From: E. Meyer on
On 7/28/10 9:58 AM, in article i2pgfu$skd$1(a)news.eternal-september.org, "C.
E. White" <cewhite3(a)mindspring.com> wrote:

>
> "Jeff Strickland" <crwlrjeff(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:i2pdis$akl$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
>>
>> "Ray O" <rokigawa(a)NOSPAMtristarassociates.com> wrote in message
>> news:i2odk6$fnp$2(a)news.eternal-september.org...
>>>
>>> "Steve W." <csr684(a)NOTyahoo.com> wrote in message
>>> news:i2o9cf$q0v$1(a)speranza.aioe.org...
>>>> brassplyer wrote:
>>>>> Saw two simultaneous and previously unencountered things occur today
>>>>> on my '89 Toyota Cressida.
>>>>>
>>>>> First I noticed that my cruise control doesn't work though the green
>>>>> "cruise" indicator is going on. Second, discovered that my brake
>>>>> lights are staying on, with all lights turned off and the vehicle off.
>>>>> Right now I've got the battery disconnected.
>>>>>
>>>>> What will cause either/both of these? Obviously I can't keep
>>>>> disconnecting my battery every time I park the car and I need my brake
>>>>> lights to work.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks for all input.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Brake light switch is stuck on. Not a hard fix. It's attached to the
>>>> brake pedal arm up behind the dash area. Simple to R&R with a new one.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Steve W.
>>>> (\___/)
>>>> (='.'=)
>>>> (")_(")
>>>
>>> It is easy to check for continuity on the brake light switch with an ohm
>>> meter. The switch should be open when the pedal is not depressed and
>>> closed with the pedal is depressed. Before you remove the old switch,
>>> check the adjustment so that you can get the replacement switch close
>>> before you install it and then fine tune it after it is in place. Also
>>> make sure that the brake pedal is retracting fully.
>>>
>>> If the switch is good, check for a short to ground somewhere in the
>>> circuit, starting in the trunk.
>>> --
>>
>>
>>
>> A shorted wire will blow the fuse, not turn the lights on. The Cruise
>> should be enabled in this condition also, not disabled.
>
> Why do you think that? It depends on the method used to activate the brake
> lights and crusie control. I agree that for the common brake light circuits
> I have seen, shorting the positive 12V feed to the lights should blow a
> fuse. But blowing this fuse muight also cause the cruise control not to work
> depending on how things are set up. Also, I can imagine a system where the
> brake lights are turned on by the car's computer. Such a system might use
> the brake light switch as a signaling device that signals the computer that
> the brake pedal is engaged by connecting a signal line to gorund. In such a
> system, if the signal line was shorted, the brake lines might turn on
> without blowing a fuse.
>
> Probably you are right about a shorted wire in the trunk blowing a fuse, but
> I am not sure that would also enable the cruise control. And given some of
> the light monitoring systems used in some cars, I am not sure what a short
> might actually do.
>
> Ed
>
>

This being an '89, the odds that the switch itself has shed a crunchy
plastic part has got to be approaching 100 percent. Its not going to be
necessary to ohm out anything or test the switch for continuity, one look at
it will tell the story.

From: MM on
jim beam wrote:
>
> might not even be the switch but the pedal lever tab that activates it.
> on hondas, it's a little plastic tab that pushes through a hole. if
> the tab breaks apart, the switch pin pokes through the hole where the
> tab would be and fails to switch off the lights and switch on the
> cruise. costs about $2 new, or free at a junkyard [too small and they
> won't charge you for it].
>

That's what caused it on my '90 Corolla. But the dealer quoted me $20.00
for the part...about a 10 gram piece of plastic...and he had to order it.
From: Jeff Strickland on

"C. E. White" <cewhite3(a)mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:i2pgfu$skd$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
>
> "Jeff Strickland" <crwlrjeff(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:i2pdis$akl$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
>>
>> "Ray O" <rokigawa(a)NOSPAMtristarassociates.com> wrote in message
>> news:i2odk6$fnp$2(a)news.eternal-september.org...
>>>
>>> "Steve W." <csr684(a)NOTyahoo.com> wrote in message
>>> news:i2o9cf$q0v$1(a)speranza.aioe.org...
>>>> brassplyer wrote:
>>>>> Saw two simultaneous and previously unencountered things occur today
>>>>> on my '89 Toyota Cressida.
>>>>>
>>>>> First I noticed that my cruise control doesn't work though the green
>>>>> "cruise" indicator is going on. Second, discovered that my brake
>>>>> lights are staying on, with all lights turned off and the vehicle off.
>>>>> Right now I've got the battery disconnected.
>>>>>
>>>>> What will cause either/both of these? Obviously I can't keep
>>>>> disconnecting my battery every time I park the car and I need my brake
>>>>> lights to work.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks for all input.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Brake light switch is stuck on. Not a hard fix. It's attached to the
>>>> brake pedal arm up behind the dash area. Simple to R&R with a new one.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Steve W.
>>>> (\___/)
>>>> (='.'=)
>>>> (")_(")
>>>
>>> It is easy to check for continuity on the brake light switch with an ohm
>>> meter. The switch should be open when the pedal is not depressed and
>>> closed with the pedal is depressed. Before you remove the old switch,
>>> check the adjustment so that you can get the replacement switch close
>>> before you install it and then fine tune it after it is in place. Also
>>> make sure that the brake pedal is retracting fully.
>>>
>>> If the switch is good, check for a short to ground somewhere in the
>>> circuit, starting in the trunk.
>>> --
>>
>>
>>
>> A shorted wire will blow the fuse, not turn the lights on. The Cruise
>> should be enabled in this condition also, not disabled.
>
> Why do you think that? It depends on the method used to activate the brake
> lights and crusie control. I agree that for the common brake light
> circuits I have seen, shorting the positive 12V feed to the lights should
> blow a fuse. But blowing this fuse muight also cause the cruise control
> not to work depending on how things are set up. Also, I can imagine a
> system where the brake lights are turned on by the car's computer. Such a
> system might use the brake light switch as a signaling device that signals
> the computer that the brake pedal is engaged by connecting a signal line
> to gorund. In such a system, if the signal line was shorted, the brake
> lines might turn on without blowing a fuse.
>
> Probably you are right about a shorted wire in the trunk blowing a fuse,
> but I am not sure that would also enable the cruise control. And given
> some of the light monitoring systems used in some cars, I am not sure what
> a short might actually do.
>
> Ed
>


I was thnking of a very simple wiring system where the Cruise would see the
brake light voltage go high because the brakes were applied, and this would
shut the system down. Assuming a short, then the voltage would never go
high, and that would keep the system enabled.

Having said that, if the wire that turns the brake lights on were to short,
the lights would not come on and the fuse should blow. What happens to the
Cruise is beyond me, I've not really given it all that much thought. Since
the symptom set is that the Brake Lights are on and the Cruise is disabled,
then the thing I would be looking for is a stuck brake light switch. I'd not
be expecting a short anywhere in the system.






From: brassplyer on
Replaced the switch, lights still staying on. Dangit.

From: N8N on
On Jul 30, 6:32 am, brassplyer <brasspl...(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
> Replaced the switch, lights still staying on. Dangit.

Do the lights stay on when you *unplug* the switch?

nate