Rear brake LED and washer fluid dumb question

[hitthenorth]

Hi all,

I noticed tonight my rear high brake LED is staying on dimly lit all the time. Doing some searching on here it sounds very likely to be the issue with the rear washer pipe leaking onto a connection block.

Now for the dumb question - when I get a chance to take things apart and look for the leak, assuming I actually find it, most of the discussions say to "neutralise" the washer fluid. How do I do that? Is it just applying WD40 or do I clean it up some other way.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Edited 12 December, 2011 by hitthenorth

[silver1011]

You need to remove any moisture from inside the light unit to prevent the shorting of the electrical circuitry.

Leave the high level brake light on the radiator for an hour while you are fixing the leak.

[hitthenorth]

Thanks for the quick reply, but I'm anticipating it being some wiring loom block that is going to be affected as per the discussion below, in which case I'm wondering what the "neutralising" bit is?

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/183485-high-level-brake-light-always-on/

[silver1011]

From what Mike describes he is used the WD40 to wash away the washer fluid (as it is corrosive). The WD40 will also remove any moisture from the connector block which in effect is having the same effect as drying it out.

I read this as once you strip back the boot carpet and identify the leak, make sure you pay special attention to the multi plugs in and around the same area as these are likely to be full of washer fluid. Give them a good spray of WD40 to 'dry' them out or 'neutralise' the effect of the washer fluid which is adversely affecting the brake light.

[hitthenorth]

OK thanks a lot for that. Will take a look when it's not pouring with rain and blowing a gale. Just didn't want to get everything apart and then be missing something.

[hitthenorth]

Took a while to get everything apart, but sure enough the rear washer fluid pipe was loose and spraying everywhere. All sorted so thanks for the help.

[silver1011]

Result!