Front brake switch assembly & light always on

[Anonymous]

I finally have my front brakes all cleaned up and working great, but the brake light is always on. I know it has something to do with the switch assembly and how I assembled it, but I am not sure what.

There is a spring, a copper cap, a pastic holder that holds these 2, a plate with wires attached and a cover. The plastic holder fits into the slot where the brake lever makes contact with it. I am not sure where this assembly should be in relation to the brake lever. It seemed like there was a slot for it, but the brake light is not affected when I pull the lever.

What have I done wrong? Where should this holder be?

Thanks

[bwringer]

The plastic nub on the switch goes in the slot in the brake lever. When you pull the brake lever, it moves the nub and thus completes the circuit.

Assuming it's assembled correctly, you can loosen the two mounting screws slightly and tap the switch back and forth to adjust where it engages.

And yes, it is a real mickey mouse PITA setup. A very bad design. Some people replace it with a real switch activated by brake fluid pressure.

Here's the switch if you need a new one (scroll down):

http://www.crc2onlinecatalog.com/brake_switch.htm

[jonr]

Brehill,

I just had my brake switch apart the other day. You'll notice on the brake lever there is a slot where this plastic/copper part fits into. Look for wear inside the slot and it should start to make sense. As far the brake light staying on, this is good and bad. This means the copper contacts are clean, BUT, it also means that the little plastic/copper part (pictured below) is installed incorrectly. That little part is rectangular. Positioning the rectangular part incorrectly (off 90 degrees) barely leaves enough room for the part to come out of contact with the switch. Try turning the part 90 degrees and test it again. Also observe underneath that where the two wires are soldered to the contact points and see if they are touching -ergo closing the circuit.



-jon

[Anonymous]

rectangular piece

Hi Jon,

The rectangular piece, is that the copper piece? So it should be short in the direction taht it travels?

The wires are not shorted. So it must be the way that piece is intsalled. Thanks.

[jonr]

You got it. Give it a turn and reinstall and see if that does it.

-jon

[jonr]

Just a quick note. The replacement switch part looks square but the factory one is rectangular. The plastic part that holds the spring and the copper will only seat up into the brake lever one way, but the copper can be rotated 90 degrees when seated inside the plastic part.

[SqDancerLynn1]

If you get frustrated You can replace one of the banjo bolts with a hyd pressure switch to activate the brake light NO more problem