[T3] DOT5 and Brake Light Switches

Jacob Hoffman jacob at jacobhoffman.com
Sat Jul 15 09:18:42 PDT 2017


>
> It looks like I'm resurrecting a year-old chain, so I tried to trim a bit
> while still including enough to jog people's memories. (Also, the Gmail
> editor does really weird things to formatting) Has there been any more
> movement on the frequent brake switch failures? I have a '71 Squareback
> with this problem. I have dot5 in it. I have gone through many switches in
> it. I currently have no brake lights, so need to replace the switches
> again. What is the current recommendation? Like Jim, I would like to retain
> the three pin if possible.
>

Jacob Hoffman
1971 FI AT Squareback




>
>  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.
>
>

> 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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