Stop light switch

[davidhowson]

I am 75% of the way in installing a new wiring loom into my S1 Fulvia, but I can not for the life  of me work out how the brake lights work! Can any of you more knowlegable folk tell me how the brake lights are switched and where the switch would go, please?

Thankyou

-David-

[ColinMarr]

David,

On my S1 Sport the brake-light switch is a fixture on the brake pedal mounted below the steering column. It clamps on to the pedal assembly in a most unlikely way - it looks like an afterthought, but it works!

Colin

[Richard Fridd]

mine is fitted to the master cylinder, activated by means of fluid pressure

[ncundy]

And here's a photo of said switch on the end of the master cylinder:

[davidhowson]

Thank you for your replies. The end of my master cylinder has a bolt screwed into the end where your photo shows the switch.
I have another interesting little connection I have found in my box of bits which I will try to take a pictiure of later, as I suspect it is some kind of pressure switch, but I wasn't sure if it had anything to do with a "Brake Failure" light on the dash, but then I don't recall such a light!
My thought is to make a switch that operates of the brake pedal along the lines of Colin's.
I will let you lnow how I get on...

David

[ncundy]

I think S2 & 3 master cylinders had the pressure switch deleted (replaced by a large bolt) and used a switch off the pedal. I must admit I am slightly dubious about the arrangement. Somehow I would feel more comfort if I knew the brake lights would come on when I touch the pedal rather than waiting for some pressure build up to (hopefully) trigger the lights.

[FulviaFiend]

I agree, and concur that S2 and S3 models have a simply switch on the pedal assembly, the simpler the solution the better in my opinion.

Images attached:

FF

[davidhowson]

FF - A Fulvia Friend indeed! Thank you for the diagrams, very useful. Looks like the switch is the way to go. Does anyone have a spare one they wish to sell??

I may have a few other questions if I can't work out a solution on certain parts of the wiring; the car did not have a loom when I bought it (many years ago now) so I am building one bit by bit, but to my own design rather than trying to re-create the Lancia one.

ONce again, thank you to everyone for your replies!

David

[ColinMarr]

Omicron listed “Pedal actuated Brake light switch” in their 1998 catalogue at £4.05 each.

My car is early 1st Series, but the master cylinder is 2nd Series and so has the pedal mounted switch. It is fortunate that the 1st Series pedal assembly, which is quite different to 2nd Series, is amenable to fitting this later type switch.

Colin

[nistri]

There is a small difference between S1 and S2 in the operation of the brake lights switch. The S1 brake switch is activated by a certain pressure inside the master cylinder, meaning that the free run of the brake pedal will not activate the rear brake lights. On an S2-3 car, even a small touch to the brake pedal (with no or minimal brake pressure) will switch the rear lights on.
Regards, Andrea

[davidhowson]

An update on this one...

After looking at the various options, I decided to buy a mechanical plunger type switch to do this job as I considered it more reliable and easier to fit than the pressure sensitive switch that came off.

So I bought a switch from AES (Auto Electrical Supplies) over their web site at a cost of about £11. Arrived very quickly too.

The switch is a universal one with one pair of contacts that make when the plunger is released and one pair that break when the plunger is released, so it will work in all situations!

The only slight draw back was that I had to drill out the hole in the peddle box as the plunger is M10 fitting. But the job took about 20 mins from start to finish and I'm very happy with the result.

AES sell a fantastic selection of electrical components and I would recommend them to any member looking for such parts.

-David-