Nathan writes:
I have a 1999 Dodge Stratus. Lately, after I drive and get out of the car, I go around the back of the car and notice my brake lights are still on. They start to turn off with a tap of the brake pedal. After this started occurring more often, I changed the fuses as well as the battery. Unfortunately this problem is still coming back. Any advice?
Sajeev answers:
Boo!
Test the Brake On/OFF (BOO) switch: sounds like it’s been gradually losing connectivity, getting bad enough to get under your skin. The BOO switch is normally attached to the lever that operates your brake pedal, mounted somewhere at the firewall. Should be a cheap and easy fix, provided you don’t have a bad back.
Bonus! A Piston Slap Nugget of Wisdom:
Replacing the battery and fuses equates to throwing parts at a problem and hoping it’ll work. Which is never a good idea: always learn more about your car’s subsystems before replacing one component in the chain of command. Wiring diagrams, shop manuals, or (best of all) searching a model specific forum might have saved Nathan $50-80 in parts that he didn’t need to replace.
[send your technical queries to mehta@ttac.com]
Agreed! One little tip about Chrysler wiring, at least on older ones…The brake light circuit shared the same fused supply as the dome lights. The logic was that if the dome light did not work, the owner would look into having that fixed quickly, whereas the brake lights could be out for weeks without the owner being aware.
Change the switch. You may have already noticed that your cruise control is also no longer functional…
Model-specific forums:
Stratusphere.net
Cloudcars.org
I have a ’98 Breeze myself. Silly car, but I like it.
’97 Neons have an adjustment procedure for the brake lamp switch, so I expect the Breeze may also. Might be worth trying before replacing. Procedure is explained in the shop manual.
Sajeeve’s advice about going to a specific forum for your car is good advice. The two above are good as well the forums on Allpar. the forum index is http://www.allpar.com/forums/index.php?act=idx
Just look for the appropriate forum for your vehicle.
“I go around the back of the car and notice my brake lights are still on.” … “I changed the fuses as well as the battery.”
K. The battery is to supply electrical power. The lights are on, (even when they shouldn’t be). Electrical power supplied. Check.
A fuse is to protect the circuit from overload. If the circuit is live, then the fuse is good. Check.
WTF?
I agree with the former comments about seeking model specific resources.
However, I have an older Escort that started exhibiting the same thing. Turned out there is a little rubber attached to the brake pedal mounting bracket that the pin switch for the brake is supposed to push against when the brake is not pressed.
In my car’s case, that little pad had disintegrated over the years and only a small part of it remained. Once the last bit of it fell off, there was nothing for the pin switch to press against. I had a lot of difficulty in finding replacement parts, so I just adjusted the switch to push against the metal.
It should not take long to take a flashlight and verify the switch is operating correctly.
Shane,
A similar thing happened to my 2 door ZX2. The plastic piece was a medium blue in color and bits of it were laying on the floormat. A visit to my local mechanic and 20 bucks fixed the problem.
I generally hate it when TTAC uses the perfectly airbrushed and art-directed-to-within-an-inch-of-their-lives manufacturer-supplied photographs of cars to illustrate the articles, but SOMEHOW, it REALLY works for these “Piston-slap” pieces where the foibles, flaws, and truly NSFWed-up nature of these beasts are revealed.
Just thought I’d say.
–chuck
Is it just me, or is that car visually more appealing than any of the current Chryslers in that slot (Sebring, Avenger)?
windswords, mine is also a ZX2 model, but the parts departments at my local Ford dealerships all thought I was insane. Is the part available separately or do you, as I suspect, have to buy a new switch? If it is something I can get on its own, what is the thing called? I was shown a parts schematic of the brake pedal assembly and it is not on there at all.
Is it me, or was this 1999 Stratus actually a very decent car for its time?
Shane,
Wish I could tell you, but I literally handed the keys to my mechanic and picked it up when he was done with it. I don’t know what he did or replaced on it.
“but SOMEHOW, it REALLY works for these “Piston-slap” pieces where the foibles, flaws, and truly NSFWed-up nature of these beasts are revealed.”
