Delayed Brake Lights & Flickering

E

eJay

Member
Location
Fairfax, VA
Hi everyone,

so I was rear parking the car and I realized that all of the brake lights (two tail lights and the tailgate light) were not on (saw it through the reflection on the house windows) a few months back. I played around with stepping on the brake pedal and noticed that the lights were coming on a few seconds after I applied the brakes. So I brought it to the dealer before the warranty expired and of course they could not duplicate the problem. Yesterday, I was driving and noticed the delay again and I thought some of you guys might be able to help me out.

So this is the problem:

  1. Delay: when I step on the brake, all three brake lights light up .5 to 4 seconds after the application of the brake pedal. If there is a delay, all three have the delay. The lights do not experience the delay individually.
  2. Flicker: sometimes it flickers when the brake is applied (in other words, the light would come on, then go off and come on very rapidly only then stay on).
  3. Intermittent: this problem does not occur every time the brake is applied. The symptoms come and go.
I am really concerned because this problem can lead to a serious rear-end collision. I would very much like to get it fixed if I knew the cause of this problem. When I brought it to the dealer they said that they have never seen such problems before (but again what have they seen?). Now my warranty is over and I'd have to pay out of my pocket to get this fixed :embarrassed:

Does anyone know the cause or any information regarding this problem? Or did anyone experience the same problem?

Any input is greatly appreciated!
 
when you have the taillights on by themselves (no brakes engaged), have you noticed any flickering? How about when the flickering does occur, do the taillights shut off completely or does it go back into the 'no brakes engaged' type of lighting.

this is interesting... first time reading about this problem. Sounds like a bad connection.. wish i could help you more though...

gl ej, i have a set of red tails lying around you can have if they determine the taillights themselves are the problem but im doubting and guessing its the wiring
 
i have noticed this occasionally in my car. i checked it in my garage and yes, if i tap the brakes gently, it will do only one of the two things at a time, either flicker a few times n go solid or delay for 2 seconds. but when i do normal-hard braking, it works perfectly.
 
eJay said:
Hi everyone,

so I was rear parking the car and I realized that all of the brake lights (two tail lights and the tailgate light) were not on (saw it through the reflection on the house windows) a few months back. I played around with stepping on the brake pedal and noticed that the lights were coming on a few seconds after I applied the brakes. So I brought it to the dealer before the warranty expired and of course they could not duplicate the problem. Yesterday, I was driving and noticed the delay again and I thought some of you guys might be able to help me out.

So this is the problem:

  1. Delay: when I step on the brake, all three brake lights light up .5 to 4 seconds after the application of the brake pedal. If there is a delay, all three have the delay. The lights do not experience the delay individually.
  2. Flicker: sometimes it flickers when the brake is applied (in other words, the light would come on, then go off and come on very rapidly only then stay on).
  3. Intermittent: this problem does not occur every time the brake is applied. The symptoms come and go.
I am really concerned because this problem can lead to a serious rear-end collision. I would very much like to get it fixed if I knew the cause of this problem. When I brought it to the dealer they said that they have never seen such problems before (but again what have they seen?). Now my warranty is over and I'd have to pay out of my pocket to get this fixed :embarrassed:

Does anyone know the cause or any information regarding this problem? Or did anyone experience the same problem?

Any input is greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

Try to find someome with an FX near you. Try to plug one of his tail lights to your car. Might be as simple as your tail lights are bad ;-)
 
Isn't there a Brake Control Module located in the rear cargo area? I remember people having issues with it failing after water intrusion. Did your cargo area get wet recently?
 
I dont think the problem is in the taillights itself, since they are working/flickering the same. So what i think, it is maybe the brake switch, rear control module or some connections on the wires before rear control module
 
I had a same problem on my 03MY FX35, and I cleaned stop lump switch located on the root of the brake pedal, after that, flicker was fixed. Please see the link(sorry it's written by Japanese)

minkara.carview.co.jp/userid/417769/car/329628/692732/note.aspx
 
I will try cleaning the switch and see if that fixes the problem (crossing my fingers). I'll let you guys know!

Thanks everyone (especially Fu-g and merchant)!
 
Hey guys, a quick question before I do this. Should I apply any grease after cleaning the contact point with a cotton rod (Q-tip)? Fu-g mentioned something about the grease but it's hard to read with Yahoo Translation.
 
fu-g@Japan said:
Sorry for my late reply, I used this sort of grease.

amazon.com/Permatex-22058-Dielectric-Tune-up-Grease/dp/B000AL8VD2/ref=pd_sim_auto_1
Click to expand...

Okay. I'll buy one of these and see if using these grease would work better.

I tried wiping the sensor with Q-tips but the problem did not get solved. Actually it worsened (so maybe I cleaned it wrong). I am also hearing loud water bubbling/ falling noise along with brake screech and a vibration when I brake. I'm thinking that there is a huge brake related issue (may be more than one problem) so I should really get it checked out.

I'll keep you guys posted.
 
So I took off the stomp switch again and cleaned it more thoroughly and the problem seems to be fixed (for now). This time I cleaned both the fork looking metal pieces and the metal plates where the fork looking thingy touches. Hopefully the problem won't come back! :)
 
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