Mysterious brake lights behavior (Freightliner chassis) 2005 Vectra

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DutchEagle

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 9, 2015
Posts
358
Location
Woodbury Minnesota USA
Beginning this week we noticed that half of the brake lights would work intermittently.

This is what was observed; Sometimes the brake lights on the left side would not work and sometimes the brake lights on the right would not work. Every time the brakes were hit just one side was working. The LED bar (3rd brake light) always worked.

All fuses are checked and are ok. (On the driver side in front and behind the driver side radiator cover) All the brake light lamps are checked and working.

While in North Dakota I checked in with Freightliner in Fargo, they could not find anything wrong, both sides were working. (Like you go to the dentist with pain and while there the pain is gone)  After checking in at our campsite we tested the brake lights again and low and behold just one side worked.

The tech at Freightliner checked all connections and cables without a resolution. The same issues happen with or without the car hooked up.

I'm lost as to where to look for. One thing I'm not able to do is checking if all the relays are working.

edit by staff - changed message icon to topic solved
 
I seem to recall somebody having some sort of problem like that that was traced to trailer/car connection plug or the wires leading to it.  That would be where I would start looking, at any rate...
 
If it?s a combination brake light/ turn signal, it?s usually in the turn signal stalk/ switch. Usually it?s the turn signal that malfunctions, but I?ve seen it cause your problem. In trucks operated in very dusty conditions, blowing compressed air in around stalk would sometimes be a quick fix, but I can?t imagine the contacts getting dirty in a motorhome. Sometimes they just fail.
 
I had a very intermittent left turn signal that defied all troubleshooting efforts. Freightliner replaced the multifunction stalk (turn signals, etc.) and problem solved. I'll bet you have the very same problem.
 
Not the exact problem but I chased a similar problem with my rig while my toad was plugged in.
Dissected the harness at the point where the plug harness joined the main harness, and corrected a bad connection.
That only solved one problem, so I kept investigating the harness. After some bad words and frustration I found another fuse block.
It's primarily for all of the lights going to the rear of the coach. It is hidden behind a panel just in front of the left rear wheel located in the power distribution compartment. I found that there were several blown fuses and once replaced everything worked as they should.

Hope this helps out somewhat.

Corky
 
cbeierl said:
I seem to recall somebody having some sort of problem like that that was traced to trailer/car connection plug or the wires leading to it.  That would be where I would start looking, at any rate...

Thanks, Chris, the tech checked that out but that was working correctly.

Robert K said:
Check and clean any grounds in the area

Thanks, Robert the tech checked that too and found nothing wrong with grounding.

Corky said:
After some bad words and frustration I found another fuse block.
It's primarily for all of the lights going to the rear of the coach. It is hidden behind a panel just in front of the left rear wheel located in the power distribution compartment. I found that there were several blown fuses and once replaced everything worked as they should.

Hope this helps out somewhat.

Corky

Thanks Corky, I have a fuse box behind the side radiator in the back, all fuses are found working. There is also a fuse in a box in front of the driver side wheel that indicates STOP but that fuse was ok too.

jubileee said:
If it?s a combination brake light/ turn signal Sometimes they just fail.

John Canfield said:
I had a very intermittent left turn signal that defied all troubleshooting efforts. Freightliner replaced the multifunction stalk (turn signals, etc.) and problem solved. I'll bet you have the very same problem.

Thanks, Jubileee and John that will be the next thing to try, it is easy to replace by myself and less than $100



 
The brake lights go through the turn signal switch. I had to replace mine on our 05 Vectra as the right rear turn signal didn't work. I would bet that is where your problem is. You would have to put a test light on the leads when it decides to not work. It's only one plug and 3 torx bolts.

https://www.raneystruckparts.com/freightliner-multifunction-switch-a14-13495-000/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7b_h5bSH3QIVRbjACh1QnQgoEAQYBCABEgKyQvD_BwE

 
sandpsycho said:
The brake lights go through the turn signal switch. I had to replace mine on our 05 Vectra as the right rear turn signal didn't work. I would bet that is where your problem is. You would have to put a test light on the leads when it decides to not work. It's only one plug and 3 torx bolts.

https://www.raneystruckparts.com/freightliner-multifunction-switch-a14-13495-000/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7b_h5bSH3QIVRbjACh1QnQgoEAQYBCABEgKyQvD_BwE

Thanks sandpsycho, I ordered one and will pick it up when we are arriving in Colorado. I know it's easy to replace, demounted it to send pictures to the truck shop to get the correct one.
 
UPDATE:
I picked up my new Freightliner Multifunction switch (turn signal switch) beginning of the month, mounted it and we did not see any anomalies every time we checked signals and brakes. Looks like that fixed the whole strange behavior.

Thanks, to everyone who contributed to the resolving of this mystery.

FYI this is the Freightliner part number in case you need to change it out: A06-44025-000
 
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