DIY Fabia I Brake Light Switch Replacement

[PonyMoore]

Amazing guide, took 20 minutes B-) 

[mad_rich]

Thanks for this. Very easy to follow guide :-)

 

My only mistake was that I picked the wrong part from Eurocarparts (I thought my reg number made it foolproof, but the part they provided only had 2 pins, not 4. Quick visit to the dealer and I had the right one).

[AbFab]

Excellent guide, did the Fab (2001 1.4mpi estate AQW) yesterday though took somewhat longer than 20 minutes so thought I'd share my experience.

 

EPC warning light came on, plugged in the VAGscanner and error code 16955.

 

Used a T20 torx bit, all the screws removed are the same size so no problem if they get a bit mixed up.

 

Found it useful to put the fuse cover trim panel on the passenger seat, kept all the screws neatly out of the way.

 

Word of warning be careful when the lower dash trim falls down, probably a good idea to hold it in place and let it drop gradually which is the complete opposite to what I did  result was the rubber hose came away from the back of the vent and was an absolute mare to get back in more on that later.

 

Swopping the switch over was very simple. Took out the switch to make sure i was getting the right one.

 

Local TPS didn't have the switch in stock so ended up with the Euro Car Parts one (Haas 464440051)

 

https://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Skoda_Fabia_1.4_2002/p/car-parts/electrical/car-electrics-and-car-lighting/car-switch-and-car-sensors/?464440051&1&770fd5c0e41a8f24df163b1d001de51425ae702b&000415

 

This is the 4 pin version and is slightly larger than the old switch. Good news is there's no need to hold the brake pedal down when swopping over.

 

Pops in nicely, rotate 90 degrees clockwise and pop the connector back on.

 

Put the moby on the selfie stick and extended it, placed up against the garage door and got it in video mode, hit record and went back to drivers seat. Pumped the brake pedal a couple of times and went back to moby. Replayed the video and saw the brake lights working! Excellent!

 

Back to the car to put the trim back.

When putting the lower dash trim back in place there's a metal bracket it locates onto on the left hand side.

 

Getting the rubber hose back in place on the back of the vent was a mare as it's all done by feel, the hole is round but the rubber was a bit more oval shaped...WTF!?!? Took it off the trim panel and then tried by feel and squeezing the bloody thing left, right & centre to get it on the back of the vent. This was the worst part of the job and I left it a few times and came back to it. Finally got it on the back of the vent then had to put it back on the trim panel. It actually goes on the back of the "ON" switch in the small cubby hole but this fell off a few times...more cursing but got there eventually.

 

I pushed the lower trim back in place and then screwed in the 1st screws removed to hold it in situ & then screwed the other in.

 

Job done and now the brake lights work again!

 

 

Edited 10 July, 2018 by AbFab
Spelling errors

[Tailhappy]

Just fitted a new switch. Thanks for the helpful guide. In case anyone wonders why the switches stop working its becuse one of the electronic contacts becomes burned and pitted a bit like points do. So you could clean up the contacts if you were really in a jam and for this you don't even need to take the swich fully apart as the contacts are clipped in separately. I cleaned up my contacts and tried it and it works fine so will keep for emergency.

[alff]

Anyone know how this switch works? I've got the automatic and the bloody thing wont go into gear, any idea if I can bridge two of the wires or something to get it just to move? Decided to go while I was parking and not in a great position.

[Breezy_Pete]

It's two switches, one is normally closed (for engine ECU info) the other normally open for the lights. Can tell you the pin numbers and wire colours of each in a few mins.

Unplugging the connector from the switch might do the trick possibly, if it's the ECU one that's not working?

[Breezy_Pete]

OK, it's easy as the pairs are different thicknesses.

Brake light switch wires are thicker, ECU switch wires are thinner.

So if you unplug the connector and link the thicker wires, it will mimic exactly the brake pedal being pushed with a healthy switch.

 

[alff]

11 minutes ago, Wino said:

OK, it's easy as the pairs are different thicknesses.

Brake light switch wires are thicker, ECU switch wires are thinner.

So if you unplug the connector and link the thicker wires, it will mimic exactly the brake pedal being pushed with a healthy switch.

 

 

Thanks a lot! Did that and works nicely, brake lights lit up, still no joy on changing gears though so I guess it's a separate problem, just weird they are both happening at the same time. Pulled the gearbox fuse with the brake lights wired on and that has let me stick it into gear and park up properly, so there's that at least!

[Breezy_Pete]

Well done.  Possibly the switch that detects that the box is in P is playing up?

 

 

[alff]

4 minutes ago, Wino said:

Well done.  Possibly the switch that detects that the box is in P is playing up?

 

 

 

It's a weird one, it know's it's in P, as it's displaying right, and it'll move fine when the cars off, car will start in neutral, display correctly, just wont move out of P or N once the engines started. Will get this brake switch replaced and then try to dig into it a bit, got one of those fault code readers as the EPC light has come on too, thought that was for the brake switch but seems not.

[Breezy_Pete]

Sorry, my knowledge of automatics is very near zero.

Maybe start a thread about the problem rather than continue discussion of it in here?

 

[makymak]

As it was said above, the switch has 4 pins. The outer two are for the brake lights and the inner two are for the ecu. There are two separate circuits in the switch. The one that is responsible for the lights operation is open when the pedal is up and closed when the pedal is pressed. The ecu circuit is the opposite; it is closed when the pedal is up and open when the pedal is pressed. No epc light (meaning the switch operates OK) is when pressing the pedal the outer circuit closes the moment the inner opens with no overlapping at all. If the outer doesn't close (eg the brake lights don't get lit) and the inner circuit opens, then epc light on. If the pedal is pressed and both circuits are closed (this was the fault with mine) then epc light on but also the brake lights work OK.

 

The construction of the switch is very plain. No electronics. Just contacts. The brake lights contacts built up carbon by the ark so a cleaning would revive the switch. If you have mine problem, though it is more complicated to fix it as the problem is at the plastic casing rather than the contacts. The inner circuit opens by a tooth the case has and over the years this touth flattens. What I done was shortened the inner contacts so they open the circuit earlier and a tiny tinie moment before the outer circuit is closed. That worked OK. But if you ask me, for the (virtually no) cost of a new one, the above isn't worth the time and effort. Only if you are in a fight or fly situation!!! 

Mine was the mushroom end, all black rectangular switch. Sorry for no pictures but I had repaired it a long time before I read this thread. 

[alff]

That makes a lot of sense I didn’t notice that the ecu switch should open as brake one closes, so guess that was my problem as the gearbox probably gets info from the ecu switch. I posted in a different question in the end, but solved mine, it was similar to yours but the whole plastic tooth that pushes on the contacts had snapped off or completely worn down (never found it). Found the ones that are boxy looking rather than cylinder looking seem to be made better.

[Whoateallthepies]

Just changed mine using this guide, worked a treat. I got new switch from Europarts part number 464 44 0059 price £21.49. No need to pull the plunger down to the brake pedal when setting. Tested it before fitting in situ by connecting wiring to it and pressing the plunger but didn't work, read the instructions and found it has to be fitted in situ inorder for it to work. Job done.

[Breezy_Pete]

Just to point out to others, a new genuine switch from Skoda dealerships currently retails at £20.05 inc VAT, part number 6Q0 945 511