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Brake light on all the time - turns off with brake pedal

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by neonjoe, Apr 1, 2012.

  1. neonjoe

    neonjoe New Member

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    Hello all,

    I have a '82 XJ550 Maxim, and suddenly the rear brake light is on continuously, except when I press the brake pedal; then, only the running light is on.

    I've looked at the wires going back to the brake - couldn't find a grounding problem (didn't expect that anyway since the light's on). In either case, the yellow wire (which is supposed to be for the brake light) has voltage unless the brake pedal is down.

    I looked at the two wires coming out of the mechanical switch that's connected to the brake pedal - one wire has voltage when the key is on, the other only has voltage when the brake pedal is up (not depressed). Pressing the pedal down drops the voltage to zero, and the brake light is no longer on, but the running lights are still on.
    To me this seems backwards... shouldn't pushing the brake pedal close the circuit instead of opening it?

    Thanks in advance...

    Edit for clarity.
     
    neonjoe, Apr 1, 2012
    #1
  2. tabaka45

    tabaka45 Well-Known Member

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    It would make sense that one wire coming into the switch would be hot, and the other leaving the switch and going to the brake light would only be hot when the pedal is depressed. If that's the case, then the problem would be somewhere other than the switch. If you have done any wiring work I'd recheck it.
     
    tabaka45, Apr 1, 2012
    #2
  3. neonjoe

    neonjoe New Member

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    It's the other way around; one wire is always hot, and the other is hot when the pedal is not depressed.
    I clarified the language in my original post.
    Also, I haven't done any re-wiring at all... and it worked normally last year.
     
    neonjoe, Apr 1, 2012
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  4. neonjoe

    neonjoe New Member

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    bump.Does anyone have any ideas what might be happening here?
     
    neonjoe, Apr 6, 2012
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  5. bigfitz52

    bigfitz52 Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    Take the bulb and socket apart; see if you've got moisture-laden corrosion creating its own version of the taillight circuit.

    Look inside the headlight shell to be sure something hasn't come unplugged and is laying in the shell creating its own 'ground.'

    If you don't have a factory book, PM me with your email address and I'll send you the circuit-specific diagrams.
     
    bigfitz52, Apr 6, 2012
    #5

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