Braking Point

 <Sigh>

The Stylus arrived all those years ago with hydraulically switched brake lights, in fact it had two hydraulic switches, one on the front & one on the rear system - which is a good thing, but they still only switch the brake lights on when the pressure rises high enough to trigger them, so I thought I'd fit a mechanical switch as well, which will switch the light when the pedal moves.

I put a micro switch on the pedal & a ramp on the footwell roof (floor mounted pedals), that lasted a few presses & stopped working. I re-arranged it a bit & it seemed fine until a guy in a BMW pulled up beside me & instead of the car-based compliment I was expecting said "your brake lights are on all the time". I crawled into the footwell & unplugged the mechanical switch.

I tried another type of microswitch - which broke - so I went back to the original roller type & printed a slightly different shape ramp. Once again it worked perfectly in the garage - BRILLIANT.

I went out today to meet some of the Rogues for breakfast, but first I pulled over to post something & as I turned round to go back to the car, THE DAMN BRAKE LIGHTS WERE ON - ARSE!

Once again I took off the steering wheel & clambered into the footwell at full stretch at the roadside & unplugged the switch. A little while later as I rolled into Guildford in the traffic, a lorry driver leaned out of his cab & said "excuse me, your brake lights aren't working" (well, I was in Guildford, even lorry drivers are polite in Guildford). I cursed under my breath, reached behind the roll bar & pushed the brake pedal - the brake lights came on, so I just hadn't had to push the pedal hard enough in the traffic to make the hydraulic switch work WHICH IS WHY I WANTED THE MECHANICAL ONE.

Now back at home I could see that while the roller travelled up the ramp & switched the lights off, it was possible for the pedal to carry on moving to the extent that the roller came out of contact, switching the lights on again. It didn't do that at all during testing in the garage.

With the newly printed angled ramp the roller stays in contact & the brake lights stay off when my foot's off the pedal. All the time. What ever the pedal does. Over & over & over again I've tested it, pushing the pedal gently, hard, fast & slow & it's worked perfectly every time. Will it work outside the garage? Only time will tell.