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Brake light stays on

11K views 37 replies 11 participants last post by  ktfjammer 
#1 ·
I have a 2007 Road King Classic and my brake light stays on. I have checked the front brake light switch and it works. I took off the brake lever and played with the switch and could hear the brake relay clicking. I have changed the rear switch also and when I depress the rear brake my brake relay clicks. Not really sure what it is. It just started doing it. I also changed the bulb and it still does not turn off. Any suggestions?
 
#5 ·
I took off the front lever and pushed the brake light switch and it still stays on. I already changed the rear brake light switch. Plus when I took off the two wires to the rear brake light switch it still stays on to make me believe it is the front switch. So that is when I took off the brake lever and activated the switch by hand. The light still stays on. The relay clicks with bother the rear brake and front brake. Could there be a short somewhere?
 
#3 ·
I took off the front lever and pushed the brake light switch and it still stays on. I already changed the rear brake light switch. Plus when I took off the two wires to the rear brake light switch it still stays on to make me believe it is the front switch. So that is when I took off the brake lever and activated the switch by hand. The light still stays on. The relay clicks with bother the rear brake and front brake. Could there be a short somewhere?
 
#6 ·
Is '07 like the older front switch? Did you remove the front M/C from the bars for some reason?

I screwed up mine once, when I neglected to put the spacer (I want to say 5/32") in between the lever and the M/C bracket when removing the M/C for some forgotten reason. That will damage the switch and make your brake light stay on continuously. I still have that spliced switch in there, and don't do that any more.
 
#7 ·
I'd unplug the right handlebar wiring harness connector from the main harness behind headlight. If it still stays on , ya know it's in the switch/housing. If so , look closely for a pinched or bare section of wire touching housing.
 
#9 ·
I will unplug the wire harness and try that. My question is, would I still here the clicking in the brake light relay when edgaging the front brake lever or the rear brake. Because I hear the relay clicking when I do. I unplug the brake relay and the light is still on. I unplug the fuse and it goes off. I will first unplug the wire harness from the head lamp. Dannyboy the rubber boot is still in tact on the plunger. If the plunger is damaged will I still hear the relay engage when depressing it?
 
#15 ·
So I don't know if this means anything. When I turn it on to accessory and depress the front brake switch the brake light turns off
Question,

So when I turn it on to accessory, no light should go on, correct? In my case no lights come on. But when I depress the rear brake or front brake. the rear/ brake light and head light comes on. Is that normal?
So, which is it?? On or off?
 
#14 ·
Use an ohm meter on the unplugged front brake switch to see if it's turning on and off when you push and release it. Use a bridge wire on the unplugged wire side and see if the brake light turns on with it in and off with it removed. And get a service manual for your bike to further help yourself.
 
#17 ·
I have a service manual for the bike. I checked the trouble shooting section for a constant brake light. Going to have to use a test light and trace it to see if I have something grounded or a short. I have done nothing to the brake levers or lights.

Will check on an ohm meter. Question is when I depress the front brake and rear brake, not at the same time, would the brake relay still "click" if they are not working?

plus did you see my question regarding the ignition switch in accessory mode. wouldn't that indicate my switches are working?

Thank you again for all your help
 
#27 ·
I have got it narrowed down. I took off the seat and used a test light at the connector. All switches and relay work fine with my test light. I have a short somewhere between the connector and the tail light/brake light. hope it is somewhere near the tail light so I dont have to take off the fender or tire. Not sure which one I would have to take off to get to the wiring harness
 
#28 ·
So I don't know if I will explain this right. I am tracing the wiring harness to see where the possible short might be. The connector under seat is fine. I think I figured it out to be the red wire with the yellow stripe. ingition on my test light does not come on when I touch that wire. depress either brake lever test light comes on. So I follow the wiring harness coming out of the rear fender. I test the wires (red with yellow stripe) no light. depress brakes I get my test light to come on. I connect those wires back into the where it is supposed to connect (sorry dont know the part). I test the other side where the harness for the bulb boot comes on and the red with the yellow stripe wire stays on. So is the short in that connection unit for the tail light housing? Not sure what that unit is called. Thanks for all your help
 
#29 ·
Okay so I misspoke in the above statement. I was touching the wrong connector. It looks like it might be the boot. It is hard doing by myself wife out of town. So will wait till she gets back to help. We will see if it is the bulb boot. If so does anyone know what it is called so I can order? Thank yiou again all
 
#33 ·
Well it looks like there was a short in the tail light socket. Got a new one from Harley and it is all good. When I went to Harley to get the part, they stated the part gets order a lot. I figure this is an ongoing problem. So if any of you are having the same issues and you know for a fact the front and rear switch along with the relay are good. Look at the socket. Wasn't able to narrow it until I was able to get my test light. So invest in one of those. Thank you everyone for all your help
 
#36 ·
Just had this problem with my '05 Ultra. The cure, pull the brake lever and use a pick to pull the rubber seal away from the piston, use penetrating oil then reinstall the lever. Let the lever snap back out several times and that should cure the problem.

My cruise wouldn't set and the brake light stayed on all the time. turns out the piston was sticking in the master cylinder causing play in the brake lever leaving the brake light on. Just something else to look at in your case.
 
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