High Level Brake Light always on

[Dogran]

Got a strange problem and was wondering if someone could shed any light on it....

The high level brake light on my Octy II Estate seems to be on all the time. Its quite dim and not nearly as bright as you would get when braking - its actually quite hard to see that it is on during the day, but more obvious at night. It remains on whether the car is running or not. The only time it goes off is if the boot is opened, but comes back on as soon as it is shut. It doesn't seem to be draining the battery too much as the car has been stood for 36 hours and still started this morning.

Anyone any ideas on what is causing this, and how I can fix it?

[ap0gee1978]

Brake light switch?

[silver1011]

This has been discussed on here before, it is also a common problem on the Golf.

There are some instances when this problem occurs that the outer LED's are brighter than the rest.

I can't remember what caused the problem, it wasn't the brake light switch though, sorry.

[ap0gee1978]

Disagree. I know about the fault you're describing, and I think the only fix is to replace the entire unit, as it's a fault with the circuitry. In this case, though, the light being on dimly indicates a very low current passing through it. Since the brake lights will operate even when the ignition is off (I think), it would suggest that the circuit isn't completely broken when the brake pedal is released and the most likely culprit for this would be the switch. The same fix applies where you have no brake lights, or they're on all the time. Fix is linked here:

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/35258-flashing-coil-light-on-dash/page__view__findpost__p__439776

[Guest]

Never known a production car that the brake lights would work with the ignition off, Retired motor vehicle technician.

[silver1011]

As I said, this specific problem has been documented before.

Check out post number 8 on this thread...

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/177943-octavia-odometer-and-trip-meter/page__p__2144134__hl__Golf__fromsearch__1entry2144134

Water ingress from the well known leaky rear washer jet corrodes the connections.

[silver1011]

Never known a production car that the brake lights would work with the ignition off, Retired motor vehicle technician.

Quite a few Japanese cars allow the brake lights to operate without the ignition, or at least they used to.

The Toyota Corolla was one...

[Gizmo]

Never known a production car that the brake lights would work with the ignition off, Retired motor vehicle technician.

Pretty sure all the newer (if not actually all of) Skoda's do this, I know my 2001 Octavia and 2004 Superb did.

I agree that it doesn't sound like a brake light switch, for an LED to glow dimly something is surely shorting out as Silver is suggesting?

[ap0gee1978]

No, fair enough - not something I've encountered before, but then I don't have a car where water and electrics are quite so closely acquainted!

[Dogran]

Thanks for all the speedy replies. Whereabouts in the boot (estate) are the electrical connectors which it seems likely have been corroded? Is this something I can tackle myself (I am most definitely NOT mechanically minded) or should I just take it to my local trusted indie to sort?

[Dogran]

Thanks for all the useful replies. It was indeed someting to do with the electrics on the left hand side of the boot. Not entirely sure how I cured the problem as there was no evidence of the washer fluid leaking. I just fiddled with the various connectors and this seems to have sorted it - maybe just a loose connections somewhere.

As mentioned elsewhere, the biggest problem was removing the interior trim - why do they make this so difficult!

Edited 14 December, 2010 by Dogran

[dan yeates]

I have the same problem! Although I just checked my car and it's not on anymore! It's been on for about a week though. So, what do I need to take apart? Trim inside of the brake light? My rear washer is still working ok.