Safer stop lights

[balleta]

Just finished an easy project for the stop lights to come on early for safer driving. Now they come on by just touching the brake pedal like modern cars, not by pressing it hard.


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[NoLift911]

Nice! It's on my list...even with new switches, bleeding etc...mine take forever to come on.

[Arne2]

I've been planning something like that for some time now. Do you know what the switch you used came from? It looks like a great choice.

[seymore]

Lets see a few pic of your stereo.

[balleta]

Originally Posted by Arne2

I've been planning something like that for some time now. Do you know what the switch you used came from? It looks like a great choice.

Really everything came out from garage spare parts. I think switch is from a Nissan Pathfinder but is widely used in japanese cars. Below is other photo of the connection. Just took out one of the pump switches and wired to the new switch.

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[HawgRyder]

Another possibility...LED type lights...they come on instantly rather than slowly heat up like incandesent bulbs.
There used to be a device that blinked the brake light on motorcycles 2 or 3 times before coming on normally.
With LED's this would be an attention grabbing idea.
Bob

[mueller944s2]

What exactly did you do? My dad's 911 lights are terrible

[hbueno]

I'm sure many of us would appreciate if you would document the steps you took and parts used (including part numbers if possible). The pressure switches in the stock setup are a major flaw.

Hugo

[Chuck.H]

I ditched the pressure switches years ago, with a similar setup. Basically the top hole in the booster housing will move IN when the brake pedal is pressed, so a Normally Open (NO) switch pressed against it will trip the brake lights with 1/4" pedal travel. Fabricate a bracket of choice to hold the switch here.

I used a standard US brake switch based on the fact my 1980 CJ Jeep brakes have worked flawlessly for over 30 years, but it's a little bigger than the OP's switch.

The switch replaces the pressure switches, so remove a set of pressure switch wires and lengthen them to attach to your new switch.

This is a huge improvement to a MAJOR design flaw with pressure switches - shame on VW, Porsche etc for ever accepting a pressure switch solution. I'm surprised they haven't been sued by somebody rear ended for their incompetence with this design.

I suggest everybody sit in their garage tonite and see how hard you have to press the brake pedal to get them to light - and then imagine you're in stop and go traffic stuck on the highway with fast moving traffic approaching behind you - most likely you will never press the pedal hard enough to trip the lights unless your PS's are very new.

Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 348k miles

[balleta]

Originally Posted by mueller944s2

What exactly did you do? My dad's 911 lights are terrible

Originally Posted by hbueno

I'm sure many of us would appreciate if you would document the steps you took and parts used (including part numbers if possible). The pressure switches in the stock setup are a major flaw.

Hugo

Well, I will try.
Parts needed:
stop light switch from a japanese car ( Toyota, Nissan, etc) This type of switch is normally close, opens the circuit when pushed.
piece of steel or aluminum for bracket
two 1/2 lenght small bolts & tap for them
about 40" of 16ga cable
two male and two female spade terminals
wire loom (optional)

Take off upper plastic plug from brake booster/pump base.
Switch will be positioned through this hole and adjusted to stay pushed by the linkage when brake pedal is at rest position. When the pedal is deppresed the linkage will retire from the switch activating it.
Measure about 2.5" x .75 of the material used for the bracket.
Drill one hole in the upper portion of the bracket for the switch.
Position it in upper mentioned hole and mark two holes for the support bolts.
After drilling the bracket, position it against the pump base and mark the bolt position.
Drill and tap the pump base.
Assemble the switch in the bracket, bolt it to the pump base and adjust it to work with the pedal. Is better to use a test light or buzzer for this.
For the electric connection just put two equal lenght cables from the switch and route them to the plugs at the brake pump. You can tap them to two opposite cables at either of the plugs or take out one plug and connect each other cables from the new switch to two opposite terminals at the plug. There are other ways to connect it but this an easy and straightforward one.
Look closely at the pictures as reference. Questions are welcome.
It is an easy project to make our cars safer. Go for it.

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[manbridge 74]

Originally Posted by Chuck.H

I ditched the pressure switches years ago, with a similar setup. Basically the top hole in the booster housing will move IN when the brake pedal is pressed, so a Normally Open (NO) switch pressed against it will trip the brake lights with 1/4" pedal travel. Fabricate a bracket of choice to hold the switch here.

I used a standard US brake switch based on the fact my 1980 CJ Jeep brakes have worked flawlessly for over 30 years, but it's a little bigger than the OP's switch.

The switch replaces the pressure switches, so remove a set of pressure switch wires and lengthen them to attach to your new switch.

This is a huge improvement to a MAJOR design flaw with pressure switches - shame on VW, Porsche etc for ever accepting a pressure switch solution. I'm surprised they haven't been sued by somebody rear ended for their incompetence with this design.

I suggest everybody sit in their garage tonite and see how hard you have to press the brake pedal to get them to light - and then imagine you're in stop and go traffic stuck on the highway with fast moving traffic approaching behind you - most likely you will never press the pedal hard enough to trip the lights unless your PS's are very new.

Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 348k miles

I'm having trouble following you. My 74 does not have a PS. It has an adjustable contact switch at the pedal. Do 89 models not have this? Or was mine added? Seems factory last I checked.

[Arne2]

Porsche changed to pressure switches when they added power assisted brakes. No mechanical switch on SC or Carrera.

[andyt11]

I did something very similar too if anyone is interested, info here re the wiring and switch.

Carerra / SC mechanical brake light switch install.

[Arne2]

I've read several of these threads, and the thing that often seems to be missing is details on the switch used. So my first step was to spend some time looking for one I liked. It needs to be "normally closed", have threads for adjustment, and I decided it would be nice if the connections exited perpendicular to the switch axis, rather than straight out the back. Here's what I settled on:







Fitment details: 2005 Hyundai Sonata 4 cyl. w/o cruise. (With cruise will work too, just has extra terminals.) Same switch fits multiple Hyundai and Kia models, but if you tell the FLAPS guy the above, you'll get this switch.

I won't go into the mounting details, that's simple and has been covered before. The switch comes with one lock nut, the threads are 10x1.25. I did do one additional step - I added a "face guard" to prevent anything I might throw in the trunk from smashing the switch.