Brake pedal switch (1 Viewer)

Apr 23, 2018
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1400 miles on the clock and my ASR light came on. The display showed Hill Stop Unavailable and the van went into limp mode. I took it to the dealer for warranty job and they replaced the brake pedal switch. 20 miles up the road and the lights came on again! So frustrating. I have to take her back again next week but don’t want to start booking sites until all is well with the MH. Any ideas that I can tell the mech what to look for? All advice gratefully received.
 

pappajohn

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Aug 26, 2007
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Could be wrong but I can't see anti slip/Hill start assist causing limp mode... Its not exactly a safety critical feature.
We've all done hill starts long before this was thought of.

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OP
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St Ivian
Apr 23, 2018
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That’s right Papajohn but apparently there is much more connected to the brake system than just the brakes, hence limp mode when it goes wrong. Sometimes I long for the old ‘hit it with a hammer days’. I used to be able to fix most things on my cars but now all I see is a bunch of wires and it scares the life out of me.
 

pappajohn

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That's what I mean, it's something more serious than the light is indicating.
You know a warning light only means 'this is the general area the fault is in'
An ABS light can be anything from a failed ABS ECU or pump to a broken wire on an ABS wheel sensor. But it doesn't put it in limp mode or mean your brakes won't work.
 
OP
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St Ivian
Apr 23, 2018
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Thanks for that. I suppose I should just leave it to the experts.:)

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pappajohn

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My stepdaughter recently took her Suzuki Grand Vitara into a franchised dealer for a cylinder head gasket replacement.
Bloody useless.... 10 weeks and a bill for £2100 she got the car back. Engine stripped, rebuilt, no start, stripped again, engine out, new piston rings, rebuilt, returned.
Lost confidence so traded for a late Subaru Forester. Two days a warning light for hill decent. Took it back and fixed, next day light back on. Took it back late sat morning and told them in no uncertain words she wasn't leaving until it was fixed even though the 'technicians' finished at 12am.
Light came on before she left the forecourt.
All they were doing was clearing the fault code and praying it wouldn't come back.
She gave them the ultimate ultimatum..... Fix it or I reject it.
It's in til Tuesday.

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hilldweller

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Dec 5, 2008
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To be fair, they did apologise. Didn’t help but it probably made them feel better:D

Sorry, the point I was trying to make, badly, is that today the designers are so dedicated to technology they fail to realise that outside in the real world most of the service people are just totally out of their depth with the excessive technology. They are selling highly complex computer equipment and most of the people people trying to keep it going are used to spanners not diagnostics equipment.
 

pappajohn

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Sorry, the point I was trying to make, badly, is that today the designers are so dedicated to technology they fail to realise that outside in the real world most of the service people are just totally out of their depth with the excessive technology. They are selling highly complex computer equipment and most of the people people trying to keep it going are used to spanners not diagnostics equipment.
They ain't stupid though Brian.
They hoping that you buy, for example, a Citroen and you take it to your usual 'man' with a small garage in a back street he can't afford the dedicated Citroen diagnostic tools so he loses your business and you go to a Citroen dealer as they have the diagnostic tools factory supplied
The small man goes under after a while or survives on basic mechanical work.
The good old days of points condenser and distributor anyone with dirty fingernails knew how to adjust things and all was sweet.
As far as they are concerned the sooner 'Micks Motors' go to the wall the better for them.
But saying that, it's my experience if it doesn't involve a computer they don't have a clue what they're doing. They have trouble finding a purely mechanical fault because the computer can't help.
I have the car, I have the laptop, the missing link is the multi thousand pound software to bring the two together.
 

hilldweller

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They ain't stupid though Brian.
They hoping that you buy, for example, a Citroen and you take it to your usual 'man' with a small garage in a back street he can't afford the dedicated Citroen diagnostic tools.

I know, that describes a great local garage to a tee.

But nothing new, they stopped barbers performing operations quite some time ago.

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pappajohn

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It's like Anna's Suzuki. Head gasket blown and pressuring cooling system.
Popped radiator.
The car was running when it went in.
New head gasket and head skimmed, rebuilt, wouldn't run.
Franchised dealer and they had to BUY IN a compression tester!!!!!
Took 10 weeks to get it running...... But it was running when it went in.
 
OP
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St Ivian
Apr 23, 2018
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It all probably started when they stopped being mechanics and became fitters. The old fashioned mechanic would strip everything down to basic nuts and bolts to find a fault but now, with all of the technology involved, all they can do is put it on the computer and replace the part they are told is faulty.
I used to love the old strobe light and TDC way of doing things. We could fix pretty much anything by the roadside in those days AND the AA man would salute you too. The one I called out a couple of weeks ago to my MH (through Peugeot Assistance) couldn’t help because his computer “was not up to date” and he advised me to make a run for home (40 miles away). You couldn’t make it up.
 
Jun 17, 2012
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My son had a lady with a Smart car that had stood around and needed a new battery.
Not near his garage and he knew not to tow an automatic to his workshop.
Fitted battery but starter motor sluggish, took long jump lead from negative to engine in case of bad earth strap. No joy, knowing how difficult to service one, rang Main Stealer for a quote, £400 for the motor and £375 labour as THEY HAVE TO REMOVE BODY from chassis. :Eeek:
He advised her to use them, as some jobs are best avoided and this was one of them.
She had RAC take it to the dealer, he said it was the starter motor.
Dealer said engine seized and wanted £7500 to fit new one!
Engine was not seized.

