Car Brake Lights Stuck On
Last night my wife informed me that her brake lights were stuck on. It had been a rainy day, so my biggest fear was that there was some sort of electrical short God-knows-where inside the car. This could be expensive. After some back-and-forth of tapping the brakes, turning on the car, turning the lights on and off with no result I finally changed clothes and squirmed under the dash to see what was up. Here’s what I found, in case it might be helpful to others.
The brake pedal is connected to at least one button for turning the brake lights on and off. As the pedal is released, the button is depressed. As the pedal is pressed, the button is released. When the button is depressed, the lights go off. When the button is released, the lights go on.
In the case of my wife’s 1996 Ford Escort, there is a small, blue rubber pad on the ‘contact plate’ that the brake light button presses against. The reason I was looking under the dashboard in the first place is because my wife asked if maybe the blue rubber filings and rubber pad that she recently found on the driver-side floorboard might have something to do with her brake light problem. She was right after all.
Since the pad had fallen off of the contact plate the button was not getting depressed far enough to turn off the lights when the brake pedal was released. The solution is to replace the little blue pad. I was not able to find out what this thing was called or even if you could buy one without replacing the entire brake light switch.
The rubber pad worked like a ladies ear ring. It had a little nub on the back that fit into a hole in the contact plate. Probably due to age, this nub broke off and created a big headache for me. In order to avoid visiting the Ford dealer I simply reconnected the nub with some super glue and, after a lot of sweating upside down under the steering wheel, snapped the blue pad back in place. It’s been a few days. So far the super glue is still holding the rubber pad together. My wife’s brake lights are back in action.
UPDATE
Well, the repaired rubber pad didn’t last long: 2 days. Now it’s broken into several pieces.
But I came up with a better solution. This time I rebuilt the pad using a foam-based wine bottle cork, a circle cut-out in heavy coated paper (a better surface for the button to press against) and the original pad’s little stem. All assembled with super glue. Let’s see how long this one lasts.
June 28th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Wow thanks for posting this! by random chance, my car did the exact same thing, and I found the blue rubber thing on the floor! I super glued my first test, and if it falls apart I’m going to have to do the wine cork idea!
Also helps that its a Ford Escort as well. Diagram and everything rocks, thanks! it sure saved me! 
July 5th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Thank you a lot, I have the same problem.Phil
August 18th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
I’m going thru this now. I found the pieces of the blue rubber thing on the floor. I ignored it thinking it was one of my girls erasers. Then I read a few posts mentioning this Blue mysterious part. My husband took the pieces to Autozone, R & S Strauss & our local Ford Dealer. NO ONE had a clue what this is. The ford dealer called a few places no one knows what this part is called. I’m going to try to contact ford tomorrow. I tried tonight but it was past 9pm. Wish me luck! My car is at my job right now (15 miles away). Thanks for the info!
Blanca R.
8/19/09
September 23rd, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Googled this website, and glad I did. my wife’s 99 zx2 had constant brake lights and she had found the blue rubber piece in the floor, glued back together and no more problem. thanks for the help.
September 24th, 2009 at 6:16 am
I get a big grin every time someone finds this post helpful.
It’s been over a year and my wife’s brake lights are still working perfectly.
October 18th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Thanks a million. Actually found a spare right next to the original but broke the stem trying to put it in. Ran some bread wrapper wires thru the peg and wrapped the wires around the surrounding metal…works for now but ? Anyway, thanks to your diagram I get the principal so if this doesn’t work I’ll try something sturdier. You have to be a contortionist to spend any time down there! Thanks again.
October 19th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Yeah, it’s a tough spot be in, see and work in at the same time. ;D Glad this helped.
November 28th, 2009 at 5:14 am
Hi there, I accidently found your blog whilst searching on Google as I am researching some information on engine lifts!. It’s a very interesting site so I bookmarked your site and I will revisit you soon to allow more time for a proper read when I can give it more time.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:17 am
@Allan Renn: Great! Hope you find something of interest, but I gotta warn you, there’s very little here about auto repair.
