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Jul 22nd, 2008, 02:39 PM
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#1 | | Newbie
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 2
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hello everyone,
i just replaced the front and rear brake pads on a 1994 harley davidson heritage softail and now the brake lights won't go off. what did i do wrong.
is there a brake light switch adjustment?
thanks for any help/advise,
vic | 
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Jul 22nd, 2008, 05:43 PM
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#2 | | Moderator Has posted 500+
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 4,113
| have you pumped the rear and front brake levers to be sure the brakes are working???? | |
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Jul 22nd, 2008, 05:57 PM
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#3 | | Has posted 500+
Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Alvin TX
Posts: 1,477 Model: 03 E Glide X cop bike Interests: My family Old Dodge truck's Riding My Glide Occupation: Retired truck Driver
| you should have bleed out some fluid , replace it & pump both like chuck said above | |
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Jul 23rd, 2008, 08:22 AM
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#4 | | Has posted 500+
Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: spokane
Posts: 865 Model: 03 883 XLC-CHOPPER Occupation: welder
| make sure your front brake lever button isn't stuck | |
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Jul 25th, 2008, 02:32 AM
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#5 | | Rookie 10+ posts
Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 38 Model: 1995 Harley Sportster 1200 Interests: Photography, beer (making and drinking), hunting, travelling Occupation: Field Service Engineer
| The first thing to do would be to determine which brake is causing the light to stay on. The rear brake switch is usually a pressure switch somewhere after master cylinder. The front one is a switch on the hand control.
Disconnect them one at a time, see which is acting up, and split the problem in half.
I had a similar problem on my 95 sporty. The switch on the hand control is a NCHO(normally closed held open) switch on the switch cluster, and the activator (which hold the switch open or off when the brake lever is not being pulled) is on the grip assembly. These have to be mounted tight together, a 1/8" gap will cause the brake light to stay on.
Good luck | |
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Jul 25th, 2008, 07:35 AM
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#6 | | Has posted 500+
Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: spokane
Posts: 865 Model: 03 883 XLC-CHOPPER Occupation: welder
| spent about a week figuring out that darn button on the hand brake, with the front brake off  simple to take off the rear sensor and test it, took that sucker off about 5 times too, plenty of brake bleeding | |
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Jul 25th, 2008, 11:55 AM
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#7 | | Has posted 500+
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,815
| I would look to the front first it is a common failure
You can open the clamshell cover on the switches, inside is a rubber booted switch that was mentioned above
two things happen
1) Switch dies, simple to replace, buy a new one, cut wires and splice into harness.
2) little V shaped metal clip that goes behind it is bent, collapsed or gone. without it the switch recedes into the housing and the lever can't get to it to close. So make sure the clip is behind the switch and holding it in positon.
With the covers open you can move the switch by hand, if the lights don't go out it's likely it's the problem
You also have one under the trans for the rear brake check the wires, you can pull them off to see if the light goes out as well. | |
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Jul 28th, 2008, 10:25 PM
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#8 | | 200+ posts and climbing
Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Central Valley, CA
Posts: 203 Model: 2005 RoadGlide, 1996 RoadKing, 2005 Delu Interests: Motorcycles, Grandkids Occupation: HD Service Tech
| One other place to look is the switch housing is butted up tight to the master cylinder. If it backs off a little bit the switch will stay ingaged. | |
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Aug 3rd, 2008, 10:19 AM
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#9 | | Newbie
Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Northern Colorado
Posts: 2 Model: 93 FLSTC Interests: Tube Hi-Fi, Music, Tinkering with my bike Occupation: Engineer
| Quote:
Originally Posted by VYBR8ER  One other place to look is the switch housing is butted up tight to the master cylinder. If it backs off a little bit the switch will stay ingaged. | That's what happened to me. I replaced the grips and didn't get the grip up tight against the master cylinder housing. That'll keep the brake light on. It's in the service manual too but it isn't obvious. If you changed handle bars or grips, that's the 1st place to look. | |
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Aug 9th, 2008, 02:27 PM
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#10 | | Rookie 10+ posts
Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Temecula, California
Posts: 22 Model: 1997 HD FLHTCI
| ugh this brings back not so good memories about my 94 Heritage I had a while ago... I had running light and brake light issues forever, then actually when I was preppin it to put up for sale... I found it! It was a group of wires that ran along the bottom of the frame, and every other time I would lift the bike with my POS Craftsman bike lift it would crush the wires! This would either crush the wires to a point of not working, semi working, or working all the time, and working only when they should be workin...
Just my two pennies. | |
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