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Stop Light Blues

To: Tiger Mailing List <tigers@autox.team.net>,
Subject: Stop Light Blues
From: ssage@socal.rr.com
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 08:54:36 -0800
A week or two ago I bragged how I had fixed the Tiger's stop light 
switch by taking it out, banging it on the ground a few times, and 
re-installing it. It did, in fact, work properly for a few days. A 
couple of days ago, though, I realised the switch is again working 
intermittently. (I have figured out a way to get it to temporarily work 
while still installed: Bang on it a bit with a wrench while it's still 
installed! Be careful not to damage any brake lines, though).

I spoke to a Sunbeam expert who's first question was if I'm using 
silicone fluid and, in fact, I'm using Valvolene Syntech (I don't know 
if it's silicone, but it is synthetic). My friend said this is almost 
for sure the problem and that he's heard from numerous Sunbeamers that 
synthetic brake fluid does not allow the switch to function properly. 
Something about it coating the internal contacts so a circuit can't be 
made. I've since found reference to this on a couple of hot rod web 
sites, and that there are switches that will function using synthetic 
fluid (and those that will not). A suggestion was also made that you can 
fit a mechanical switch under the brake pedal. I visited a couple of 
parts stores and looked at a few mechanical, under the pedal switches, 
but none seemed like they had the right geometry to work in a Tiger or 
Alpine.

Short of switching back to Girling fluid, has anyone else out there had 
this problem? Is there another switch that will work that will fit the 
thread down there, or has someone found a mechanical stop light switch 
that will go under the pedal without major surgery, or another solution?

Steve Sage
1967 Tiger MK1A

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