Brake light staying on

[tfair]

O.K. I figured out why my battery is showing such low voltage and then hight voltage on the dash volt meter. The back brake light is not always going off. I am trying to make heads or tails out of the manual but I can not seem to find where the switch is for the brake light. I need to know where the pedal sensor is and the grounding point for the circuit. It appears that both the handle and the pedal cause a drain on the system and the light stays on most of the time after I let off the brake. After several giggles or a few jars on the road the light goes back off. I am wondering if it is a ground issue rather than a switch. If I knew where each of the switch parts were and where the ground connection was, I could try some more troubleshooting but I can not tell from the manual. Anyone else had a similar issue?

[Vance]

There should also be a brake switch associated with the front (hand) brake.

[Eck]

There is a brake switch located on the right side of bike, way down low almost underneath and at the aft end of drivers right floor board you will find the rear brake light switch.

Note that there is a little spring on the round plunger. The plunger sticks..

 

if the spring is not broken or missing (which it doesnt sound like yours is missing or broken), but just spray some WD-40 on the plastic plunger and let it soak down the shaft of the plunger.. by hand you can move the brake peddle to move the plunger and work the WD-40 in the switch. This should free it up. No adjustment should be nessisary.

 

You can see the plastic lock nut on the switch against the bracket if you have to adjust the switch, loosen the locking nut and turn the switch housing in the bracket then tighten the locking nut when you have it adjusted where the light is off when brake peddle is released

[fixit3546]

could be your brake pedal sticking also and not letting it return fully. Try a little lube on the pivot point there as well.

[tfair]

Eck as always thanks for the advice. I do not have floor boards on my first gen.

(but I am always happy to take donations:whistling:)

 

but I think that should help me understand that I am looking for a spring on a switch. I will look again and see if I missed something. When I looked I could not see a switch or anything that looked like a button switch. I may have to look deeper into the engine area as there is something that looks like it is a adjustable screw with a stop action plate on it that is part of the rear brake linkage, but it is back inside a bit under the black oil fill cover and even then I can not see all of it to tell if it is a switch or not.

 

Fixit, I though the same thing at first but I have returned the pedal to the full up position by hand and there is no slack and the light still remains on. I have to push it several times real quick to get it to go off. Man I wish it was that simple.

 

I just got the starter clutch parts repaired and now this I am going nuts trying to get this bike ready for riding this year. Oh well after it is all done the joy of getting on the road for another riding season will be worth it.

[Gearhead]

Look on p. 7-42 in the shop manual. Did you say the light sticks on whether you pull the lever or push the pedal? That's weird, I can't imagine what would cause that other than the coincidence of both switches sticking. The switches have more than 2 wires coming out because of the cruise control cancellation feature. Also, activating the brake light circuit also turns on a relay for the EANDS system, so the current draw is more than just the bulbs.

 

FRONT - a plunger switch located at the front of the lever, just forward of the pivot. That surface of the lever pushes the plunger in when the lever is released. A spring inside pushes the plunger out when you pull the lever, and that makes the light come on. The plunger can be removed and, with some difficulty disassembled and greased. Maybe spraying lube in there is all you need.

 

REAR - As somebody described, part of the lever has a spring attached which then pulls on the plunger which, opposite of the front switch, is pulled back into the switch by an internal spring. Pushing the brakes pulls it out. I think you have to remove the side panel and the little black cover to see it.

 

Good luck,

Jeremy

[Eck]

Hope these pics load up for you..

They may help with explaining what your looking for and where its located.

Also, I think you have to lay on the ground and look upward from underneath the bike in the location as shown in the picture...

[MasterGuns]

I bet ya dollar to a donut, that either the spring connecting the foot brake pedal to the brake light switch broke or your rear brake light switch simply needs adjusting. And like every here is telling ya, you must remove the black plastic piece held in place by two philip head screws that is just a little behind and above the foot brake pedal; the plastic cover you remove to get to your oil filler cap. Then just to the rear of that, is the rear brake light switch. I've had trouble with one on an 83 and the switch on my 88 and both times it was due to the spring breaking. This is an easy fix.

[silvercrew]

My voyager was doing the same thing as yours is, I found the brake light switch on the foot brake was the problem. I bought a new one and the problem was fixed.

[MikeM8560]

Tom here is the rear brake light switch

 

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b22/MikeM8560/Venture%20XVZ12/th_100_0995.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b22/MikeM8560/Venture%20XVZ12/th_100_0994.jpg

[tfair]

I found it..

 

I had to take the rear part of the exhaust off to get under the thing but I found it. The pull plunger that controls the switch is not returning on its own. I had to bend the spring around the lower connection that actually moves with the brake peddle to make it manually return and do some precise adjustments on the plastic switch adjustment screw to make it work but it does. I think the spring in the brake switch is bad but the unit looks sealed and I don't think I can get it back together if I take it apart. I do not think I need a new switch right now but I will keep an eye out just in case I see a good deal.

 

Now I just have to wait for the Odyssey battery to arrive should be today or tomorrow, finish the battery warning light fix and I will be back in good shape. Don't worry I may have had to push start the bike once or twice at the gas station after getting gas but this little issue can not keep me off the road with great riding days like we have had in the last two weeks.

 

 

 

Thanks again guys for all your help:bighug:

[Gearhead]

"Now I just have to wait for the Odyssey battery to arrive should be today or tomorrow, finish the battery warning light fix and I will be back in good shape. Don't worry I may have had to push start the bike once or twice at the gas station after getting gas but this little issue can not keep me off the road with great riding days like we have had in the last two weeks.:whistling:"

 

 

 

I had to push start mine recently when I learned the hard way that my accessories were too much for the charging system. I actually found it to be pretty easy to push start, much easier than I expected. I used 2nd or 3rd gear, forget which, ran along side it, and popped the clutch, and it started the first time. My other bike is a Virago, which is much lighter in back and has a v-twin, so it has a tendency to skid the rear tire when I pop the clutch. This thing with the 4-cyl and all its weight spun the engine much easier.

 

Jeremy

[MikeM8560]

 

Now I just have to wait for the Odyssey battery to arrive should be today or tomorrow, finish the battery warning light fix and I will be back in good shape.

 

 

 

the last owner of my bike replace the battery and removed the sensor. i tried the fix shown here with the 2 ditterent size resistors but It didnt work for me

[tfair]

I just did the battery fix and it worked great!

 

I used a radio shack 1/2 watt 1K ohm resistor in line to the accessory panel. I saw where the previous owner put in a small 18 ohm resistor in line with the sensor it did not make much sense so I just followed the guide Freebird linked to and whala.

 

I did go ahead and do the soldering even though I am not real good with it and usually end up with a bit more solder than I need. But this actually turned out rather well.

 

I had to clean the panel up with a knife to get to fresh metal as the solder would not stick with the dirty surface. After that I dropped a med size bead directly on the plate and soldered the wire to it.

 

Give it another try...if I can do it anyone can.