The purpose of the brake light is to warn drivers behind you about braking. It should turn on as soon as the brake pedal is pressed. If the stop is faulty, it can cause an accident. The article discusses the brake light, the principle of operation, typical malfunctions, methods for eliminating them, and provides instructions for replacing them yourself.
The principle of operation of the brake light
The brake lights are located at the rear of the car. Red lanterns. They light up automatically if the driver brakes. When the driver takes his foot off the brake pedal, they are also automatically turned off. The presence of stops is mandatory for vehicles.
The lights should be located symmetrically and burn brighter than the side lights. Brake lights are installed on the sides, on the rear window, in the center above the line of the side stops.
Primary and secondary brake lights can be a single bulb, a neon tube, or a set of LED bulbs. The car enthusiast is additionally equipped with a brake light repeater. The rear brake light can also serve as a fog light. You can install a formula 1 brake light (the author of the video is Mikhail Ermolaev).
The simplest brake light includes a breaker (switch) and a flashlight. The brake light switch is often called the frog switch. The plastic body of the breaker contains two terminals, a rod and a spring. This device is installed on the brake pedal.
When the driver presses the pedal, the rod enters the breaker body, the contact closes and the light comes on. As soon as the driver removes his foot from the brake pedal, the spring pushes out the rod, the contacts open and the light goes out.
LED brake lights consist of a chip and a sensor, which in this case is a frog, it sends a signal when the driver presses the brake. As with the single lamp, the frog is mounted under the brake pedal.
Foot control device diagram
Any pedal has free play. Therefore, although the driver presses the pedal, the car does not brake immediately. The brake light comes on as soon as the brake pedal is pressed. Drivers of vehicles behind will become aware of braking before the vehicle begins to brake. This way they have time to prepare for braking.
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The mileage of the car is 2500 km, and the check is already lighting up with alarming frequency. The pre-installed BC multitronic displays a message that error P0504 is a problem with the brake pedal sensor. I erase it so that it doesn’t become an eyesore, but nevertheless, the error pops up. What to do? How can I adjust/change this button? In the photo this bastard is indicated by a red arrow. As people write, you need to play with adjusting it, which is done with two nuts. The most common thing is that people adjust so that the sensor button barely touches the brake pedal pad. In general, let's give it a spin and see. My BC immediately starts yelling as soon as I start the car, saying there is a mistake. I'll go dig around this weekend.
I noticed that the error pops up more often when you stand on the brake with the selector “D” on. I think the problem is deeper than just adjusting the sensor.
Yesterday, April 14, 2014, I was at the dealer for maintenance. In particular, he voiced hemorrhoids with error P0504. The dealer cheerfully undertook to fix everything. But he didn’t fix it, he said that we need to order a brake sensor, they say it’s defective. I drove out of the gate and wasn’t even surprised when the CHECK light came on again. And this morning the car did not start from the remote control, the BRAKES light was displayed on the key fob, which was corrected by pressing the brake a couple of times, then the car simply did not move, became dull, twitched, but after hitting the brake pedal again, everything was corrected, but then again. In general, the morning did not go well. I freaked out, went to the store and bought this damn sensor.
Here he is, the bastard, in the photo. I went to the dealer, where they changed it for me in 25 minutes without charging a penny. On my part, the cost is 170 rubles for a purchase in a store. So far nothing lights up or jerks. I want to disassemble the removed sensor at home and see what in such a cheap and simple part for 170 rubles was ruining the life of a car worth 450,000 rubles! The truth is, I don’t know how to assemble it, the upper part is on three clips, which are very hard, I wouldn’t want to break it.
Possible malfunctions: signs and causes
If the feet do not burn, the reason may be the following:
- bad contacts;
- damage to the wiring located in the corrugation between the door and the body;
- burnt out lighting elements.
There is a situation when the brake lights are constantly on if the side lights are on. In this case, the headlights may not light up. If they are turned off, additional lighting fixtures operate normally.
In this situation it is possible:
- the contacts of the parking lights and stop lights have been short-circuited;
- there is no weight on the dimensions;
- the two-pin lamp is faulty;
- the circuit closed, but did not open.
If the parking lights and brake lights are on and the ignition is turned off, then you need to check whether the lampshades are shorted to the housing. The reason may be poor contact of the negative wire with ground.
Additional Tips
Before each trip, especially over long distances, you should check the functionality of all lighting equipment, including brake lights. In order to reduce the likelihood of breakdowns along the way, you need to periodically check the condition of the sockets and bases of the rear light bulbs, and periodically clean them of oxides and dirt.
