Need some gearhead advice!

[Arnie 2Tone]

Not sure if anyone here will be able to help, but I know quite a few of you like your cars so I thought I'd give it a shot. I've got myself a crappy N-reg Vauxhall Astra Mk3 (I bought it because I needed an econmical diesel for cross country road-trips). Anyhoo, the brake lights have ceased to function at some point in the recent past. I know the bulbs are working because I tested them, and swapped other working bulbs around to no avail, and I checked the fuses even though the rest of the lights in the rear cluster are working just in case something was wrong in there. All the fuses are fine though, so it's definately not that. The only other thing I can think of to check is the brake light switch behind the pedal, but I've no idea exactly how to get to it or even what I should be looking for. Any ideas on how to check to see if that's the problem or thoughts about other possible causes?

Also, any idea how much I can expect to get fleeced by a garage if I need to replace the pedal switch or is it something I can do myself? I'm not bad at fixing stuff in general, but I do suffer from some weird unidentified joint disorder so contorting myself into small spaces is excruciating painful unless I'm halfway through a bottle of Jim Beam. I've no aversion to working while pissed, but it makes fiddly jobs one hell of a challenge...

 

[Rubric]

Everything at a garage once they have added labour seems to come to around about the price of an N reg Vauxhall Astra.

Sorry i know nothing about cars.

 

[Arnie 2Tone]

Everything at a garage once they have added labour seems to come to around about the price of an N reg Vauxhall Astra.

Yeah, that's my main issue really. I'm not totally skint anymore since my business has taken off quite nicely, but I'm definitely not flush enough to get raped right through the trousers by an unscrupulous mechanic

 

[Gumbo]

You can test the switch for continuity across the contacts when the switch is pressed. A new one will cost somewhere around a fiver from a motor factors. There are a few different ones fitted on Vauxhalls, and not always the one which it says in the catalogue. If you can, it would be best to take the old one in with you to compare. They are a common failure, I probably sold about 1 a week.

Hope that helps.

 

[Tom]

Just pull back the carpet, remove any bits of plastic in the way, and you should see the switch near where the pedal hinges. It'll have a couple of wires heading to it

As Gumbo says, remove it, if you have a multimeter you can check it (should be 0 ohms/infinite ohms switched each way - or the other test is to measure for 12V across it's terminals), alternatively if you have a bit of electrical wire, any old car bulb (not household bulb), and a 9 volt battery, you can remove it and test it that way.

 

[Arnie 2Tone]

Cheers for the advice. Sounds like the brake switch is not too difficult to get to so I'll give it a crack tomorrow. I don't have access to any clever electronic gizmos, but I'm fairly sure I can rig a test circuit with a battery and a bulb. Hell, it's not like I can make the brake lights work less then they already do.

On an unrelated note, I hope everyone had an enjoyable Halloween. I went to a nightclub where I was the oldest patron by the best part of a decade. A fat kid bought me Aftershock because I had heard of Pink Floyd and now I feel a bit sick. uke: