Brake light problems

TESSA

a bloke up this way has the same problem only on his navara.same deal, he has a brake controller on his as well. we were standing behind it when they came on ( brake lights) and he said he only had trouble after fitting his controller.

Hi
I also had the same problem with the Tekonsha I had fitted. I replaced it with their latest unit and have had no problems since.
Regards
Brian

The voyager was renowned for causing that problem. A warranty replacement was available a few years ago but I doubt that you would get warranty now. The problem was fixed with the replacement voyager.

My suggestion is to get a prodigy. Same 4 wires, same colors, easy to swap over.

Thanks guys. I'll investigate a replacement controller.

tessa

Hi, most likely it will be the spring that pulls the brake pedal upward. What happens is that the tension on the springs reduces over time and the brake pedal then drops (intermittently) which causes the brake lights to turn on.

This is the exact problem a friend had with his Prado. Initially he considered many other reasons (like yours), but ultimately it was this very simple fault.

Cheers
Steve

tessa - i have same model prado and same brake unit and also have the same problem as you. i have found that if you find the brake lights on, move the manual slide switch on then off, or simply push it to RHS to full off, and the brake lights go off. makes me think it is a problem related to the brake control unit. i did not know about the warranty issues so will also look into a replacement under warranty if possible. i will be interested in seeing how you go with a replacement and also if the simple pushing on the switch turns the lights off. i even resorted to taping the switch to the RHS and it seemed to help most of the time. You may even notice a "clicking" noise when they come on and this stops too when you force the manual slide to the RHS - even though it is milli-millimetres (if thats possible) cheers....

If the controller is a Tekonsha Voyager with a grey label, you should be able to get a warranty replacement.
I had a little trouble until I suggested that I would just contact Vicroads Road Safety division & report the fault, as I believe it to be very dangerous, they then replaced it immediately.
I have had no further problems with the replacement, burgundy label.

Tessa, i had mine relaced yesterday and it took some doing to get it replaced. folks in usa are great and quick to respond but here in oz you get told to ring someone else.

just thought i would suggest you have a look at the underneath of your controller for a blue label which i think is the date of manufacture. my original one had 8/03 from memory and the new one has 12/07 so it looks like these are date formats?? also like others have said the faulty one has a grey sticker label on the top towards the front and the replacement has purple.

i went into camec to get it changed over and they arranged an autoelec to remove/fit it and are sending the old unit and bill to usa for payment - good luck! hope yours works out ok, cheers mick

Tessa

as part of my emails to the usa, i mentioned that i had a "friend" (you) that was in the same situation as me, same car, same controller, same faults but you could not find your receipt of purchase. i did not say when you bought it or how etc, left it as implied that you could not find receipt so had no proof of purchase now except it is fitted in your car. i asked him if he could assist you or give any advice. The following is what i sent him in my email on your behalf:

PS. i know someone else here in Australia with the exact same situation as I was in,, except at the moment she cannot locate her receipt. She has the same car, same tekonsha voyager, same problems - brake lights come on randomly draining the battery etc. Is there anything that she can do to have it changed over due to this fault they seem to have had back then? Thank you Mick
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Paul from usa sent me back a reply and to me he implies with or without a receipt dealers in Aus will probably still not replace it but he may be able to assist anyway. his answer is as follows:

Mick,
For your friend however there are many dealers in AUS that are unwilling to exchange even if you have a receipt. If she continues to have problems with exchanging a defective control feel free to write back to me and I will see if one of our reps over in AUS is still available for warranty. Thanks Again.
Respectfully,
Paul

Paul Osborn
Cequent Performance Products, Electrical Division
Technical Service Representative
(888) 785-5832

From: posborn@cequentgroup.com
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TESSA - I would strongly suggest you write an email to Paul Osborn as he does write back and promptly too. Tell him how you were forced to pay for a replacement and is there anything he will do to help. Hopefully he will get your supplier to send the invoice to him and recredit him and supplier recredits you OR he simply recredits you himself. My point to him would relate to the fact that had an official recall been done it would have been replaced. You cannot locate your receipt and dont remember when it was fitted. And its faulty type so regardless of the "when" it is still faulty. Hopefully he will help you out.

I was just lucky that after i showed his email to Camec they gave me a replacement, arranged to pay the auto elec to fit it (so i kept warranty on the replacement). i was lucky coz they could have said wait until tekonsha usa guarantees to pay for it but they took it on face value of his reply (and they kept a copy)

If you have any questions please ask but maybe better if i had a direct email for you rather than thru here?? persist with it and good luck - mick (pradoz)