Brake Light Switch

 

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Switch Repair

Alternative Switch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back in 2010 or 2011, my brake light switch stopped working so I took it apart, cleaned and "repaired" it. A short term solution that's documented at the link in the left column called Switch Repair.

The repair lasted for a while but would intermittently stop working so I decided to buy the $25 NAPA Echlin SL-310 switch from a mid 80's Honda..................turns out these are getting hard to find and none of the local NAPA stores cad them in stock but would special order one for me.

Then one of The 6-Pack Forum members (Poolboy) posted a couple of other switches listed on eBay that looked as if they should work...... so I bought one of each......for about as much as the Honda switch.

The first thing you'll notice is the all metal housing and the heavy duty "plastic" insulator around the terminals. The next thing you'll notice is they weight more: 1/4 oz for stock, 3/4 oz for the BMW and 1-1/4 oz for the Airtex. The last thing I noticed was that the two new ones came with two nuts which meant you had infinite adjustments for setting the distance to the brake pedal arm........... no more bending that stupid tab and hoping everything worked. I wonder if at some point the stock switch had two nuts also?

The stock one looks pretty cheap next to these alternatives. They all have about the same thread length but the Airtex has the longest body.

Airtex up close.... very solid construction.

BMW.... same solid feel to it.

I went with the BMW......I've already got GM TBI, Toyota 5 speed, Nissan diff so it was time for something German! The yellow arrow points to the bracket and the two red ones to the adjusting nuts. Those are 5/8" nuts and a stubby wrench makes installation easier. I set the distance to the brake so the lights come on with minimal pedal travel. Now I'll just drive and hope they work better than the stock switch.