Parts replacement quality of rear brakelight switch

[zeebill]

I lost the switch on the rear brake light at about 10,000 miles on my 2010 RT. After the usual removal of 5 million shrouds and body pieces the Tech brought the part to me and showed me that the metal arm of the switch turned on two nubs of plastic that was the body of the switch. In just 10,000 miles the numbs were worn away and that caused the switch to fail. The plastic switch body was pop riveted to an aluminum shield within about three inches of the converter next to the brake linkage rod. He went to pop-rivet the new switch body back in place and with the mere application of the first pop-rivet the switch broke in three pieces on the floor. Now I have no brake lights in the rear no matter what I do to get home with while we await the new switch.

By the way there is also a Federal recall on this trike to replace the pins in the brake linkage which can fall out resulting in complete loss of any braking. The parts for that have been back ordered for a couple of weeks too. Meanwhile all this great trike weather of spring and early summer have been passing with me on the sidelines. The body of that switch must have been made of reprocessed chewing gum and like as not came from China or at the least the lowest bidder from the orient. Anything to keep their costs of manufacturing down with little care for durability seems to be the watch word. Needless to say I am not a happy camper nor was the Tech who did the work and basically just did needless assembly and reassembly for nothing.

Now I wait again for the brake parts to get on the road after almost a month down for the parts and disconnecting a fuse to put out the light so the battery would not run down. Certainly not a durable part this switch and the replacement is worse! Bill :banghead:

 

[zeebill]

I lost the switch on the rear brake light at about 10,000 miles on my 2010 RT. After the usual removal of 5 million shrouds and body pieces the Tech brought the part to me and showed me that the metal arm of the switch turned on two nubs of plastic that was the body of the switch. In just 10,000 miles the numbs were worn away and that caused the switch to fail. The plastic switch body was pop riveted to an aluminum shield within about three inches of the converter next to the brake linkage rod. He went to pop-rivet the new switch body back in place and with the mere application of the first pop-rivet the switch broke in three pieces on the floor. Now I have no brake lights in the rear no matter what I do to get home with while we await the new switch.

By the way there is also a Federal recall on this trike to replace the pins in the brake linkage which can fall out resulting in complete loss of any braking. The parts for that have been back ordered for a couple of weeks too. Meanwhile all this great trike weather of spring and early summer have been passing with me on the sidelines. The body of that switch must have been made of reprocessed chewing gum and like as not came from China or at the least the lowest bidder from the orient. Anything to keep their costs of manufacturing down with little care for durability seems to be the watch word. Needless to say I am not a happy camper nor was the Tech who did the work and basically just did needless assembly and reassembly for nothing.

Now I wait again for the brake parts to get on the road after almost a month down for the parts and disconnecting a fuse to put out the light so the battery would not run down. Certainly not a durable part this switch and the replacement is worse! Bill :banghead:

Now to make it even more interesting the thing went into limp mode with more system failure lights than even I have ever seen while moving it around today! But as usual five minutes of sitting and it was back to normal run. Will it ever end? :roflblack:

 

[NancysToy]

Now to make it even more interesting the thing went into limp mode with more system failure lights than even I have ever seen while moving it around today! But as usual five minutes of sitting and it was back to normal run. Will it ever end? :roflblack:

It probably went into limp mode because it saw brake pressure without any brake lights (via the switch). It should not have been ridden that way, and the dealer should not have recommended against it. He sould also not have tried a makeshift repair on a critical part. IMO, you were just unlucky. Thousands of these switches have held up just fine, with no problems whatsoever. Things happen sometimes, and you have to go with the flow.

 

[zeebill]

It probably went into limp mode because it saw brake pressure without any brake lights (via the switch). It should not have been ridden that way, and the dealer should not have recommended against it. He sould also not have tried a makeshift repair on a critical part. IMO, you were just unlucky. Thousands of these switches have held up just fine, with no problems whatsoever. Things happen sometimes, and you have to go with the flow.

It took it 45 miles and a day to realize it saw brake pressure without any brake lights. The alarms were the next day when I was running it down to top the fuel up. I drove the 45 miles home because I live in the country and there was no one around to come pick me up and take me home so there was no choice. I rode it in there with the brake light stuck on and with no codes in the computer when he checked. Ten minutes later the limp mode was gone and it ran just fine and I would bet $20 there is nothing of a code in the computer as this is what has happened in the past. He made no attempt at any makeshift repairs, the brake light switch is pop-riveted in place on the heat shield in normal installation. It broke when he tried to reinstall like it had been when the trike was made. He looked at the computer for codes when I drove in there with it stuck on and saw none so his reasoning was if it didn't pick any up with it stuck on it shouldn't with it out of circuit. He was not happy with me riding it home but there was no loaner available and I had no other way home. This trike routinely goes wild with codes at times and nothing shows up in the computer each and every time I have driven the 45 miles to the dealer. I know he is not BS'ing me because I sit right there and watch him plug it into the unit and check, nothing ever shows up!

My Bad Luck started when I was fool enough to buy the second one thinking they had eliminated the bad points and refined the ride. This is the third switch this dealership has replaced so watch what you say your luck may run out and you could be next! Or worse yet you could be the one to lose the pins in the brake rod it is under Federal recall for and lose braking totally. I certainly hope you aren't but that is no guarantee you won't be, you might catch my "Luck"! Bill :helpsmilie: