I was driving to a friends house tonight when all of a sudden a bunch of lights came on. The VDC, ABS, and slip lights all came on. The same lights that came on when I was dynoing my car.

Anyway, when I pulled up to my friends house I tried to raise the roof and it wouldn't budge. I know the top won't work unless the car isn't moving and my foot is on the brake pedal. That immediately made me think the problem has something to do with the brake switch sensor that connects to the brake pedal. I then backed my car up against a wall so I could check to see if the brake lights were working. Sure enough they weren't It would work sometimes but not all the time. I was able to hold the brake pedal, once the lights activated, long enough to raise the roof.

I assume the problem has something to do with the brake switch sensor. I only have 21,000 miles on my car but it is 3 years old as of this month. Which means my warranty is either already over or about to be anyday. I am going to call the Nissan dealer tomorrow to schedule an appointment.

Is this a known problem? I ran a search but didn't find anything.

 

Anyone?

 

i don't think it's a common problem but your diagnosis sounds good

 

It is going in tomorrow to a local Nissan dealer. I will post again once I hear what they have to say.

On a side note, I understand why the mods moved this from the general 350z forum but almost nobody visits this forum. After 2 days I've only got 40 views. If this would have stayed in the general forum I am sure I would have tripled that many views and probably got someone to post who has come across this problem.

I am now stepping off of my soapbox.

 

AMazing that the hood would not open when the brakes were also not working.

 

I assume you are joking. Thank you for the very helpful reply.

 

unless i'm missing some internets sarcasm, i think he meant his top since he has a roadster

 

Just as I thought would happen, the local Nissan deaer told me "NPF" (no problem found). I assumed that was going to happen but I was hoping they might find something.

They are ordering me a new brake switch just in case that is the problem. They only reason they are doing that is because of my diagnosis. As of right now the brake lights are working properly and there are no warning lights on.

Go figure.

 

i'm having the same problem. brake lights come on for a second then don't work. no problem with my top or any warning lights...........

 

Brake light switch should be a cheap easy install. Hopefully that solves your problem.

 

I read here (can't remember if on the ZR forums). But the guy had this problem and he sprayed WD-40 behind the brake pedal and it fixed the problem.

 

I had the same problem tonight. I was just driving on the highway and my brake, VDC, and slip light came on and stayed. After a few mins, the brake light went off, but the others stayed on. I pulled over and turned the car off and they all went away. Any suggestions.

 

have you installed anything recently?

-check all fuse
-check all wiring

I have a similar problem last month, all lights going off/wipers and it was my ignition coil that was unserviceable... can you connect an OBD2 scanner? check the codes... maybe alternator/battery problems and battery connections... that's all i could think off...

 

This problem is common when your brake fluid level is low... even if its not down to the min. and the fluid is still cold

 

It has been fine for the last few months but the problem is back. I have only put about 2000 miles on it over the last 4 months but it has been fine up until last Friday. I put my foot on the brake to put the roof up and and the vdc off, slip, and abs light all came on. Sure enough my brake lights were not working as well. I had to push the brake pedal about 20 times before the roof would go up.

I just dropped it off at the Nissan dealer. Last time I brought it there the lights had turned off and everything was working fine. This time the lights were still on when I got there. Hopefully they can pull a code to find out what is going on. Unfortunately I am now out of a warranty by time. I only have 24000 miles on it so maybe they can "good will" it.

I will post again after I hear back from Nissan. If it is the brake switch, which I think it is, that will be the second switch I had to replace. I had a problem with the clutch interlock switch that I replaced myself last month.

 

Last time they couldn't find anything wrong. No codes were stored and the brake lights worked like normal. They test drove it with the scanner connected and everything checked out normal. Hopefully they find something wrong this time and they cover it under warranty.

 

Nissan called me today and said that it is the brake switch. Back in May they couldn't find anything wrong but they said it sounded like a brake switch. They told me they were going to order one and replace it under warranty, just in case that was the problem. They never called me to tell me the part was in and I never called them because the problem hadn't come back until now. I only drive this car about twice a month so I forgot all about it.

Anyway, they want to charge me $235.00 to replace it because I am now out of warranty! I told them that they were suppose to replace it under warranty back in May but it never got done. They didn't want to hear it. They said Nissan wouldn't good will it and that was the cost to replace it. $235.00 to replace a $29.00 switch that I could install in ten minutes!

I am not the type of person who wants something for nothing but I feel this should be covered. I am going to talk to the service manager when I pick the car up. Hopefully I can work something out with him.