2000 Concorde LXi

As I got out of my car (in the garage) a hour ago, I noticed a
reflection of red brake lights on the wall. Walked to the back and ....
sure enough... brake lights were on So was the light that comes on in
the back window. Hit the brake pedal but lights remained on. Hit it
again and this time they went off.

What's THAT all about? Potential root causes please. No rug nor mat was
anywhere near the brake pedal. Light switch was off.

P.S. Car is well maintained and otherwise operating without exception.

On 5/10/2011 5:20 PM, jaygreg wrote:
> As I got out of my car (in the garage) a hour ago, I noticed a
> reflection of red brake lights on the wall. Walked to the back and ....
> sure enough... brake lights were on So was the light that comes on in
> the back window. Hit the brake pedal but lights remained on. Hit it
> again and this time they went off.
>
> What's THAT all about? Potential root causes please. No rug nor mat was
> anywhere near the brake pedal. Light switch was off.
>
> P.S. Car is well maintained and otherwise operating without exception.

Sounds like your brake switch is out of alignment. There is a fairly
easy way to adjust it, I think it involves pulling it out all the way or
in all the way, then letting go to self-adjust, but can't remember
offhand. It is documented in the factory service manual and should take
less than a minute to fix.

Another concern is why it is out of alignment. It could be just random,
or it could be a symptom of the brake booster going bad. Has that ever
been changed? They accumulate water over time and eventually fail/need
replacement.

No, Greg, the booster has never been changed by me and I've had the car
from about 25K mile on to the 130K it has now. Those brakes have always
been a point of frustration; warped rotors, two bad bearings. The car
almost always felt (as it does right now) that it's got a bump on some
part of the brake (rotor warped again probably). It's slight, but I'm
sensitive to these little issues. Maybe that's why the car is still in
such good shape, :-)

I'll have that booster looked at. I scanned the section of of the manual
and saw the need for gages so....I 'll have to have it looked at by a
mechanic with the proper tools.

Thanks for your help.

On 5/10/2011 6:37 PM, Greg Houston wrote:
> On 5/10/2011 5:20 PM, jaygreg wrote:
>> As I got out of my car (in the garage) a hour ago, I noticed a
>> reflection of red brake lights on the wall. Walked to the back and ....
>> sure enough... brake lights were on So was the light that comes on in
>> the back window. Hit the brake pedal but lights remained on. Hit it
>> again and this time they went off.
>>
>> What's THAT all about? Potential root causes please. No rug nor mat was
>> anywhere near the brake pedal. Light switch was off.
>>
>> P.S. Car is well maintained and otherwise operating without exception.
>
> Sounds like your brake switch is out of alignment. There is a fairly
> easy way to adjust it, I think it involves pulling it out all the way or
> in all the way, then letting go to self-adjust, but can't remember
> offhand. It is documented in the factory service manual and should take
> less than a minute to fix.
>
> Another concern is why it is out of alignment. It could be just random,
> or it could be a symptom of the brake booster going bad. Has that ever
> been changed? They accumulate water over time and eventually fail/need
> replacement.

On 5/10/2011 11:19 PM, jaygreg wrote:
> No, Greg, the booster has never been changed by me and I've had the car
> from about 25K mile on to the 130K it has now. Those brakes have always
> been a point of frustration; warped rotors, two bad bearings. The car
> almost always felt (as it does right now) that it's got a bump on some
> part of the brake (rotor warped again probably). It's slight, but I'm
> sensitive to these little issues. Maybe that's why the car is still in
> such good shape, :-)
>
> I'll have that booster looked at. I scanned the section of of the manual
> and saw the need for gages so....I 'll have to have it looked at by a
> mechanic with the proper tools.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> On 5/10/2011 6:37 PM, Greg Houston wrote:
>> On 5/10/2011 5:20 PM, jaygreg wrote:
>>> As I got out of my car (in the garage) a hour ago, I noticed a
>>> reflection of red brake lights on the wall. Walked to the back and ....
>>> sure enough... brake lights were on So was the light that comes on in
>>> the back window. Hit the brake pedal but lights remained on. Hit it
>>> again and this time they went off.
>>>
>>> What's THAT all about? Potential root causes please. No rug nor mat was
>>> anywhere near the brake pedal. Light switch was off.
>>>
>>> P.S. Car is well maintained and otherwise operating without exception.
>>
>> Sounds like your brake switch is out of alignment. There is a fairly
>> easy way to adjust it, I think it involves pulling it out all the way or
>> in all the way, then letting go to self-adjust, but can't remember
>> offhand. It is documented in the factory service manual and should take
>> less than a minute to fix.
>>
>> Another concern is why it is out of alignment. It could be just random,
>> or it could be a symptom of the brake booster going bad. Has that ever
>> been changed? They accumulate water over time and eventually fail/need
>> replacement.


To be sure, a brake light switch issue does not mean you have a booster
problem. However for me it was an early indication that something was
changing and I experienced a brake booster failure during the next cold
snap, which was about a month later. (The accumulated water in the
booster froze in 15F degree weather).

I would just recalibrate the switch using the very quick FSM procedure
but be sensitive to brake booster issues (loss of brake assist, hissing
noises, etc.) It's likely nothing will be noticeable anyway until
winter, depending on your climate. But an uncalibrated brake switch
that leaves your brake lights on can leave you stranded due to an empty
battery, plus a reduction in battery life.