No brake lights and a hard pedal, but then...

[Joesprocket]

So while i was out driving around in this awesome east coast weather I noticed that my brake lights weren't coming on when braking. Tail lights yes, blinkers yes, but no brake lights. I checked all wiring, fuse and bulbs but no luck. I hit frustration and mashed the brake pedal and not only did the resistance in the pedal get softer after that but the lights also started working. ... huh???

The truck has a brake booster installed by the PO but I feel like this is may be a problem that probably warrants a bigger solve other than mashing the pedal if the lights don't work.

Also - i should mention throughout all of this i havnt had any issues with the truck coming to a stop or general braking while driving.

little help?

[LockDoc]

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What year is your truck? If it has a proportioning valve it sounds like it might have been off center and mashing in the brake centered it. That would explain the softer pedal but not the brake lights working. The brake light switch is in a bracket beside the brake pedal arm under the dash and I'm guessing it needs adjusted. The softer pedal probably means that the pedal went down farther and made the switch operate correctly.

I hope you can decipher all of that...

LockDoc

[Joesprocket]

Ha, no but i'm learning all the time and that's the point, right? The truck is a 69. I didn't know there was a brake light switch behind the brake pedal arm (which i'm assuming this is the actual foot pedal itself). How would i go about "adjusting" that? anyone have a picture of what this look like so I can ID it? Of course i'll do my own search on the interwebs as well but never sure if it differs from year to year.

[snipescastle2]

Those brake light switches are plastic and threaded. You push them all the way in until it bottoms out, and that's it. If the switch had pulled out, your lights would have been on all the time.did your brake warning light in the dash come on at all?
Ben

[Joesprocket]

Originally Posted by snipescastle2

Those brake light switches are plastic and threaded. You push them all the way in until it bottoms out, and that's it. If the switch had pulled out, your lights would have been on all the time.did your brake warning light in the dash come on at all?
Ben

I'll inspect it when i get home. No, the brake warning light has not come on at all.

[70STOVEBOLT]

Ben is correct. The switch activates the lights when the plunger is extended, not when it is depressed. When you push the pedal, the plunger extends, and it interrupts the circuit to light the brake lights.

[snipescastle2]

I got to thinking about this last night, you said the P.O. had installed the power brake booster, I wonder if the pushrod is adjustable or? I know my power booster push rod has an adjustment on the end to set the "Free play" on the pedal, if he had used a manual brake pushrod, perhaps it's not long enough, or broke, don't know....
Ben

[Joesprocket]

Originally Posted by snipescastle2

I got to thinking about this last night, you said the P.O. had installed the power brake booster, I wonder if the pushrod is adjustable or? I know my power booster push rod has an adjustment on the end to set the "Free play" on the pedal, if he had used a manual brake pushrod, perhaps it's not long enough, or broke, don't know....
Ben

An excellent call out, Ben. Based on what I've witnessed of the POs handywork I wouldnt be surprised if something is broke or incorrect. I'll trouble shoot that first and get potentially with pics with what I'm working with. Getting ready to go out of town for a few days so follow up next week.