Brake light switch

[abmtnbkr]

Howdy all,
This is my first post here. I recently bought a 1999 Ford Expedition and now my first repair challenge has shown up. All three of my brake lights do not work. However, my hazard and reverse lights do work. I checked the fuse and even though it still looked good, I replaced it anyways. I moved on to check the bulbs anyways and all of them are good. So now on to the brake switch. I took apart the panels below the steering column and found the the switch. But now I'm having one hell of a time getting it unplugged. I don't want to break it so does anyone want to share the secret to getting this brake switch unplugged?

[jjwillman]

I just found out I had the exact same problem with the Brake lights. I found that I could get the brake lights to work if I manually moved the switch on the brake pedal. To find the switch follow the brake pedal up and look for a small black plastic switch with a small wire bundle going to it. Grab hold of the switch and gently try to push up or down on it. I was able to move it in one direction and get the brake lights to come on. This at least confirmed that the problem was at the swith and not elsewhere. To remove the switch you actually have to get underneath even further up the brake pedel and remove a yellow spring type cotter pin. Using a needle nose I was able to get it off pretty easy. Once the cotter key is off slide the arm attached to the brake pedal off. Don't worry you won't damage anything. Just don't lose the yellow clip. This will let the brake pedal swing loose and most importanly you will be able to get the brake/stop light switch off. Once the swtich is off you still have to disconnect it from the wiring harness. There is a plastic clip in the front that you have to depress to get it to release. There is nothing tricky other than keeping the clip depressed and gently gliding the switch off. I did have to take a screwdriver and gently alternate a twisting movement on each side to get it to come off (Keep your thumb on the plastic clip though). The reason it seems like it doesn't want to come off is that there are pins snugly fitted inside the connector that are abount 3/8 inch long that plug into the clip. Once the switch is off you can actually actually take the cover off and see the contacts inside. On some older models of these types of switches you can adjust them. Not this one though. I have not yet bought the new switch, but I think it is less than $15. Once you have the new switch, put everything back in reverse order. I could see burnt marks on the contacts inside the old one. Our expedition only had 45,000 miles on it. You would think Ford would have important parts like this designed to last much longer.

[jdnobles]

Thanks a ton jjwillman. I just had this same thing happen to me the Sunday before you made this post. The bad thing is that I was pulling a travel trailer, and without this switch working the trailer brake control will not activate the trailer brakes. I had to drive back home 3 1/2 hours using the manual slide on the controller. Anyway, everything went just as you said. It only took about 5 minutes to fix and the part cost me $14.80 + tax. It is a dealer only part. The only thing I would make mention of is the black plastic spacer that goes in the arm going through the firewall. Mine fell out when I took it apart and I didn't notice it until I had put it all back together. I had to take it back apart to put it back in. At least it was easy to do.

[GPTHOMPSON]

Ditto on a big thanks to jjwilliam. As for purchasing the brake light switch. I was able to purchase one at O'Reilly's for $12.00.