Well my MK2 was booked in for a MOT Monday , but had to cancel it for a week .
Checking all the lights yesterday , found I had no brake lights .
Checked a bulb first , that was fine , must be the switch , pulled the 2 wires off and added a loop , lights work fine , so it’s the switch .
Had a job to get it off , as it’s only the brake pipes that stop the lot from turning , managed to use a spanner on the shoulders of one of the brake pipe fasteners , to stop it turning so I could undo the switch !
I replaced my brake light switch with a motorcycle one that’s connected to the actual pedal with a spring. Makes the lights come on as soon as I touch the brake and don’t have to worry about the pressure issues with that switch. Something to consider!
There is an American switch, that sits in the original position, but turns the lights on at the slightest touch of the pedal.
I, like the author above, came to the MOT where the lack of brake lights was discovered. Changed the contact, with the same issues hou describe, and went back where they ticked it off.
I kept the originals, and added pedal switch to strip LEDs in rear windscreen.
These come on earlier than the brake lights and a very visible indeed
I have nearly been run into before.
Recently had my 4wd destroyed from a hit from behind at 60km no braking
It could so easily have been my 420G
very scary indeed, I am still rattled up, and amazed at the stupid driving I see all around me
I am thinking of adding further LED strips across the rear screen, they would flash, and spell out the letters “FK OFF”
My experience is that many of the currently available inexpensive switches do not last. I have been using the uprated low pressure ones from Ron Francis Wiring but even with these I have had failures even though they are supposedly heavy duty. I have been told that if cars are using halogen stop lamp bulbs the amperage draw for these puts it over the rated capacity of the switch and after a certain number of cycles the switch fails. The solution is to fit a relay and have the switch only operate the low current draw relay, not the current for the actual bulbs. I may go this way if I experience more failures.
I found the ‘standard’ modern replacement switches required too high a pressure meaning light braking did not illuminate the lamps. I’ve had no issues with the halogen stop/tail bulbs and switches but have recently swapped to LED so any current issues would be mitigated I am sure. I found the Ron Francis switch illuminated the lights with the merest touch of the pedal and has been in place for 5000 miles thus far
You’re probably fine since you are using LEDs that are low current draw. Some of my cars have combined stop and turn signal bulbs and changing to LEDs causes issues with the flasher unit.
