An epidemic of brake-light malfunction

[max]

In the last week I have seen no less than a dozen cars with one or more brake-light globes not working. And guess what? They were predominantly newish cars namely BA Falcons, AU11 and AU111 Falcons and reasonably late model Hondas. When you notice that often one out of two of the non-functioning globes is an eye-level brake light it's concerning, because safety is compromised. In other words the risk of a pile-up is increased. No bugger will pull alongside you and yell out: "Aye mate one of your brake lights doesn't work!" There ought to be a warning light on the dash to let you know if a globe has blown. This includes headlights, although most times you know about that. Otherwise check them every few weeks yourself? Who knows, it might prevent one out of fifty chain collisions around the country!

[4.9 EF Futura]

I tell ya what, if i see someone with no brake lights i'll go out of my way to tell them. Not in agner, nor abrasively - but because it is actually SCARY driving behind a car that has no working brake light at all.

Unfortunately they are ofen e series falcons, altho on the good side i can show them what has gone wrong, what they need to fix and how much it'll cost em

A lof of newer cars, indeed i think EF/EL LWB variants had a brake light warning, it can see (from the booster) when brake is being applied and makes sure there is appropriate current draw in the brake light circuit.

For me, night driving is the saviour. Before i head off from work or home, hit the brake pedal and make sure there's a nice healthy glow of red on the wall/fence behind me.

[bigAl]

i have to say the worst i have seen is the vn-vp commodores brake lights, there always out of whack

[4.9 EF Futura]

Yeah... VN Commodore when "big white light that may have been red once" comes on, means they;re a stoppin'.

[Kryton]

this was a problem in the AU1 but was corrected with better globes (under warranty in my case).
maybe its a case of cheaper globes to save costs.

yes, there should be some sort of warning light or chime to let you know that a globe has failed.

[pertuan]

Agree... I've driven behind far too many cars with NO brake lights. Its scary when you dont know it and you end up activating your ABS trying not to have a prang thats your fault since he's the one in front.

[bigAl]

Originally Posted by 4.9 EF Futura

Yeah... VN Commodore when "big white light that may have been red once" comes on, means they;re a stoppin'.

hahaha, it would be unbelivable to think plastic fades that bad, but the vn's have shown us wrong :

[Dezza]

EF/ELs are notorious for breaking (pardon the pun) the brakelight switch under the pedal. This means that when they brake, no lights come on.

Once it actually happened to my car. I had checked my brakelights two days before, and they worked. Then the switch broke, and a ute ran up the back of me. The ute driver was still found to be at fault, and the damage wasn't too severe, but I got a new rear bumper out of it. I had no idea they had stopped working, it would have been good if someone told me.

[Kryton]

Originally Posted by bigAl

hahaha, it would be unbelivable to think plastic fades that bad, but the vn's have shown us wrong :

not only plastic but paint also.

[Dezza]

Originally Posted by davway

not only plastic but paint also.

Yeah, good VN quality. It's funny, when they were new, they were considered better than the EA. Now nearly 20 years down the track, the EA has stood up to the test of time a lot better than the VN. EA's definately a better car.

[dandaman]

Sorry to turn this from a brake light to front lights things, but i've noticed most fords since XF to BA have a headlight or fog light bulb out, whereas most other cars seem fine?

Anyone know

[bigAl]

Originally Posted by ea_silver_ghia

Yeah, good VN quality. It's funny, when they were new, they were considered better than the EA. Now nearly 20 years down the track, the EA has stood up to the test of time a lot better than the VN. EA's definately a better car.

its amazing to see them still on the road, a mate had a vn calias, ive never herd anything rattle so much!! :

[bigAl]

but back on topic-ish, yes falcons seem to always blow a heaed light bulb, i replaced my left head light bulb the other week

[bigAl]

oh the other night i was driving a night and the old excel infront of me, was driving with its lights of, when i over took the car, the head lights were on, but the backs were no where to be seen.
bloody stupid if u ask me, sure ur car is a claped out rust bucket, but what about other peoples safety!!!

[fordOwner]

I was nervous one day as the cops were behind me on Tonkin Hwy in Perth, then at the lights they pulled up next to me and asked if I used my gears or brakes to slow down, "Both" I said.
"Well your brake lights are out mate, get them checked out when you reach your destination OK?"
Gulp, thank god they were nice cops, A Defect notice flashed before my eyes!
Ended up being my brake light switch.
But back on the topic, I have seen way more new Holdens with blown bulbs.

[Scareybear]

Originally Posted by fordowner

I was nervous one day as the cops were behind me on Tonkin Hwy in Perth, then at the lights they pulled up next to me and asked if I used my gears or brakes to slow down, "Both" I said. "
"Well your brake lights are out mate, get them checked out when you reach your destination OK?"
Gulp, thank god they were nice cops, A Defct notice flashed before my eyes.
Ended up being my brake light switch.
But back on the topic, I have seen way more new Holdens with blown bulbs.

I had the same thing happen to me a couple of years ago, it's good to know that there's some Coppers with common sense out there.
BTW how many VN's do you see with bad earths, ie when they hit the brakes the taillights & brake lights flash like a bad 80's disco.

[RG]

My EL was a real **** when it came to headlight globes, I reckon I would replace one every 3 months or so. Brake lights weren't so bad, I think I only ever replaced three and had to do the switch once and that was in the 330,000k and 5.5 years that I had her. No problems with the AUII yet.

[goXF]

4.5 years with my XF and not one single bulb has blown!

But now that I have said that - what are the chances it will blow in the next few days...