Brake light mystery

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Rochfort

Rochfort

Joined
May 20, 2023
Threads
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Location
Bogota
...my brake and back up lights come on when brakes applied and in reverse gear. But when the engine's off? Is this normal?

Man, this things a tin can hey? But so simple, I could take it apart with a half inch wrench. No wonder guys love these vintage cruisers, like a grown up Tonka toy...

20250228_161138.jpg
 
I believe brake lights will come on any time the brake is applied. The reverse light will come on with the key on and in reverse.
You need to find the wiring diagram for your year.model.market. The Chilton book is better than nothing.
Look here and see that free downloads fit your rig

Land Cruiser Factory Service Manuals (FSMs)

Factory service manuals (FSMs) for your Toyota Land Cruiser ! From the 1950s to the present!
www.cruisercult.com www.cruisercult.com
 
charliemeyer007 said:
I believe brake lights will come on any time the brake is applied. The reverse light will come on with the key on and in reverse.
You need to find the wiring diagram for your year.model.market. The Chilton book is better than nothing.
Look here and see that free downloads fit your rig

Land Cruiser Factory Service Manuals (FSMs)

Factory service manuals (FSMs) for your Toyota Land Cruiser ! From the 1950s to the present!
www.cruisercult.com www.cruisercult.com
Click to expand...
OH hey, thanks for helping out this newbie. Stand up guy..
.
 
The brake lights at the back of your truck will come on any time the pedal is pressed, but the ignition switch will need to be on before the red light on the dash will come on.
FYI this light is dual purpose.. if the handbrake is off, and that light comes on when the pedal is pressed then your brakes need adjusting..

Half inch drive wrench maybe, but you'll need to buy a metric socket set for this one I'm afraid ;)
 
45Dougal said:
The brake lights at the back of your truck will come on any time the pedal is pressed, but the ignition switch will need to be on before the red light on the dash will come on.
FYI this light is dual purpose.. if the handbrake is off, and that light comes on when the pedal is pressed then your brakes need adjusting..

Half inch drive wrench maybe, but you'll need to buy a metric socket set for this one I'm afraid ;)
Click to expand...
YEs, the vehicle inspection guys said to investigate the rear right drum. Come to think of it I did feel a pull back there. Wonder what it is. Truck has original brakes. .
 
Rochfort said:
YEs, the vehicle inspection guys said to investigate the rear right drum. Come to think of it I did feel a pull back there. Wonder what it is. Truck has original brakes. .
Click to expand...
You have two pressure switches on the brake master cylinder. The red light indicates that at least one of them is not activating when the pedal is pressed.
Try pulling each wire off in turn to help understand what's happening.
Sounds like you might have a stuck rear cylinder, and the front circuit then can't get upto pressure before the rear bottoms out.

Good luck backing off the adjuster and removing the drum to inspect
 
Jonathan Hanson said:
Might I suggest a 13mm rather than the 1/2-inch?
Click to expand...
There are no 13’s…..unless the PO needed a 8mm bolt of European origin….most of the nuts and bolts that hold the rig together use 12 and 14mm wrenches.

There’s a story to that…..by shaving the head sizes of an 8mm bolt from 13 to 12mm, the post war Japanese saved maybe 1/10 of a penny. But if multiply 1/10th penny x the 1000 plus bolts/vehicle x 100,000 vehicles per year, you’ll se a pretty good savings (profit).

Pretty smart economics for the manufacture, it’s the poor mechanic that gets hosed🤣🤣🤣🤣
 
The old Land Rovers used 2 wrench sizes for 90% of the bolts/nuts on the rig. It was like 1/4 and 5/8 but in Wentworth. :alien:
 
charliemeyer007 said:
The old Land Rovers used 2 wrench sizes for 90% of the bolts/nuts on the rig. It was like 1/4 and 5/8 but in Wentworth. :alien:
Click to expand...
Wasnt Wentworth a fictional prison on tv? Joseph Whitworth was a victorian engineer who developed threads and (I thought you'd know this Charlie) sniper rifles..
Actually landrover were mostly UNF iirc, but the bolts will be so rusty that you'll have to hammer the wrong socket on them anyway. ;)
 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...8/5-8_vs_5-8_003.jpg/800px-5-8_vs_5-8_003.jpg

The Whitworth 5/8 is on the left vs what we would call a 5/8 today. The 53 MG TD that I learned to drive in had some Whitworth bolts in it besides the wood frame members. Yea sorry its Whitworth not Wentworth. Spelling is not my strong point or obscure British tooling for that matter. But I do like the concept of 90% of the bolts/nuts are two sizes. Oh and I hate when they use both metric and sae fasteners so you have to carry both set of tools these days. Very convenient such as measuring speed in furlongs per fortnight. You don't get no stinking standardization! Rant off.
 
Last edited:
charliemeyer007 said:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...8/5-8_vs_5-8_003.jpg/800px-5-8_vs_5-8_003.jpg

The Whitworth 5/8 is on the left vs what we would call a 5/8 today. The 53 MG TD that I learned to drive in had some Whitworth bolts in it besides the wood frame members. Yea sorry its Whitworth not Wentworth. Spelling is not my strong point or obscure British tooling for that matter. But I do like the concept of 90% of the bolts/nuts are two sizes. Oh and I hate when they use both metric and sae fasteners so you have to carry both set of tools these days. Very convenient such as measuring speed in furlongs per fortnight. You don't get no stinking standardization! Rant off.
Click to expand...
... wooden frame? God...
...
.
 
Last edited:
45Dougal said:
You have two pressure switches on the brake master cylinder. The red light indicates that at least one of them is not activating when the pedal is pressed.
Try pulling each wire off in turn to help understand what's happening.
Sounds like you might have a stuck rear cylinder, and the front circuit then can't get upto pressure before the rear bottoms out.

Good luck backing off the adjuster and removing the drum to inspect
Click to expand...
...did it last year, though not very well..
 
charliemeyer007 said:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...8/5-8_vs_5-8_003.jpg/800px-5-8_vs_5-8_003.jpg

The Whitworth 5/8 is on the left vs what we would call a 5/8 today. The 53 MG TD that I learned to drive in had some Whitworth bolts in it besides the wood frame members. Yea sorry its Whitworth not Wentworth. Spelling is not my strong point or obscure British tooling for that matter. But I do like the concept of 90% of the bolts/nuts are two sizes. Oh and I hate when they use both metric and sae fasteners so you have to carry both set of tools these days. Very convenient such as measuring speed in furlongs per fortnight. You don't get no stinking standardization! Rant off.
Click to expand...
I was brought up using both inches and metric so I always had both sets tbf.
SI units is the future, and metric will win out in the end.
Unless you slap a 25% tariff on that too hehe then even your 10mm wrench will be a half inch.
 
Rochfort said:
...my brake and back up lights come on when brakes applied and in reverse gear. But when the engine's off? Is this normal?

Man, this things a tin can hey? But so simple, I could take it apart with a half inch wrench. No wonder guys love these vintage cruisers, like a grown up Tonka toy...

View attachment 3849891
Click to expand...
...brake pedal on, no light
...brake pedal off, light
 
45Dougal said:
The brake lights at the back of your truck will come on any time the pedal is pressed, but the ignition switch will need to be on before the red light on the dash will come on.
FYI this light is dual purpose.. if the handbrake is off, and that light comes on when the pedal is pressed then your brakes need adjusting..

Half inch drive wrench maybe, but you'll need to buy a metric socket set for this one I'm afraid ;)
Click to expand...
...lights off when brake pedal depressed. The japanese had their own way of doing things, hey?
 
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