Int. light coming on under hard braking

Brad

Brad

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Although this has been happening ever since I bought my car, I never really bothered asking the question.

Under quite heavy braking (close to ABS) and vertical G's, (deep dips in the road) the interior light will come on briefly. My thought is that there is an angle sensor in the hatch which turns the light on when lifted up. These type of G's would support my argument by causing the sensor to change angle.

Has anyone else experienced this or am I just doing silly things with my car? :)
 
Phasis,

Very likely... I don't have ABS so I don't know what 'just before ABS' is roll_lau although I do know what just before the squeal is. I've never had my light come on though.

I've spent some time trying to figure out how that hatch boot light switches on, because mine is somewhat intermittent. A tilt switch sounds like it though :)

If you think about it, you're right because when the hatch is closed, the switch would be fairly close to 45 degrees and when you open the hatch it would be fairly close to 45 degrees the other way. The combination of braking and the bump would definately move whatever's in the switch (mercury?) to switch it on.

That's my theory anyway head_ban

Derek
 
Isn't the hatch light just a contact switch?

In any case, (at least on mine) the hatch light is independent of the interior cabin light..

I would guess more that the interior light switch in the roof is a little dodgy (has some loose contacts or something), and the contacts happen to touch together under hard braking.

EDIT: or maybe the switches on the doors to turn the lights on.. ?

<small>[ 04 July 2002, 11:27 PM: Message edited by: rek ]</small>
 
I get a similar thing on my 205 GTi. Under high vertical Gs (severe dips and rises in road) and if I go over speed bumps a bit too fast. The funiest one is on the open road and a truck goes the other way. The wind buffet sets it off. It's like my pug is saying

"Oi!!! What do you think your doing, Watch it buddy! I'll break down on you if you dont behave yourself"

LOL

It's all part of the charm, bet you wouldn't get that in a Jappa.

Izza
 
this post is more related to the hatch light, mine only turns on sometimes when i open the hatch, silly thing
 
"La' Frogets" can build some real lulus into the electrics.
If you guys think you've got troubles, spare a thought for the guy over in Europe who had a C-5 with rain sensitive wipers; whenever it rains, the wipers come on and.................the sunroof opens roll_lau head_ban whip a_drink a_drink

Alan S
 
I thought it might be a courtesy light pre-empting passengers to get the hell out of the car! :)
 
I seem to remember that in a Wheels magazine a few years back, the :rolleyes: Totota Rav 4's body would flex so much when pushed, that the doors flexed enough in there frames to activate the internal light eek! mallet mallet

I remeber that our old 505 Wagon had a tilt switch in the tailgate, and would sometimes make the load area light come on under hard braking or :D "Rapid Takeoff's"!
 
If you are braking that hard, is it "the light at the end of the tunnel" that you are seeing?
 
the boot light switch is a small tube of plastic with a ball bearing which run's along the length until it touch's a contact at one end to earth the interior light .The switch is a common fault in boot light's not working but I don't know if it work's the cabin bulb's.
 
Woahhh, thats a new one,
my S16, dosn't do anything like that...??

QUESTION??? how do you know this light comes on!?? and are you looking as u pull those heavy G's,,,,,,.

Ya know what it could be, the Cent/Locking controller on aussie spec cars is under the rear
seat, amd i know that the enersia (spell??) SEAT BEALT controllers is under the center console.?? check out these, maybe a wire is loose...(im plucking at straws here)........... go the french stylleee
defenetly wont c that charm on any rice car...lol

X
 
I guess when the whole cabin lights up I can kinda tell the lights on :)
 
Rip the trim off the tailgate and increase the angle of the mounting switch....see how it goes also as switches are earth points, check the wiring attachments at each of the door switches, most probably tailgate though, which is perfectly adjustable.....unless you want others to see the look on your face while you're emergency braking!!! eek!
 
unless they have changed the wiring between the car that Phasis has and the car that i have then the hatch doesn't effect the cabin lights
i had a door switch in a 504 that wasn't earthing properly and it used to flick the interior lights in the car when you went over a series of bumps on all the time
the hatch in my car only operates the boot light
if i were you Phasis i'd be checking the door switches to make sure they are earthing properly and also making sure that the wires are attached properly on the switches themselves
have you checked to make sure that the actuator on either of the door switches hasn't broken away at all and is now shorter than it should be ?
the switch may be going off enough when you close the door to turn the lights off in the cab but then when you are under heavy braking there might be just enough flex in the car to flick the interior lights on
just a thought anyway
 
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