
The switch to LED was quite simple and made the difference.