James,
I don't profees to know much about electrical stuff either, but my guess is
your switch is failing internally. Again guessing, I think the wire gets hot
because brakelight bulbs are high wattage (bright!), which heats up the
wires during prolonged use.
It must be a pain to work on this problem alone...jiggle the pedal up front,
then walk to the rear of the car to observe, and repeat. Can you disconnect
the wires from the switch and hook up a temporary deal so that the bulb is
right there with you while you fool with the brake pedal?
----- Original Message -----
From: "James" <sartana@xxxxxxx>
To: <L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, July 05, 2003 10:00 PM
Subject: [FWDLK] Electrical Question
> Some time ago, I had a problem where my brake lights came on without the
> pedal being depressed. I jiggled with the pedal and it went away. No more
> problem. Hardly a real fix, but out of sight, out of mind.....
>
> Fast forward to today. I start the car, letting it warm up before taking
it
> for a spin. I am out of the car, cleaning the chrome around the tail
lights
> and I clearly recall that the brake lights were not on. I go into the car
> the hit the gas come back out and the brake lights are on. I suspect that
I
> may of tapped the brake pedal in the process, though that should matter
> little. I held down the brake pedal when I stated the car. Immediately, I
> recalled my previous problem and so I go and wiggle the brake pedal
around.
> This time, it does no good. The brake lights will not go out. Next, I pop
> open the hood to remove the wires connecting to the brake light switch. I
go
> to remove the wire and it is hot. I don't mean warm to the touch, I mean a
> burned finger, blister and all after a split second touch. I shut of the
> car, tail lights still on, then remove the wire. Lights go off. (The wire
I
> removed was the White one which goes to the turn signal switch cluster in
> the steering column.) I will say that about 2 years ago, I put a new
wiring
> harness in the car. I have had no problems and have added nothing to the
car
> to affect the original wiring set up, such as a radio, etc.
>
> So, what could be causing this? If there is one area of cars I know the
> least, it is electrical. I suspect it could be a short or something, but
> would that cause the lights to come on? Several hours later, I went out
and
> reconnected the wires. The tail lights came on again and the wires started
> to get hot. I have noticed no other electrical problems up to this point.
> Any tips or leads on how to track down the problem would be appreciated.
No
> matter how basic, it is helpful. I would like to address this myself
without
> having to take it to an electrician. I am sure it is a simple problem.
Could
> the switch going bad cause this??
>
> James
> 1959 Dodge
>
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