Brake light saga continues I NEED HELP PLEASE

Jan 17, 2019
16
0
west midlands
the hammer tap hasnt worked on mine but putting the magnet on when the switch is off but still plugged in makes the brake lights go off so it cant be faulty wiring surely
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
Again, as I said in the other thread, I reckon that you are correct there!

Sounds like a positional error issue, maybe, just maybe, a genuine VW Group repair kit would address what VW Group have discovered can happen with these switches/sensors.
 
Jan 17, 2019
16
0
west midlands
disconnected both rear lights put them in the airing cupboard to dry a bit. so turned ignition on no centre brake light on pressed the brake pedal light came on and stuck on
 
Jan 17, 2019
16
0
west midlands
a few weeks ago i had to replace nearside brake pipe it lost a lot of fluid i dont think its bled right as there seems a lot of brake pedal travel i am wondering if this has got anything to do with it abs fitted it was hard to bleed
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
disconnected both rear lights put them in the airing cupboard to dry a bit. so turned ignition on no centre brake light on pressed the brake pedal light came on and stuck on

Ah, the good old leaking rear cluster problem, luckily I was looking after my daughter's late 2009 Ibiza when I did that job, so dried them out same way and ran a bead of clear sealer all round each cluster, bought sealer from Halfords, it seemed to fix it.

SEAT do have a very poor record with regards to fitting classy looking but poorly manufactured light clusters, not only to Ibiza, but Leon as well!
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
a few weeks ago i had to replace nearside brake pipe it lost a lot of fluid i dont think its bled right as there seems a lot of brake pedal travel i am wondering if this has got anything to do with it abs fitted it was hard to bleed

I can't say, but if you run a single line out of fluid, there is a danger that air can get into the ABS block, but, if you think that you currently don't have a "solid" pedal, then you need to sort that out, it is credible that having air in the master cylinder or a connected line could mean the "rest" position of the elements of the master cylinder are not returning to where they should be, you might just be on to something there - until you prove otherwise.

There is a dedicated routine for flushing the ABS block, but for that you need VCDS or VW Group dealer level diagnostic tool.
 
Jan 17, 2019
16
0
west midlands
hi RUM4MO thanks for your replies i have took it to a local garage now as i have tried to bleed a golf with abs before with no success i will let you know the outcome
 
Jan 17, 2019
16
0
west midlands
ok got the car back brakes been bled now pedal feels good. now the Brake lights they do go off after 12 seconds every time the same. i dont think the mechanic that did it has got the vcds software he said the abs pump was not communicating with the car im not sure on this. do you think it needs a scan with vcds to clear the faults
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
I'd hope that a fully working brake light switch system would switch the brake lights off as soon as you took your foot of the brake pedal.

Does the ABS perform the self check at engine start and car moving like it should, ie a system self test so that the ABS light which must be on when you initially switch on the ignition - it test the light, then it should go off quickly as you start the engine and move the car?

I'd be very surprised if the ABS passes the self test and leaves the warning light off if there is a comms issue.
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
This is getting to sound like maybe too many of these "brake lights staying on" end up being due to a badly designed master cylinder, in other words another bit of duff parts sourcing by VW group. This concept of brake light switch was meant to be an improvement over the previous switch mounted on the brake pedal concept - not so it seems, just a more expensive repair when they fail.
 
Jan 17, 2019
16
0
west midlands
new master cylinder fitted everything working ok now have stripped the old one down and the magnet is round the first piston when i say stripped down i mean hacksawed to get the piston out no circlip just two pins
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
new master cylinder fitted everything working ok now have stripped the old one down and the magnet is round the first piston when i say stripped down i mean hacksawed to get the piston out no circlip just two pins

Hum, sounds like the plan is after these master cylinders are built they don't expect/allow for them to get refurbed or sorted!

Ah well for once, someone, ie you have confirmed that brake lights stuck on can mean, or probably means new master cylinder required.
 
Jan 17, 2019
16
0
west midlands
heres a few pictures of the master cylinder after id stripped it down
 

Attachments

  • P1010827.JPG
    P1010827.JPG
    1.3 MB · Views: 81
  • P1010832 (1).jpg
    P1010832 (1).jpg
    329.8 KB · Views: 83