Stoplight switch perils
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From: Buffalo
Stoplight switch perils
84 F250...
A couple of weeks ago my Dad told me my brake lights weren't working... so I dove into it and tested everything - there is power to the switch, but pressing on the pedal doesn't activate lights. If I lifted up on the switch, however, the light would come on but flicker. I took the switch out and manually depressed it and got continuity.
So I just decided to replace the switch- cheap enough. So now the lights work but the pedal needs to be almost fully depressed before the lights come on. If I let up on the pedal just slightly, the lights turn off. So sitting at a red light, the brake lights are almost always OFF, they do turn on if I have to make a sudden stop but to me, I would think they should come on with the pedal depressed at a minimum of half an inch, and YES, the switch is installed correctly.
Is the pushrod in the booster (inside the truck) adjustable or are there any "hacks" (hate using that word) to make the pushrod depress the switch sooner?
A couple of weeks ago my Dad told me my brake lights weren't working... so I dove into it and tested everything - there is power to the switch, but pressing on the pedal doesn't activate lights. If I lifted up on the switch, however, the light would come on but flicker. I took the switch out and manually depressed it and got continuity.
So I just decided to replace the switch- cheap enough. So now the lights work but the pedal needs to be almost fully depressed before the lights come on. If I let up on the pedal just slightly, the lights turn off. So sitting at a red light, the brake lights are almost always OFF, they do turn on if I have to make a sudden stop but to me, I would think they should come on with the pedal depressed at a minimum of half an inch, and YES, the switch is installed correctly.
Is the pushrod in the booster (inside the truck) adjustable or are there any "hacks" (hate using that word) to make the pushrod depress the switch sooner?
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From: Buffalo
That's kind of what I figured but I tried installation both ways and it doesn't seem to make a difference. So currently it's installed so the terminals on the switch are facing the seat, the "slotted" part of the switch is towards the pedal with the open part facing up (if that makes any sense). From the illustrated parts diagram, this seems to be the correct installation. Initially, the old switch was installed incorrectly, I think it was just mere coincidence that it was defective because I did try properly installing the old switch properly with no luck.
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So now the lights work but the pedal needs to be almost fully depressed before the lights come on. If I let up on the pedal just slightly, the lights turn off. So sitting at a red light, the brake lights are almost always OFF, they do turn on if I have to make a sudden stop but to me, I would think they should come on with the pedal depressed at a minimum of half an inch...
Could be you only have a few strands left intact. That might not be enough capacity to carry the required amount of electrons to illuminate the brake lights. As the switch and wires move, some of the broken strands might touch and suddenly your lights work, at least for the moment.
That's my TheoryDuJour(tm) and I'm sticking to it.
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