This problem just started with my son's 77. Someone broke into his car and stole his cell phone, some cds yesterday, and now with all the power off, his brake lights are always on. Thought I would ask for some ideas for a quick solution or where to look before I started to chase the wiring with the manual. (I despise doing electrical work) Thanks Jim
Electrical work sucks, more than having your car broken into and your cel phone and CDs stolen...well, maybe not that much. First things first, check the switch at the brake pedal. Most obvious solutions first. Good luck with the brake and the crooks.
First guess would be a bad (or maybe just slipped out of place) stop light switch, just unplug it to check.
Its weird, as my son actually caught up with the guy, who took a swing at him, so he proceded to put him down and use the old Ultimate Fighting Ground and Pound tactic. I'm actually thankful there was someone there to pull him off. Hope the cell phone and some burnt CDs were worth a fractured nose and eye socket. He got what he deserved. Will check the switch tonight when I get home from work. Thanks Jim
Man, glad to hear someone finnally got what they deserved. I've had stuff stolen from me before, and I know how much I would have liked to knock their face in, even though it was relatively worthless stuff. Try unplugging the switch and see if the lights go out.
Lights SHOULD be off when switch is pressed in by relaxed brake pedal. When you start to press the pedal, the switch button will come out, turning the lights on. We are assuming that the switch is worn out, stuck out, or just bumped to the side so the pedal no longer lines up and hits it when relaxed. Could also be a bent pedal stopping the allignment, or a worn or broken brake pedal bracket. Make sure the pedal does NOT move side to side, only forward and backward. This button is under the dash, about 2/3 way up the brake pedal arm. Easy to find, and should have a wire or two going into it.
and duct-tape a shotgun attached to a string attached to the door, etc. You get the point. Actually, my dad grew up in LA around the American Graffiti times, and said one hot-rod buddy actually had sticks of dynamite on his dashboard, with wires running in and out of them. Nobody really knew if they were real, and if they worked, but it DEFINITELY worked as a theft deterrent. Word of mouth was powerful as well.
My grandpa used to hide a spare key to his motorcycle shop under a pile of fake dog poop made out of plastic back in the 70's.
I just use real dog poop. A little water does wonders! and south Texas gives me horrible allergies Actually, I had this Cheeby Luv pickup truck as a hand-me-down first car. Dad gave it to me when I was 13, said I could drive it in the neighborhood as long as I kept it running and straightened out the body (hence, my strong aversion to Bondo!). Well, I drove it for years, and slowly, everything started breaking down. At the time I sold it for $300, I had no keys (the originals had worn down to just rounded bumps on the key and wouldn't work). To open the truck, I hit the back window with my fist popping open the sliding back window. Then reach in and unlock the door. Then, there was a couple of toggle switches. One was the horn (car alarm, if you didn't know how to start it!), one was the clutch pedal override, one enabled the stereo, and a button for the starter. So, switch the clutch override, hit the button for the starter, unswitch the clutch override, then switch on the stereo. You had to remember to undo them all or the battery would be dead when you came back. THAT is the way I DON'T want to restore this Maverick But that truck got me through Jr High, 1st couple years of high school, drivers ed (I was the only guy driving 20 miles to get to the drivers ed class ) and then I inherited dad's 280 ZX, which got me through high school, college, graduate school, and my wife's college, before I traded it in on my first NEW car. It had 280,000 miles, and I still got $1000 trade in for it. Sorry for rambling on...my wife is reading the new Victoria's Secret catalog and paying no attention to me, so I have to talk with my "internet buddies"
Thanks to all who replied, as it was a faulty switch. My son changed it out himself in about 10 minutes, and installed a car alarm in about 15. His car aint worth that much, but it is his and he's very proud of it. Jim
