The car is a 93 RX-7. The battery was dead, so I jumped it today, and after everything was all set and the test run completed, someone noticed after the car was off, with the key out and locked, that the brake lights were still lit.
Is there a fuse that would cause this problem by blowing?
It's kind of weird for the light to be on with the key out and the car off, I checked to see if the brake pedal was stuck and actuated the headlights and anything else I could think of to try and get it to go off, but nothing worked and I finally had to d/c the battery.
Anyone have any experience with an issue like this or advice?

-TW

 

Did anything happen when you stepped on the brakes after the car was off? I would say it has to do with a sensor thinking the brake pedal is pushed in.

 

when I hit the brakes, the lights would just stay on like normal, so basically no change when I hit the brake pedal

 

Did the problem persist after you reconnected the battery? I dont think its a fuse because if a fuse blown well you wouldnt be getting any power to that area, your problem here is something thinks the pedal is still depressed even though its not. I would double tap looking around the brake pedal.

 

Found this on a website.

What does it mean when your brake lights stay on? When you release the brake pedal, there is a switch underneath the brake pedal that disconnects the circuit to your brake lights causing your brake lights to switch off. Sometimes this brake light switch will go bad and need replacement. For the most part, replacing the brake light switch is very simple. Just replace the brake light switch with a new one. If your brake light stays on after you turn your car or truck off and you don't want to run your battery down, you may be able to get down underneath the brake pedal and manually pull up on the brake light switch to deactivate it until you can get it repaired. This method will only work if the brake light switch is just sticking. Otherwise you will need to open the hood and disconnect the negative terminal of your battery each and every time you leave the vehicle unattended to keep the faulty brake light switch from draining your battery.

 

Hm, I'll have to check that out, thanks for the help!

 

No prob! Let us know how it turns out. Its gotta be that sensor.

 

OP,

Mazdaspeed Dan was pretty nice.

Do you have a FSM? Did you search to see if anyone had a similar issue?

A simple search with "brake lights" came up with many threads (some not related); however, here is a pretty relevant one.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...t=brake+lights

These cars have been around awhile, and most issues have been discovered before. Most can be solved with a little effort on the OP's part.

Ok, off my soap box.

 

Yes, I did search for several pages, although apparently not enough.

 

I had this problem before, there is a plastic/rubber bumper in the brake pedal. The bumper presses on the brake light switch ( which is normally closed ) and opens the circuit; turning off the brake. this bumper broke and fell out on me, leaving a hole just large enough to not actuate the brake light switch. I replaced it with a bolt and all is fine almost three years later.

 

I found a rubber suction cup that seems to be a perfect fit for that little hole with the sensor stud on it. Sure enough, the shards of the old plastic piece were on the floormat. Hopefully it holds and I can declare this problem solved.
Thanks again for helping!
-TW