Brake Light and Pedal Pressure

[Targa Me]

Hello everyone, I have an 84 Carrera and it seems like I have to apply a good amount of pressure to the brake pedal before the brake light comes on. Is there an adjustment for this? (I'm away from home and don't have my Bentley manual with me.)
Thanks in advance.

[emac]

What you have is normal. The switch is mounted on the M/C and are pressure. They do take a bit of pushing to engage the light.

[SpeedracerIndy]

Your brake light sensor could be going bad. It is a switch located on the master cylinder. Relatively easy to replace, although you might have to bleed your brakes afterwords since air could be introduced into the master cylinder during the swap-out.

When I purchased a new master cylinder, it came with new switches already installed. I noticed that the amount of pedal pressure applied before the bake lights came on was less than with my 25+ year old original master cylinder.

[Targa Me]

Thanks for the reply.

[jurhip]

As long as the light comes on when your car actually starts braking, I wouldn't worry about it. If your pedal travel is too high or spongy, try bleeding your brakes. The light will come on earlier, but should still come on at the same 'pressure'.

I would think a bad switch would be intermitent or not work at all. The pressure changes previously mentioned may be more a factor of sensor calibration and "foot" calibration.

[911pcars]

Brake lights are supposed to warn vehicles behind you are braking. If there's no sign of this, vehicles assume you're not. That's a potential hazard.

Replace the switch.

Sherwood

[Pazuzu]

Brake Light Switch, Again?

Page 2 has a few suggestions for upgrades. It seems that two new switches, along with a relay system to take the current away from the switches will give you good results.

[rnln]

this thread might help.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/434599-one-two-brake-light-swiches.html#post4227196