From: "Eric V. Schmidt" <>
>
> Rich;
>
> The car is on its last legs but still runs OK although it is dying of Ohio
> road cancer.
Glad I live in the South, where it's not standard practice to drive cars
in brine all winter long. Not only does it not do the cars much good,
but it's real hard on roadside vegetation.
> The lights have me concerned. Guess it is a master cylinder going out and
> it controls the break lights. Weird.
About 30-40 years ago car manufacturers went from using a pressure
switch on the master cylinder to a simple mechanical switch on the brake
pedal for controlling the brake lights. It was cheaper. If you are
having problems with brake lights it has nothing to do with the master
cylinder or the actual hydraulic brake system. Nowdays that switch
controls all kinds of things, I counted 10 different systems the one in
my Ranger interacted with.
If the switch is good and mounted properly, then the problem is probably
with the road cancer. Bad ground for the lights, corroded connectors,
that sort of thing. Not expensive to fix as it's just a little wiring,
but can be time consuming to sort out. And getting at that switch which
is located somewhere near the brake pedal pivot is a painful exercise in
forcing our bodies to go in ways they were not built for. I know, I'm in
the process of wiring a trailer brake controller in my Ranger, and it
taps off that switch.
If, on the other hand, your brakes don't stop you, then it is the
hydraulic brake system.
> It is running rough right now too, but it is getting better gas mileage than
> it ever has, so I'm in no hurry to fix that. To top it off my mechanic is
> dropping subtle hints whenever I take it in that he doesn't want to see the
> car again. But I like to run them until I have to shoot them and put them
> out of their misery.
I run them until they are ready to be shot, then fix them and run them
some more. In the meantime I maintain them to keep the problems smaller.
Walt
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