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View Full Version : Mystery solved Brake light switch failures



Gen3CoupeTX
03-04-2019, 04:08 PM
Two years and 1,600 miles later, I've replaced the brake light switch on my '06 Coupe three times. My wife called me once to say the lights were constant on while it was sitting in the garage. The next two replacements just stopped working. I know these things last forever in the Chrysler minivans they also fit.

So when I removed the latest one, I decided to take it apart ... Which I should have done earlier. It looked like this; picture attached. There's no way in hell a switch looks like this after only a year, and rarely leaving the garage. It occurred to me that I'd only washed the car 2-3 times since I've owned it. Aha!

While I laid in the car looking up past the pedals, I had my kids pour water around the driver's side windshield wiper arm outside. Sure enough ... Drip, drip, drip. I have two fuel pumps installed under the hood; Paxton supercharger. A tiny errant hole was drilled by someone prior, hiding under one of the pumps.

All watertight now! I keep a couple of these switches on-hand, but hopefully will get some use out of the latest one. Suspect keeping it dry will help :z:

36969

512BB
03-04-2019, 06:11 PM
Moral of the story, do NOT drill tiny errant holes :-) Glad you figured it out though. LOL

Gen3CoupeTX
03-05-2019, 09:10 AM
Amen! And don't hide it if you do. It didn't look intentional, more like a drill bit slipped ... But just enough to drip water into the one electrical switch directly south of the aftermarket fuel pumps. That said, I can now change a brake light switch on a Gen3 with my eyes closed. See, looking at the positives!

AZTVR
03-05-2019, 10:57 AM
Amen! And don't hide it if you do. It didn't look intentional, more like a drill bit slipped ...
I know of some other guys who had a very similar issue with their vehicle; although, their leak didn't involve water.
They did find the cause quicker than you; but, their motivation to find it was probably much higher.

37004

Gen3CoupeTX
03-05-2019, 06:06 PM
AZTVR, no doubt ... Good perspective!! If I thought it meant life or death, I might have done some investigation on the second failed switch. Be safe out there ... Or up there, whatever your situation is.