In case a breakdown does occur, you should always have an additional set of light bulbs and 10 amp fuses in your car, as well as a multimeter to check them.
Source
Replacing a stop repeater with your own hands
If repairing the repeater is not practical, it should be replaced.
The replacement process consists of the following steps:
- Using a wrench, unscrew the fastenings of the rear part of the stop and remove it.
- Then we connect the positive wire of the lighting fixture to the terminal where the brake light frog is located. To do this, you need to run the wire into the luggage compartment, unscrew the trim on the right side, and connect it to the desired terminal. The disadvantage may be a bolt in the luggage compartment.
- Heat shrink should be applied to the wiring. To prevent the wires from dangling, they need to be secured with insulating tape.
- The final step is to check the device for functionality.
Photo gallery
If a repeater with incandescent lamps is installed on the car, then when connecting a device with LEDs according to the above diagram, the lamp control will not work correctly due to different loads. In this case, you should insert the positive wire into the light bulb control unit and connect it to terminal 54H.
As a brake light, a strip with LEDs can be glued to the upper part along the entire length of the rear window. It needs to be connected to a standard device, and it will work in the same way. It is important to maintain polarity. To make the tape less conspicuous, it can be painted black. Attach the tape using double-sided tape. We check for functionality.
Error pop-up P0504: factors
A code for incorrect notification of the brake pedal switches can be seen in situations involving an unadjusted limit switch. So, after flashing the M74, M74.9.7 ECU, engineers made some changes to the operation of the engine control. This results in a reduction in the number of harmful emissions. As practice shows, adjustments in the firmware only strangled the engine, thereby causing a lot of problems regarding sensors and limit switches.
Note. In the domestic car Lada Granta, one body is equipped with a brake pedal position sensor and a limit switch, a stop lamp switch. The first factor in the occurrence of problem P0504 is the incorrect adjustment of the sensor housing.
Video “Replacing a foot on a Mercedes”
This video demonstrates how to replace a brake light with your own hands using the example of a Mercedes (the author of the video is Ivan Poknya).
The reverse sensor turns on the rear white lights when you back up. The opinion that the device is unnecessary is erroneous. The signal sent by the reversing sensor to the white lights tells other road users that you are moving back or have already started and are driving in reverse. At night, these white lanterns illuminate the path back for your convenience, signaling your intentions to others. The rear light signal device is a necessary thing. As has been said in other articles, everything in the car must work properly!
Location and performance check of the DZH
You can easily find out where the reverse sensor is located by looking up at the suspension of the fourteenth. It is located on the gearbox; there are two meters in total: the one we need and the one that signals the speed of movement. If it is not possible to get under the bottom of the car, you can get to the reverse sensor by opening the hood. But the first option is more convenient.
- To make sure that the auxiliary gearbox is faulty, you need to turn the wheels to the left, looking from the driver’s side: on the side of the gearbox there is a protection with contacts inside.
- We remove the protection, look at the device and the two contacts that go to it, close them on the frog and start the fourteenth, putting it in reverse gear. If everything is fine with wires, contacts and lamps, then the white lights light up.
- The lights do not light up - with a tester we measure the voltage on the ground and the wire (orange) leading from the frog; if there is voltage, then you should check the board of the white lights and the contacts to it. There is a possibility that the contact between the fuse block and the sensor contacts has failed; you should find it and measure the voltage in it.
- Oxidation of rear light contacts
- The sensor may become loose, it needs to be screwed in deeper
- No contact with transmission wiring
- No contact between plug and fuse box
- Any fuse can blow and disrupt the contact circuit.
It also happens that the DZH is normal, and the contacts are safe and sound, but the reversing lights do not light up . The lamps themselves may become covered (elementally burn out), or the contact may be lost (for the same lamps).
Troubleshooting
Below are examples of how to fix basic problems and how to easily find them.
Fuse
This is the most frequently damaged element in brake light failures, and also the most easily repaired. To eliminate the breakdown, you just need to replace the fuse on the mounting block.
The fuse responsible for the operation of the VAZ 2114 brake lights is located on the fuse block under number F3 and has a fuse-link current of 10A.
To make sure that the fuse has blown, you need to turn on the interior lighting. If the brake light fuse is faulty, the light in the car interior will not light up because This fuse F3 is responsible for lighting the interior and the on-board computer.