??? It’s just a faulty brake light switch, not like the engine blew up.
“Is it just me, or is that car visually more appealing than any of the current Chryslers in that slot (Sebring, Avenger)?”
“Is it me, or was this 1999 Stratus actually a very decent car for its time?”
Yes and yes. I had a 97 ES model (wheels were better than the ones in the picture). They were very competitive cars for that time period. Looks wise I thought they were better than anything BMW had out at the time. My wife’s grandmother, who bought two Accords everytime the next generation came out (one for her and her daughter) drove it and was very imppressed. I was at a tunnel car wash and a guy who owned a late model Mercedes gave me compliments and wanted to know more about it. The only problem I had with it was some loose weatherstripping. You could get one with a Mitsu V6 with automatic and auto stick or a Neon powered one with a manual.
A few years later I needed to rent a car and I got the next gen Stratus after this (it was 2001 I think). I could tell immediately it was not as good as mine. Major disappointment. It wasn’t a bad car, just nowhere near as good as the prev gen. I knew the company was in trouble then.
chuckgoolsbee : but SOMEHOW, it REALLY works for these “Piston-slap” pieces where the foibles, flaws, and truly NSFWed-up nature of these beasts are revealed.
Tell us how you really feel! But yeah, I quite like the PR shots for cars when they enter the Hooptie phase of their life. The irony is delicious.
And to second some of the comments: yes, the cloud cars are probably the nicest looking, well packaged Chrysler small cars ever. Ditto the 1st Gen LH cars for the mid-full size category. Too bad they never nailed the reliability factor, way too hit or miss to be anything but a small-time player.
Had a 97ES, 4 cyl/stick we bought new in Germany under the Military program, drove it there for 4 years, had master cylinder replaced at about 40k, brought it back to the states and drove till 2004, sold it with 140k on it, only other issue it had was the fuel pump died at 105k. Sold it to a friend who is still driving it. Great car, was better than the bmw’s I shopped and ignored knowing how many miles I was going to put on it. A friend bought a later model with the v6 in it, had quite a few issues.. so hit or miss, simpler is better.. Drove some rentals of the next generations, didn’t care for them at all.
A brake light problem in a Mopar. Nice to see that in this crazy mixed up modern world, some things never change. I had more brake light trouble on my Mopars than any other electrical issue over the years, and none of them the same.
59 Fury with a hydraulic switch on the master cyliner that kept getting gummed up so brake lights stayed on all the time.
66 Fury III with the replacement master cyl with a shaft the wrong length so that the pedal would not hit the switch. Fixed that one by slipping a rubber pencil eraser onto the plunger. Wonder if this is where Ford got the idea on that Escort.
71 Scamp was the best of all. Mine had a hitch. Hooked up wiring harness to my buddy’s dad’s fishing boat. Watched the ammeter take a hard dive when I hit the brakes. Then it wouldn’t move. A short blew the fuse, I figured. Wrong. The little fuse stood there with courage worthy of a childrens story and withstood that horrible overload. And yes, it was the correct rating. But then the surge went up and fried the not-as-brave emergency flasher switch in the steering column. Miserable job to change it.
Had the same thing on a Toyota. I’d been usig a Krooklok antitheft device and it had pulled the brake pedal up too far, dislodging the brake light switch so it sat incorrectly on the bracket.
kicking the pedal allowed it to vibrate briefly back intot he correct orientation, allowing the brake lighst to switch off.
Oh well at least you know your brake lights work.
The little fuse stood there with courage worthy of a childrens story and withstood that horrible overload.
Heh! That one’s as good as “dropping like Hueys in the South China Sea.”
Changed that same switch on my Neon last year. i presume it’s the same one even, it fits on all the Chrysler /dodge.jeep models.
very easy fix, and cost me about 6 bucks if i remember correctly.
just a note to prove how they don’t make’em like they used to.
on my 2000 Neon, the brake switch light had to be changed at about the 135000Km mark after 7 years of use.
on my 1983 Chevrolet Celebrity (I can hear you laughing)I only had to change the same part after 25 years of use and over 300,000km on the counter…
makes you think where the automakers are heading in terms of quality…