[T3] DOT5 and Brake Light Switches

[Keith Park]

I think I went thru 2 or 3 switches on the Crate before you bought it.
BTW, will you be at Terryville next month with it?  :-)

May drive me harder to get there this year, the MT Equinox hillclimb was
moved to July this year so thats done and over and the Terryville weekend
is free this year, probably only this year as the hillclimb will be back
there next year after this years washout in july!

Keith


Topnotch Restorations
topnotch at nycap.rr.com
http://www.a383ina68.addr.com/radiorest/main.htm
71 Squareback  "Hothe"
65 Notchback  "El Baja Rojo"
93 RX7  "Redstur"
87 Golf  "Winterat"
 

-----Original Message-----
From: type3-vwtype3.org [mailto:type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org]
On Behalf Of Sean Bartnik
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2016 5:28 PM
To: type3 at vwtype3.org
Subject: Re: [T3] DOT5 and Brake Light Switches

For me it's generally been around a month or so. 

-Sean

> On Jul 14, 2016, at 5:00 PM, Daniel K. Du Vall <dduvall at 1peter4-10.org>
wrote:
> 
> 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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