6:35 PM
@3Dave - I've done my first useful thing with my new 3D printer ...
The other day I noticed the brake lights were on in my car. I went out there and couldn't figure it out right away (it was fairly late), so I put a piece of cardboard between the small pad on the brake pedal and the switch, which shut it off. I didn't know if the issue was the switch or what, but this worked for the time being.
I went out again today to see if the switch needed adjusted, but it wasn't the case. I discovered there was a hole in the pad which was allowing the switch plunger to go through and not turn the brake lights off.
I was like, this is totally weird! Why would Honda make it this way with a hole and why was it working before, but not now?
I started thinking about how I could fix it ... I went and fired up Solidworks and quickly discovered since I hadn't used it in a while, I needed to relearn most of it, lol.
It didn't take long and I had a working model of what I wanted. I got it saved out to a STL file, then sliced it in Cura. The prints of it only took from about 2 mins to 9 mins, and that included an adhesion base. It took me four iterations to get what I wanted. Here's an image of those iterations from left to right.
How I came up with what I needed was to measure the plunger size, which came out to 6mm. I used that as a starting point for the part which would stick down into the hole.
After printing it, I realized it was too thin, so immediately made it thicker. I took second print out to the car and realized the size of the shoulder portion would be just about right as it slid through the hole without too much of an issue.
The third one from the left is what I then printed. The center portion is 8.5mm and the shoulder is about 12mm in width. When I test fitted it, it was just a hair too big. I mean, I guess I could have forced it, but why. The fourth attempt all the way on the right was just a scad too loose, as I made it 8mm (I should have made it 8.25mm) while leaving the shoulder alone. It fit in there just barely loose. I took some glue and affixed it into the hole. I don't think it's coming out.
And I don't think I'll have any issues.
After I got it installed, I found what was in the hole in the first place.
Looks like it had self destructed and had fallen down onto the floor. I didn't see it before I started this ... wish I had as it sure would have made prototyping the piece a lot easier! Anyway, car is fixed once again and good to roll!