Brake Light Switch - Central display - Vectra 55 plate 1.9cdti sri

[Sheepy]

Good evening
Having searched a number of threads here and on other forums I am currently down to my last few strands of hair!!!

'Brake light switch' warning on centre display no other warnings on dash....replaced the switch...no change
When I press the brake momentarily all is fine with no warnings appearing...anything more than 1-2 seconds and the warning appears with the lights sometimes working sometimes not
After a while the display goes back to normal...eg radio
I know I have a faulty twin filament bulb as one of them is dim compared to the other when on side lights
This faulty bulb is also part of the reason for my self-inflicted hair loss as having ordered three different sets two had offset pins which don't fit as the pins need to be level
Before I sign myself into the nearest institution any help or advice would be really appreciated please 😉

[horaa]

Replace the bulbs... all of them...

[Sheepy]

All 4 possibly related bulbs have already been replaced...no change
All fuses previously checked and ok...Going to disconnect the battery see if that clears it

[horaa]

Then there's one more place to check, middle rear brake light and of course, then wiring

[Sheepy]

Then there's one more place to check, middle rear brake light and of course, then wiring

Thanks Horaa ...middle brake light is fine...was kind of hoping nobody would mention wiring!! 😉

[northpole]

it's a ground issue... connector on the dim one probably has signs of corrosion, is dirty or has burned... if it has burned than clean the bulb-holder with an electrical cleaner and a wire brush.

[Sheepy]

it's a ground issue... connector on the dim one probably has signs of corrosion, is dirty or has burned... if it has burned than clean the bulb-holder with an electrical cleaner and a wire brush.

Thanks Northpole.
Checked bulb holder unit connector plugs both sides and was unable to see any dirt corrosion or burning.
In fact if anything I was surprised at how clean they were 😉...Will strip them back off and clean / wire brush them anyway to at least try to eliminate that one.
The more I think about it the more I'm now leaning towards removing the pedal switch and remounting again, as I can't remember a definitive click when I mounted it and it also seems to be a split second from when you dab the brake to the lights actually coming on...slightly longer than I would expect if that makes sense 😞

[northpole]

it does, instead of replacing the switch spray an electrical cleaner on it while working it, this might help it along... if it doesn't than replace the switch

[beavor-bob]

it's a ground issue... connector on the dim one probably has signs of corrosion, is dirty or has burned... if it has burned than clean the bulb-holder with an electrical cleaner and a wire brush.

I had that problem, a while back - same answer as you, no further problems !
Have a great Xmas - one & all on here.

[Sheepy]

Update: Problem resolved
Now I could say I have no idea what I did to fix it but I'd be lying!
After literally stripping everything out again, checking cleaning blah blah I just by chance thought I'd revisit the fuses just in case I'd missed something.

Note to self at this point...In future when you take fuses out, make absolutely sure you know exactly where they came out from, so that when you get distracted you know where they go back...****!!

Purely by chance this morning I thought I wonder if I try that fuse in F6 instead of F5 will it make any difference...bingo...fixed.
I'm still trying to work out the logic but hey at least it's working again ;-)

So apologies to those who responded for wasting your time, but on the plus side for anyone who may have the same problem in future or who inadvertently does what I did at least there's a reference point...plus I get to save on haircuts for a while.

Thanks again to all for the advice and hoping everyone on here has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year