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Brake light switch?


cbxer55

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2009
Messages
1,883
City
Midwest City, Oklahoma
Vehicle Year
1998
Transmission
Automatic
Is there a specific brake light switch for vehicles with ABS? Reason I ask, I recently changed the switch when I backed up to my normal fence and didn't see brake lights reflecting. After changing the switch, first time I drove it, the ABS light came on. Never been on in 20 years owning the truck. Came on immediately after the switch change. Hoping it's just the dude at the store didn't give me the right switch. He had multiple switches on his screen, asked me which one I wanted. Told him the cheapest one. LMAO!
 
Yep... ABS requires a brake switch input.
 
Did it have the same plug in?

It is a dual switch, has brake light switch and brake sensor switch inside

Check fuse #9 in cab fuse box
That's for the sensor part
Its a Ground when pedal is down and 12v when pedal is up I believe

So if no 12v or ground with key on ABS light should come on because it can't "see" brake pedal switch
 
Is this related to the LED swap you mentioned in the other thread?
 
He had multiple switches on his screen, asked me which one I wanted. Told him the cheapest one. LMAO!

giphy (54).gif
 
Did it have the same plug in?

It is a dual switch, has brake light switch and brake sensor switch inside

Check fuse #9 in cab fuse box
That's for the sensor part
Its a Ground when pedal is down and 12v when pedal is up I believe

So if no 12v or ground with key on ABS light should come on because it can't "see" brake pedal switch

Plugged in the same. just thought maybe it's missing a contact or two inside the plug. I'll check the fuse tomorrow. I just thought it rather coincidental that it occurred immediately after swapping the switches.
 
No, very unlikely it is related to the brake switch. The ABS on that truck doesn't have a brake force input, but if it did it would come from the brake pressure switch screwed into the master cylinder, which is really only used as a secondary cut off for the cruise control. The ABS mostly determines need by comparing wheel speeds.

GET CODES!
 
There are none. Do I need a different scanner to read ABS codes?

Yes. Most basic code readers do the engine system only, they won't do ABS or Airbag.

If you have a laptop, or even a smart phone Forscan and an appropriate ELM327 adapter are the best bet.
 
Yes. Most basic code readers do the engine system only, they won't do ABS or Airbag.

If you have a laptop, or even a smart phone Forscan and an appropriate ELM327 adapter are the best bet.

Don't you think it a bit off that before swapping the switch, I had never had this happen? New switch, boom, ABS light comes on. I don't believe in coincidinks. Switch I bought cost $19.95. There were several others with a price $20 and even $20 higher for the same vehicle. I have bad hearing, and thus it is entirely plausible he asked me if I had ABS and I misunderstood it or didn't hear it, and just picked the cheaper switch.
 
Don't you think it a bit off that before swapping the switch, I had never had this happen? New switch, boom, ABS light comes on. I don't believe in coincidinks. Switch I bought cost $19.95. There were several others with a price $20 and even $20 higher for the same vehicle. I have bad hearing, and thus it is entirely plausible he asked me if I had ABS and I misunderstood it or didn't hear it, and just picked the cheaper switch.

I just did a quick search on two trusted parts catalogs. Neither shows more than one brake switch for your truck, so there isn't an ABS and a Non-ABS one. The BOO is an input to the ABS system, but only so far as it trigger the module to watch for a braking event.

I don't care if you believe in coincidences or not, if your brake lights are working the switch is highly unlikely to be the root cause of your ABS light.

Now referring back to a post I made many years ago, trying to diagnose things like this without codes is about as useful as trying to diagnose it by shooting yourself in the foot. It won't get you anywhere.
 
Brake pedal "sensor" seen in upper left for 4WABS

Center for Rear only ABS

Its a Ground or 12v sensor, so ABS can "see" it in either position

7.5amp fuse, easy to blow a fuse if it didn't plug it just right

Brake lights is another part of the same switch, no ground, lol, and uses a 20amp fuse

1999/2000 Rangers will be the same
 

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Brake pedal "sensor" seen in upper left for 4WABS

Center for Rear only ABS

Its a Ground or 12v sensor, so ABS can "see" it in either position

7.5amp fuse, easy to blow a fuse if it didn't plug it just right

Brake lights is another part of the same switch, no ground, lol, and uses a 20amp fuse

1999/2000 Rangers will be the same

Nice. Like a dummy, I failed to disconnect the negative terminal on the battery before switching them. So yeah, might well be the fuse. Will check it out here in a little while. Thanks for the info.
 

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