OK, I thought I was having a good day getting things done on the Vanagon, but when I was done, I had a problem I didn't have before- the brake light comes on and stays on. Here is what I did before this happened: When I replaced the power steering rack last month, I didn't quite it centered, and didn't take it for an alignment. I was going to replace the tires soon anyway. So today I took the tie rods off, centered the steering, and aligned it by eye until I go tomorror to get an alignment. Then I installed the "hot start relay" to see if it helps my starting problems. I replaced the distributor cap and rotor. Now the stupid thing- as I drove off to see if everything was o.k., I heard quite a clunking sound. Back in the driveway, I discovered that I never tighnened the lug bolts after getting it off the jackstands. Took care of that and seemed o.k. But after all this was done, I noticed that the brake light stays on. The fluid is fine and I don't see any leaks. I compared it to my Quantum to see when the light in that comes on and goes off. I thoght it was supposed to come on when you turned the key to the first postion and go off a few seconds after starting, but in the Quantum it doesn't come on until car is started, then goes off after a few seconds. In the Vanagon it comes on upon starting the van, then stays on. One good thing- I had a problem with stalling upon start-up if the gas pedal wasn't kept down for a minute or two. That seems to be fine, now. I'm going to go check the Bentley and Haynes, but I'm just pretty tired from working on it, so I wanted to see if anyone had any great suggestions first. (I also washed and waxed it after I did everything else.) Thanks for any suggestions. Ed in CT |
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