[T3] DOT 5 and brake light switches

[Jim Adney]

Sean sent me the FTE brake light switch which had failed on him. I 
cut it open to see if there was anything inside that might explain 
the failure. Unfortunately, everything in there looked good. In fact, 
the internal construction of this FTE switch was very similar to that 
used in the OG ATe switches that came on our cars: metal pusher, with 
spring and snap ring, and nice (possibly silver) contacts.

BTW, FTE appears to be what used to be FAG, an OE supplier to VW.

There was no sign of fluid in the contact volume.

When I tested the contacts by pressing them down by hand, they worked 
just fine. I'm afraid that I didn't check the switch BEFORE I cut it 
apart. In hindsight, I wish I had, because it looks like it may have 
been OK.

So, either I disturbed something in the process of taking it apart 
that allowed it to start working again, or Sean mis-diagnosed the 
problem and we sacrificed a perfectly good switch. Sean, how much did 
this FTE switch cost?

The cut apart switch is on its way back to Sean. It should get there 
on Friday.

I also contacted the Meyle rep here in the US. He had been helpful to 
us before, so I thought it was worthwhile asking him about this. With 
the date codes from the remaining switches in my stock, Meyle in 
Germany confirmed that they had so much trouble with those switches, 
made in China, that they had ceased buying them there. Their current 
switches are made by FAE in Spain, and Meyle Germany claims that 
they've had no further complaints since switching suppliers. They're 
sending me some samples to replace my Chinese Meyle stock, so I'll 
get a chance to see if this is an improvement. I hope so, but it's 
difficult to know, since the "testing" usually takes so long. It will 
be interesting to see if these come in Meyle or FAE boxes.

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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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