Mod Details

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My Brake Lights Don’t Work!

This is becoming a new common problem on the 453 and it’s sometimes not you think it is. The issue is that you rarely notice your brake lights aren’t working until you miserably fail your vehicle inspection. Because you don’t notice brake lights

Occam’s Razor

If you aren’t with the philosophy, basically it says that the most simple answer is usually the correct one. In other words, try the simple/easy things first before contemplatting anything more complicated or technical.

Step 0

The 453 electric are French. When I say “French”, that’s interchangeable with “Shit” so before doing anything, you need to do the reset.

Disconnect the 12v battery negative terminal for 10 minutes. You’ll need a 10mm spanner. Reconnect the battery terminal, tighten it and test the brake lights.

Step 1

Remove the rear brake light bulbs and, if you are confident in your ability to visually check them, look to see if they are OK. Ideally you’d either check the continuity with a multimeter or bench test them by applying power through both filaments to check the bulb fully.

Both Filaments? Yep, bear in mind that a brake light bulb also contains a parking light (side light) so in 1 bulb unit, you have a 21 watt filament and a 5 watt filament.

If you have no technical skills at all, just try fitting new bulbs.

If you have LED bulbs fitted, bin them and fit better ones.

Step 2

When you have the bulbs out, check the bulb holders for corrosion. Check the rear light connector for corrosion too. If you have a friend who can help you (unlikely) and a multimeter, you can see if any power is making it to the brake lights at all. Click.

Step 3

Remove and check the brake light switch. Test the switch functions as expected.

Step 4

Chances are, you got to this point and still, nothing has fixed the brake lights. Fear not, there’s 1 more thing to look for.