Brake light is staying on

[Wutizit]

Yesterday I took my Volvo C303 to a shop in town who specializes in Jaguar and Land Rover repair (I figured since the brakes on this thing are Land Rover, they'd be the best place to work on it). I think the only thing actually Rover about the brakes are the shoes themselves- maybe the cylinders, I don't know. But the brake system was familiar enough to them that they were able to fix the leak on the proportional valve (which apparently hadn't been properly installed when it was replaced while still in service), and they got the shoes adjusted just perfectly! Oh, I should also add that I had them completely bleed the brake system, and they refilled it with Castrol LMA brake fluid.

The problem is my brake light now remains lit. Brakes function perfectly, no pulling, no squealing, no grabbing, but even when I disengage the parking brake, the light stays lit. Previously when I disengaged the parking brake the light would go out. I'm only guessing here, but it seems that I had a similar problem with my 1967 Ford Falcon many years ago, when I bled the brake system on that. As I recall with the Ford, the problem was the little ball in the proportional valve was no longer centered, thereby causing the sensor to activate the brake light. Would anyone like to comment on the problem I'm having with the Volvo? Does it sound like the same problem? I did remove the sensor wire yesterday afternoon and reinstalled it to see if maybe it wasn't making connection, but the light remains lit. And lastly- how does one make the necessary adjustments to rectify this?

Thank you!


-Scott

[Lightningpinz]

3 switches turn on that brake light. Parking brake switch, proportioning valve (non self centering, pull switch from valve to let re center), and finally an overtravel switch on the brake pedal. Push brake pedal to floor and look, there is a plunger that will activate a switch and must be physically pushed back forward. Hope that helps.

[Wutizit]

Thank you so much for your help! I think it must be either the proportioning valve switch or the brake overtravel switch. I'll check those as soon as I can, and will report my findings. Now if I can only find some new rubber seals for my windshields......


-Scott

[Wutizit]

Viola! In my case, it was both the brake pedal overtravel switch and the proportional valve switch. It required resetting both to make the brake lamp go out. Thank you so much! I was going to try the proportional valve switch, but didn't know about the brake pedal overlimit switch. Once again, the Forum has proven to be a valuable tool!


-Scott

[Lightningpinz]

That third switch drove me crazy finding it on a customers vehicle. I even had to look in the service manual