I too have had a great deal of trouble with my stop light switch. I do use
Girling. I bled the system a couple of times, primed the switch and it still
wouldn't work 9 out of 10 times. I found I had to take the switch out and
carefully insert a small piece of wooden dowel into the switch. I found that I
could exercise the switch. Moving the diaphram back and forth seemed to do the
trick. If it seems to cut out on me again, back to the parts store I go for
the switch y'all are talking about.
Robert Bailey
> That is essentially the way the brake light switch on the '69 Alpine fastback
> works, with a little metal bracket holding it
>
> Jan
>
>
>
>
> "Randall Antosiak" <randya@pacbell.net> wrote:
> Steve - I had exactly this problem. I'm using silicone fluid in my brake
> system. After replacing the brake switch a couple of times without success,
> I decided to go to a mechanical switch. The switch has a "button" on one
> end, and when the button is depressed then the circuit is open. When the
> button is not depressed, then the circuit is closed. I mounted the switch
> under the dash so that the button end is in contact with the brake pedal.
> When the pedal is up (not braking) it presses against the switch and opens
> the circuit. When the pedal is depressed the circuit is closed and the
> brake lights go on. I purchased the switch from my neighborhood auto parts
> store and the bracket was home made out of some sheet metal. I've had no
> trouble with this in the last two years.
> - Randy
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-tigers@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-tigers@autox.team.net]On
> Behalf Of ssage@socal.rr.com
> Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 8:55 AM
> To: Tiger Mailing List; Alpine Mailing List
> Subject: Stop Light Blues
>
>
> A week or two ago I bragged how I had fixed the Tiger's stop light
> switch by taking it out, banging it on the ground a few times, and
> re-installing it. It did, in fact, work properly for a few days. A
> couple of days ago, though, I realised the switch is again working
> intermittently. (I have figured out a way to get it to temporarily work
> while still installed: Bang on it a bit with a wrench while it's still
> installed! Be careful not to damage any brake lines, though).
>
> I spoke to a Sunbeam expert who's first question was if I'm using
> silicone fluid and, in fact, I'm using Valvolene Syntech (I don't know
> if it's silicone, but it is synthetic). My friend said this is almost
> for sure the problem and that he's heard from numerous Sunbeamers that
> synthetic brake fluid does not allow the switch to function properly.
> Something about it coating the internal contacts so a circuit can't be
> made. I've since found reference to this on a couple of hot rod web
> sites, and that there are switches that will function using synthetic
> fluid (and those that will not). A suggestion was also made that you can
> fit a mechanical switch under the brake pedal. I visited a couple of
> parts stores and looked at a few mechanical, under the pedal switches,
> but none seemed like they had the right geometry to work in a Tiger or
> Alpine.
>
> Short of switching back to Girling fluid, has anyone else out there had
> this problem? Is there another switch that will work that will fit the
> thread down there, or has someone found a mechanical stop light switch
> that will go under the pedal without major surgery, or another solution?
>
> Steve Sage
> 1967 Tiger MK1A
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