Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2014 16:41:29 -0700
Reply-To: Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Brake Light Troubleshooting Tips?
In-Reply-To: <5394B660.2050101@sbw.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
They can both fail, it happened to me on my '84. Pull the wires off the
switches and jump the pairs with wire or paperclips (ignition on) to see if
your brake lights work. Jumping a single pair should trigger the brake
warning light. Easy to replace without bleeding the system, just put a rag
underneath.
Stuart
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Steve Williams
Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2014 12:16 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Brake Light Troubleshooting Tips?
I hope you have tips to help me troubleshoot my brake lights. '84 Westy
Wolfsburg.
Symptom: No brake lights. No brake warning light, either.
A local VW shop worked on this a few weeks ago. They checked the brake
light switches and found no problem there. They believe the problem was due
to a backup warning system that had been spliced into the left taillight
wires (ground wire and reverse light wire), so they removed the spliced-in
wires, leaving the original wires chewed up by the cheap-o splices.
The reverse lights, taillights, turn signals, and side markers all are
working fine, but I went ahead and repaired the chewed-up wires (solder and
heat shrink), and the reverse still lights work fine. I don't think it's a
problem with that ground wire, which serves the whole assembly.
With the brake pedal held down by a piece of wood, there's no power on the
brake light wire at the left or right taillight assembly.
Fuse #8 is intact and has power on both sides.
That fuse originally served the interior lights and cigarette lighter.
The GoWesty aux battery kit removed those from the fuse, leaving just the
"stop lights" (as they're called in the Owner's Manual). I installed that
kit years ago, and the brake lights were working until recently.
I have not checked the brake light switches myself. I think they'd have to
BOTH fail to get no brake lights AND no brake warning light, right?
Is it hard to get in there and get a voltmeter on the brake light switches?
I took a peek, but I haven't removed the instrument cluster yet.
Thanks for your advice.