Brake Lights Stuck On

[Ka` 0]

People,

 

I did a search, but no one seems to have had the same problem.

 

When my lights are off and I press the brake, my brakelights work normally.

Oh yes, the amusing thing to fellow drivers (and complete, utter embarrasment for me)

is that when I drive during daytime (without lights) and I brake, my nearside sidelight comes on,

also, it seems that if I listen very carefully while starting to press the brake, it makes a faint *click*ing noise.

 

I turn the lights on (side- or driving lights, doesn't matter) and the brakelights are

constantly on, it looks like I am braking all the time! When I press the brake pedal, the brake lights

become ever so slightly brighter.

 

I tried today taking one bulb out at a time and that didn't help. As soon as I turned sidelights on,

the remaining brakelight came on with the same intensity. Pressing brake made it slightly brighter.

 

The bulbs are in the right way (only a muppet could force them the other way). Only rumours

I've heard is that if someone puts a single filament bulb in a twin filament holder, it can cause all kinds

of weird things to happen. Surely, the standards have prevented this with offset pins vs. opposite pins? Or something else.

How do I check what kind of filament the bulb is anyways?

Do I actually check for two filaments inside the bulb? Is that the easiest way?

 

Brake pedal switch? If so, what can I do about it? I noticed that GSF sell these switches for a fiver or so,

but can I really attempt this myself? I didn't think so. I shone a light on the pedal after taking the fusebox cover off

and it seems very high up.

 

Any help appreciated,

Cheers,

Rica

[dr_mat 0]

Sounds more likely to be a wiring problem at the bulb end, IMHO. Sounds like current is leaking from the sidelight circuit onto the brake bulbs.

Remove both bulbs from the "dodgy" side and see if the other side works normally.

[jims corrado 0]

I used to get a similar problem on my old ford. It was usually an earth fault. Check in the boot to see if there is a brown wire attached to the bodywork somewhere, then take it off clean it and replace it. Used to work every time for me.

 

Jim

[Ka` 0]

Thanks boys,

 

I'll have look for the things tomorrow, when it's light again

 

Cheers,

Rica

[Henny 0]

The bulbs are in the right way (only a muppet could force them the other way). Only rumours I've heard is that if someone puts a single filament bulb in a twin filament holder, it can cause all kinds of weird things to happen. Surely, the standards have prevented this with offside pins vs. opposite pins? Or something else.

How do I check what kind of filament the bulb is anyways?

Do I actually check for two filaments inside the bulb? Is that the easiest way?

 

It's easy to check for a twin filament bulb, as you say, you should be able to see 2 actual filaments inside the bulb, but the dead giveaway is that the bottom of the bulb will have 2 distinct contact areas which are offset rather than one central round connection.

 

The standards for the bulbs which were designed to prevent said muppetry don't actually work that well... :roll: It's pretty easy (I've NOT done this, but have seen it done lots!) for a muppet to put the bulb in the wrong way around, or to cram a single bulb into a double socket... :roll:

 

The other thing that springs to my mind is that you may well have just been unlucky in how your bulb has blown... :? If a twin filament bulb blows, only one filament tends to go at once... If this broken fillament has moved about and touched the other filament causing an internal short in your bulb which would cause this kind of "interesting problem..." bear it in mind before you start having to spend any money, it's one hell of a longshot, but as this would only cost you the price of a couple of bulbs to replace the old side/brake ones it may be worth thinking about... 8)

 

I can't see how it could possibly be the brake light switch... It has no contact with the other lights... The brake lights do share an earth with the other lights though, so it could be this that's the fault too.... :?

 

I'd check and replace both rear/brake bulbs and see what happens... If it's still the same, it's a wiring fault... time to dig out the multimeter... :roll:

[Ka` 0]

First of all,

 

Thank you very much for the replies.

After seeing them, I went out, took both of the bulbs out and had a good look at them.

The bulbs hadn't blown but one of them had the interesting connection as seen below in a pic.

Off to a bin nearby, that one.

 

That still didn't solve the mystery of why the bulbs were on with the same intensity

when I took them out one at a time. So I also checked the earth, took it out and reseated it again properly.

 

Problem solved!

 

My brake pedal still makes this weird clicking noise and I am absolutely positive it's a new noise,

which just happened to happen at the same time as my bulbs misbehaved.

Oh well, won't worry about that for now

 

Thanks for all your help,

Rica

[Henny 0]

The bulbs hadn't blown but one of them had the interesting connection as seen below in a pic.

Off to a bin nearby, that one.

 

Well, flippin' heck.. I knew my theory of a half blown bulb was a long shot, but I didn't expect it to prove correct! 8)

 

The reason that your brake lights were coming on was 'cos that bulb had blown and then shorted itself against the other fliament creating that odd connection... This was allowing a path to earth through the other filament causing the brake lights to come on along with the sidelights... :?

 

Glad you got it sorted anyway... 8)

 

I've no idea what the clicking noise is though, It's so long since I drove my 'rado I couldn't tell you if they're supposed to do that or not... :cry:

[Ka` 0]

Henny,

 

OK, I thought that the bulb hand't blown since the filaments are still intact.

It looked more like a manufacturing error to me. But as you said, I am glad

as well that it has been sorted.

 

Cheers,

Rica