December 6th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Hey, this happened to me about a week ago with my 2001 Ford ZX2. The diagram is very helpful, thank you. Does anyone know what the actual name for this part is ? I cannot find one yet.
May 5th, 2010 at 7:59 am
I went to 3 auto parts stores looking for this part. No one knew what it was… I found this blog and then found the spare spacer attached to the brake contact plate. My ’97 Escort lives to drive another day. Thanks Everyone!
May 8th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Had the same problem with my 99 Ford Escort. Called the dealer and they didn’t know what I was talking about, found the spare (after reading these blogs) but it seems as brittle as the one that broke off so decided would try using a heavy duty felt pad, the kind you put on the bottom of chair legs so they don’t scrape the floor and it was much easier to put on as has adhesive on the back. Will let you know how long that holds up. The pad is about the same thickness as the unknown part and brake lights actually off. Fingers crossed.
May 14th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
oh man! i’m so glad i found this website. i have a ford escort as well and of course, i find pieces of blue rubber on the floor of my car. i ended up supergluing it but we’ll see if it lasts. if not, i’ll try the wine bottle cork! THANK YOU!
May 14th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
My 1998 ZX2 just had this same failure. Went out and found the rubber stopper deteriorated and laying on the floormat. I found that a Mazda Miata (MX5) uses the same part for its brake lights. The Mazda part number is “B001-43-029″. Ordered two at $1.99 each (one for the brake pedal and one for the clutch pedal – if one is falling apart the other cannot be far behind) The part is identical in size and shape but black in color under this part number. They do have blue ones but they sell for about $5 each. I went with the black. Problem solved!
Mike
May 14th, 2010 at 7:15 pm
@Mike: Thanks for those part numbers! I knew that the Escort had some Mazda pedigree since the ’90s, so your discovery isn’t all that surprising. I probably would have spent the $2 rather than spent the time rebuilding a custom part. I just recently sold the subject of this post (the brake lights were still working great), but I do still own a 2002 Escort sedan. So, when the part crumbles to bits on this one I might save myself some trouble and head over to the Mazda dealer!
May 15th, 2010 at 6:53 am
@ Jason: Your fix is a good temporary one for when the part fails. It took two days for the rubber stoppers to come in at the Mazda dealership. That’s not a long time but if you need something quick your fix will do in a pinch. I also noticed, since I’m a school teacher, that my round board magnets are exactly the same size (diameter and thickness) as one of those brake pedal cushions. I bought them in a package of about 40 at the local Office Max. The only difference is the magnet doesn’t have the post in the back to hold it in place on the pedal. A little contact cement would make this an ideal temporary replacement until a new rubber stopper could be received. Or at least, a quick fix to prevent the car’s battery from being drained by the brake lights.
Mike
May 15th, 2010 at 8:56 pm
can anyone tell me if they ahve found a spare under the escort zx2 or anything? or maybe the part number for ford..i would like to know..thank you.
May 15th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
does anyone know the part number for this piece? or where the spare one is located on a Escort zx2??
May 16th, 2010 at 7:31 am
I think the above Mazda part numbers are the only part numbers we are aware of (in this conversation). If you are looking to buy a replacement part, I would suggest going to a Mazda dealer to order this part. Or call some junkyards.
May 16th, 2010 at 6:22 pm
The Mazda part number is a good one. It only took 30 seconds to replace the broken rubber stopper with the new one. I didn’t even have to readjust the brake pedal light switch. During my research I found that these stoppers are made in Japan and supplied to Ford and Mazda. The blue ones have a part number of G030-43-029 and were $4.99 each. The black ones are B001-43-029 and identical in size and shape to the original Ford ZX2 rubber pedal stoppers.
I could do a photo of both but I don’t have a way to upload/host it on this blog. Maybe Jason could post them if I emailed one to him.Mike
May 19th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
Thanks for the photo of these parts, Mike. I silho’d them and adjusted their color to more closely resemble their real-world appearance.