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St Ivian
Apr 23, 2018
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Finally got my MH back to the repair shop today (47 miles round trip) only to be told it was all my fault! Apparently, when the tech plugged his computer into the vehicle it showed that I had pressed the brake pedal and accelerator pedal at the same time which caused the lights to come on again. I told them I couldn’t accept that explanation as I am sure everybody must press both pedals together at some stage without any problems. In fact, I seem to remember years ago that rally drivers did it all the time. Anyway, they cleared the lights and they didn’t come on again on the way home. Happy days.
 

pappajohn

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Finally got my MH back to the repair shop today (47 miles round trip) only to be told it was all my fault! Apparently, when the tech plugged his computer into the vehicle it showed that I had pressed the brake pedal and accelerator pedal at the same time which caused the lights to come on again. I told them I couldn’t accept that explanation as I am sure everybody must press both pedals together at some stage without any problems. In fact, I seem to remember years ago that rally drivers did it all the time. Anyway, they cleared the lights and they didn’t come on again on the way home. Happy days.
Now that HAS been posted here before but seemed so incredulous at the time I think folk must have forgot about it

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RogerThat

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I think I'd have pressed both pedals at the same time before I left their forecourt, just to make sure it didn't come back on!

Off topic ever so slightly, your Boxer base has hill start assist? Interesting!

Does it perform like a traditional automatic would and just 'hold' you in position until you give it more gas, or is it actually applying the brakes for you?
 
OP
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St Ivian
Apr 23, 2018
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The Hill Assist is meant to save you using your hand brake on a slope. You take your foot off the brake and you have about two second to start accelerating. I tend not to use it because, being quite old, I can do hill starts properly and also I always think how people behind must be getting dazzled by my brake lights. The MH isn’t an automatic. It also has cruise control and speed limiter and some other things that I haven’t yet worked out.
 
Aug 18, 2014
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but apparently there is much more connected to the brake system than just the brakes,
Yes you can't dry the brakes off these days as it brings on the light.
But it doesn't put it in limp mode o
Unfortunately it does if foot is on accelerator when you brake
Finally got my MH back to the repair shop today (47 miles round trip) only to be told it was all my fault! Apparently, when the tech plugged his computer into the vehicle it showed that I had pressed the brake pedal and accelerator pedal at the same time which caused the lights to come on again. I told them I couldn’t accept that explanation as I am sure everybody must press both pedals together at some stage without any problems. In fact, I seem to remember years ago that rally drivers did it all the time. Anyway, they cleared the lights and they didn’t come on again on the way home. Happy days.
Yes I was going to mention this the other day. Common problem as is not being adjusted correctly & as they wear bumpy roads bring it on when your foot is on accelerator but nowhere near the brake.
Now that HAS been posted here before but seemed so incredulous at the time I think folk must have forgot about it
Yes I posted it some years back. Mine surfaced on bumpy toads, light came on but normally as soon as you take foot off accelerator light will go out. Prob I had was mine was auto & sometimes I'd brake with the left keeping right on accelerator & on it would come. It is all linked via cruise control as well.
Odd that now the light doesn't go out when accelerator is released.

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Aug 18, 2014
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Mine did the opposite: came on when I accelerated and off when I braked.
Which to me would point to a badly adjusted switch . That is how I found mine ,I'd be accelerating & it would come on due to wear & a very bumpy road. Trouble is it is all so complicated now even with the correct tools there is still a huge amount of 'guesswork'.
With my fault,to recreate it,you had to have feet on both pedals for 3 or 4 seconds .

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Jan 17, 2014
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Are you Citroen, Fiat, Peugeot owners not able to buy, albeit at a serious cost, comprehensive diagnostic software for a PC?
We VW, Audi, SEAT, Skoda and other VAG vehicle owners have 'VCDS' available to us from Ross Tech. I know it's not cheap but various forums offer the ability to share it or bring owners of vehicles and owners of VCDS together. I have a genuine version which has been priceless over the years, in the deal of purchasing this hardware (the software is free) owners get lifetime software updates and back-up from the manufacturers and their forum. This system is so comprehensive that it is used by many independent motor traders worldwide not only for faulting but also for doing various tweaks to the vehicle electronics so much so that we take this capability for granted.
 
OP
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St Ivian
Apr 23, 2018
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Are you Citroen, Fiat, Peugeot owners not able to buy, albeit at a serious cost, comprehensive diagnostic software for a PC?
I would buy it and probably will eventually but while the vehicle is under warranty I would be worried I would do something wrong and invalidating the warranty. Also, even if I spotted the problem, I would still have to take it the workshop to be fixed, again to maintain the warranty.

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pappajohn

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I think I'd have pressed both pedals at the same time before I left their forecourt, just to make sure it didn't come back on!
If I remember right from the previous thread, yes it would.
No idea why but the ECU can't understand why you would press both brake and throttle at the same time so it thinks there's a fault.
 

pappajohn

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I would buy it and probably will eventually but while the vehicle is under warranty I would be worried I would do something wrong and invalidating the warranty. Also, even if I spotted the problem, I would still have to take it the workshop to be fixed, again to maintain the warranty.
I would estimate the software cost at least £6000+, IF you could find a supplier.
Would You still be prepared to buy it

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