Post by
dickie »
https://forums.nicoclub.com/dickie-u32299.html
Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:07 am
You may have read that I was having electrical issues with my car that I believed was due to faulty wiring. The symptoms were: brake lights stayed on all the time, strong smell of burning wires, bad idle and hesitation.
Following the advice Florida240sx gave me, I decided to start at the switch that the brake pedal contacts to operate the brake lights.
It wasn't hot like he had described his, but something was definitely wrong enough for me to check it out. I immediately noticed i was going to run into a problem. Between the brackets for the steering column and the brackets for the brake pedal, there was really no room to operate back there.
I started be removing the lower dash cover and kick panel and dropping the steering column all the way by removing the 2x 12mm bolts near the wheel and 2x 12mm nuts at the back on the bracket. This allowed me at least a couple extra inches to work with, but the brackets still prevented me from getting a 14mm open-end wrench on the nut I needed to remove to pull the switch.
I asked my dad what he thought about it, and he said it looked like a job for a crow's foot wrench, which I had never used before. We had to make a quick trip to O'Reilly's to pick up a set (they don't sell them separately).
Due to the extra "lip" and the fact that they are made about twice as thick as a regular wrench, it was difficult to muscle it onto the nut holding the replacement switch to what has now become a parts car more than anything else. The switch that I thought was bad was not so lucky; I grabbed it with RoboGrips and broke off the plastic box after messing with it for nearly 10 minutes.
*NOTE* there is a second switch on the right side of the brake pedal, identical except in color. I believe this is used for cruise control shutoff when the pedal is pressed, so if you don't have a CC-equipped car, it might not be there for you. If you do have it, it will need to be removed to access the left switch.
The new switch went in fine and my idle problems and burning smell seemed to be gone, but the brake lights were still stuck on. Dammit.
I re-inspected the switch with the intention to adjust it so the pedal bracket made contact with it correctly, and I made a discovery that both shocked and appalled me. The bracket itself was NOT what depresses the switch button operating the brake lights. A PLASTIC RIVET in the bracket itself is responsible for that. Sure enough, the plastic rivet on the donor car was fine, and the rivet on my other car was in pieces on the floor.
WHY DID NISSAN USE A PLASTIC RIVET THAT CANNOT BE REPLACED TO OPERATE THE BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH?!
I was a little more than frustrated at this point having realized I spent time and money replacing something that may not have been broken (I later realized the switch was bad too, possibly from the same thing that broke the rivet). I tried creating a new "rivet" out of zipties, but failed miserably. Then I dug through my toolbox and found a small nut and bolt and decided to try that out. After another 15 minutes of futzing around with the pedal and switch to get some clearance, I was able to get the hardware in place and give it a test. It works better than it used to and cost me nothing. I wonder why Nissan didn't use something a little sturdier or at least replaceable when they installed it in the first place...
*NOTE* DO NOT attempt to adjust the switch's contact point at 11pm in the dark, you will end up making the switch depress the brake pedal just enough to drag your rear caliper, and you will only figure it out after you have been driving down the freeway for 10 miles and the pressure in the system progressively builds. You will have to adjust it on your back in an empty church parking lot with your brake pads smoking while calling your boss to let them know you will be a few minutes late.
DIAGRAMS:
1. Wire harness plug (black)2. Plastic switch body (lt blue and black)3. Bracket4. switch button5. POS plastic rivet that pushes switch button
this is where the rivets are located on the brake pedal.
my solution: a small nut and bolt that goes in the bracket on the brake pedal shown above in place of the rivet.
I hope that saves you guys some time and trouble next time you are diagnosing brake light problems.
e