May 20th, 2010 at 4:44 am
@Jason: The parts pictured above look really nice – thanks Jason! Actually the blue one is an original Ford stopper from the car. The black one is the new part from Mazda. I took the spare one out of the other side of the brake pedal for a comparison between the two. Since the spare was just as old as the one that failed, I wanted to go with a new pedal stopper as the old ones are quite stiff from age. The new rubber should last at least as long as the original which in my case was 12 years.
Mike
May 31st, 2010 at 7:36 pm
Jason, Thanks for posting all of the above information. My break lights came on randomly after the car had been parked for several hours. I googled the problem and came to your site. Sure enough there was the little blue part in three pieces. We were able to fix the problem temporarily and with the rest of the information we plan to go to Ford or Mazda to get the new piece. Thanks, I didn’t even need a bottle of aspirin. .’>
June 10th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Great info. However, ford did not have the part in conyers ga. will check with other dealers or mazda. used washers and bolt for temp fix. by spare also broke while trying to replace..
June 10th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
You might be better off just jury-rigging your own replacement, but it does sound like Mazda sells the part.
June 15th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Thanks for the info. I am about to attempt home made fix as we speak.
June 24th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Thanks a million…………
July 11th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
Wow, the internet is useful for some things. I hadn’t driven my car in a week, went to start it and the battery was completely drained, had a warranty, so went to get a new one. I put the new battery in and realized what drained the battery when the tail lights wouldn’t go out. I also had found the broken blue washer (3 pieces) on the floor. My first thought was that someone had cut something trying to steal my car or something. But apparently that washer just does that. Oh well, haven’t had much problem with weak parts, except having to replace that weak pcv elbow at the rear of the engine that would cause the engine to stall, a while back.
Found out what was going on with the lights on another site, but went to 6 auto parts stores today and they couldn’t tell me a part number to look for, so now I have those from this site. Thanks everyone.
July 12th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
Follow up info. Went to Mazda for the part, was only $2, but the part would have to be ordered. I didn’t want to wait, so I went to Ford. They had the part in stock, but it cost me $6. Ford part number is E7GZ-7583-A, in case any one needs to know.
July 20th, 2010 at 6:47 pm
Another follow up – Well I went out to my car and found another one of these blue stoppers in pieces on the floormat. It seems the ZX2 has two of these blue stoppers mounted on the clutch pedal of the 5-speed models. One stopper is for the ignition switch interrupt and the other is just used as stopper pad for the clutch pedal. I originally bought two of these replacemetn stoppers at the Mazda dealer on for the brake pedal and one for the clutch but now I need another one for that other clutch stopper I didn’t originally see. BTW, I had to wait for the Mazda folks to order the part but it only took a day for them to receive it. The Mazda dealerships are on a central parts repository system and one warehouse supplies parts to all the dealerships in a region.
July 24th, 2010 at 7:21 pm
WOW! I have been searching and searching. I have owned my 99ZX2 for 11 years and I love it. I was able to figure out what happened when my brake lights wouldn’t turn off…a little epoxy and the little blue thing was back together….for one week. In that time I visited 2 ford dealerships and NO ONE was able to tell me what the part # was or even what it was called. I hated calling places saying, “….you know, that little blue plastic thingy that goes between the brake pedal and the plate that sits behind it?” Autozone thought I was nuts. So THANK YOU!!!! I will be calling my local Mazda dealership first thing Monday morning. THANK YOU!!!
July 25th, 2010 at 9:50 am
WOW! Your the GREATEST! I was about to go out and purchase a break light switch when I came upon your web site. I have a 1985 Nissan pickup. When I went checked out the floorboard, sure enough I noticed bits of green plastic. I couldn’t use your fix because the Nissan has a “stopper” shaped like a button. This fits through a hole to turn on and off the brake light switch. The Nissan dealer had a replacement called a “Rub-Pedal Stopper” part number 46512-H0101 for $3.00. I don’t know how to attach a picture, so will send it separate.
July 25th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Thanks, Neva, for this additional information. It might help some other Nissan owner.