Replacement of reverse sensor VAZ 2114
You can change the frog in two ways: climb into a hole (or drive the car onto an overpass) or do it while lying under the car. Many who have changed the rear light signal device themselves claim that it is easier in a pit, the sensor is clearly visible and does not splash with oil. There is an option, take the fourteenth one to a service center, where they can easily replace this device with a new one (and they will charge you the cost of two such sensors, if not three).
Reverse sensor VAZ 2114
When replacing the DHZ yourself, it is important not to waste time and quickly insert a new one! Otherwise, the oil will pour out of the box and leave a lot of pleasant memories on your clothes and the floor of the pit.
A simple diagram of how to change the reverse sensor on a VAZ 2114:
- Drive the car into a hole or onto an overpass and put the handbrake on.
- Remove the protection from the frog contacts and disconnect them.
- You should prepare some container in advance for the oil that will pour out of the sensor hole.
- Place the container, you can unscrew the sensor (if it does not give in, then you can unscrew it with a wrench with a 22-mm head; it also happens that the wrench does not help either, it can literally become stuck (the oil is nearby), then we take a chisel and a hammer and pray that everything went smoothly)
- They took out the non-working one, inserted a new one, and screwed it on.
- If the box crater is filled with oil, wipe it to remove excess dirt.
- We connected the contacts and returned the protection back.
- If enough oil has spilled out, add the required amount.
When is clutch adjustment required?
VAZs use a dry type of clutch, that is, there is a basket consisting of two parts - driving and driven
Clutch adjustment of the VAZ 2114, and other vehicles, is carried out in cases where defects associated with the operation of this mechanism appear. Such malfunctions include:
- clutch pedal adjustment;
- clutch cable adjustment;
- pedal height adjustment;
- clutch adjustment.
In another case, the need to adjust the clutch drive may arise due to previous incorrect adjustment. It is possible to reduce or increase the working stroke of its pedal.
The photo shows the clutch of a VAZ 2114
As a result, malfunctions occur in the operation of the drive - the clutch begins to “slip” or “drive”, gear shifting becomes difficult, jerks appear when starting from a standstill, fuel consumption increases, etc.
Price issue
If the price of a VAZ 2114 reverse sensor varies between 100-300 rubles, and you can install it yourself, then the problem in the wiring or with the headlight board will not be so easy for you.
Before purchasing wiring components, clean the contacts and spray with WD-40, this should help. Because the purchased wires also need to be installed wisely, and this is electronics - a delicate matter - available to craftsmen in the service for a good fee.
As for the headlight circuit board, this is also a controversial issue, requiring investment both in the part itself and in the work of a professional who will take care of it. Burnt out light bulbs in a headlight are the cheapest consumables; one light bulb costs 20-50 rubles.
Guys, can you tell me who has encountered this!? how much does a brake pedal sensor (frog) cost? and are there any nuances during installation!?
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Brake pedal sensor Lada Kalina
Electrical equipment
The Kalina brake pedal sensor is a technical device that is used to monitor the degree of impact on the brake pedal. Quite often, car owners of the VAZ line complain about breakdowns or incorrect adjustment settings of the product.
Fortunately, the process of adjusting or replacing a part is not very difficult if certain nuances are observed.
Performance diagnostics
Checking the functionality consists of: 1. Testing the product with a multimeter. 2. Disassembly and visual inspection of the internal components of the part. 3. Replacement sensor is not known to be good.
The first method involves alternately measuring the contacts of the dismantled sensor. The point is to check each contact individually and in pairs (second and third contact). This is quite convenient to do, since at the place where the contact chip is connected, all connectors are numbered.
The second method is used to identify faulty or deformed internal elements of the product (in most cases, damaged springs). Remove all internal elements and pay attention to their integrity and performance. In addition to the condition of the springs, pay attention to the metal contact plate. There should be no traces of oxidation or contamination. If there are any, clean them out.
The third method is quite simple and trivial. Install a new part to replace the one whose serviceability you doubt. Test the operation of the car by driving in various modes, when switching up and down gears. When the system is restored to normal operation, the malfunction indicator (check engine) should go out (if it does not disappear within 15 minutes, the error should be reset manually).
Signs of a faulty brake pedal sensor Lada Kalina
In order to understand that the Kalina brake pedal position sensor is the cause of the vehicle’s incorrect operation, pay attention to the following signs:
- presence of error “P-0504” on the dashboard;
- a significant decrease in power and engine responsiveness when pressing the gas pedal;
- increase in engine speed (short-term) when changing gears.
