[T3] DOT5 and Brake Light Switches

[Daniel K. Du Vall]

How soon after switching to DOT-5 are failures typically happening?

I am asking because I flushed out mine several moths ago and used DOT-5

So far all seems well.

________________________________
From: type3-vwtype3.org <type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org> on behalf of Jim Adney <jadney at VWType3.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2016 2:31:19 PM
To: type3 at vwtype3.org
Subject: Re: [T3] DOT5 and Brake Light Switches

On 14 Jul 2016 at 12:46, Sean Bartnik wrote:

> So far I've been through two new FTE brand switches (the $20 ones) and
> a NOS Ate switch, all of which failed in the same manner within a
> couple months.

My '69 Square has DOT-5 and was stored for 14 years before I got it
out and prepped it to drive to the 2016 Invasion. It had a number of
problems, but the brakes were completely trouble-free. The brake
light switches on it appear to be 2 different versions of Brazilian,
but I can't be sure because they haven't been touched in probably 15
years.

It's clear that we have a brake switch problem. What's not clear is
whether DOT-5 is part of the problem. I've cut apart a number of
failed switches to see if I could pinpoint a cause. I've never found
brake fluid on the wrong side of the rubber diaphram and I've never
found a diaphram that was swollen or damaged in any way.

I've seen a few switches with a melted plastic part that should have
been metal and Dave Pallo had one that he bought from me that was
simply improperly made.

I'm surprised that the FTE (formerly FAG) switches failed. I thought
those were supposed to be good. NOS is not always a good choice,
because some parts degrade just sitting on the shelf. Switch contacts
may degrade if not cycled occasionally.

We went thru the (made in China) Meyle problem, where the pinouts
were wrong, but even when they fixed that, their failure rate was so
bad they stopped making them there. Meyle switches are now made in
Spain IIRC, but they no longer import them into the US. That's too
bad, because they claim their failure rate is now excellent. I have a
small number of the Spanish Meyle switches if you want to try those.

Frankly, I'm stumped, but I'm not convinced that DOT-5 is part of the
problem.

The Harley switches sound like a good solution for '67 and earlier.
For the later cars, I'd like to preserve the 3-pin configuration,
even tho the warning light is a pretty worthless feature.

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

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