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.
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.
August 1st, 2010 at 8:28 am
The Nissan part, 46512-H0101, had to be whittled to fit our Ford Escort. Looks like the Mazda part would be better for the Escort.
Thanks for this site.
August 2nd, 2010 at 7:49 pm
Thank you so much for posting this. I had two guys trying to help me last night because they had no idea why my brake lights wouldn’t turn off. I found two broken blue discs as described here, and this helped me out a lot
I called around and even went up to Auto Zone, but no one could help me… not even my Ford dealership. So for now I took a small portion of cork and put sticky tack on the backside… then took a thumb tack to poke through it as extra support (similar to what you did, but my blue “stem” portion was broken so I didn’t use it… used the thumb tack instead).
I hope this works. Guy at Auto Zone sold me some clip things too… he said he had seen some folks use those in the past, but didn’t know if they worked well. Have them in case I need them. Hoping my job works well enough… I don’t really have another choice right now.
August 3rd, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Ford part number E7GZ-7583-A ($4.00 each) available from amazon.com for $2.88 each. These are black and are called bumpers.
August 3rd, 2010 at 1:47 pm
@Johnnie: Thanks for this info. Here’s a link to the product page: Ford E7GZ-7583-A – BUMPER
August 14th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Thank you, thank you for this info. This just happened to my 03 zx2. Thanks for the fix! You just saved me serious cash!
August 27th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
[...] in my floorboard. After pulling the fuse to save my battery, I took to The Google where I found a blog post from another Escort owner with the same issue — brake lights and a blue piece in the floorboard. As it turned out, that blue piece was [...]
August 28th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
It just happened to me today
and I didnt even notice the blue piece until reading this post 
thank you guys for being so helpful. Thank Jason for this blog! You get 10k cool points!
September 18th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
After reading this post, I realized there was a spare. I tried to install it but, like here, it broke. The round plastic broke in half as did the nub. So i found a bolt and nut and that is working fine so far. What a PITA! Thanks for the post!
October 2nd, 2010 at 1:35 pm
For those using the spare, make sure you are pushing it out from behind and not pulling out on the larger part and you’ll be much less likely to break it. Just replaced mine with the spare (assuming it’s for non-existent clutch on this automatic) and voila, problem solved.
December 1st, 2010 at 2:21 pm
This is sooooo funny. We bought thi 1999 Ford Escort and call it the “Grandma Car” We thought she had lost her mind or got a mind of her own when the lights wouldn’t go off. We have been pulling the fuse out at night. When my daughter failed the DMV test in my big van and needed a smaller car to pass parralell paring I got desperate and came to your website. WE were sure the problem was going to cost more than the car. My sincerest gratitude, we are on the road again for about $2.
December 14th, 2010 at 2:25 am
so, its december 13th. 10 pm and freezing. Everyones loaded in the car and hmmm it won’t start. After a jump and me becomming a popsicle in a very akward position(my back still hurts), i realize there is a piece of blue plastic and my brake light switch is broken:( well lets hope for some sunny weather here in good old maryland. Thanks for yr site. this is the 1st time i have dealt with this issue and my 2nd zx2. I found it really helpful. With a diagram i can fix anything:)
April 14th, 2011 at 11:39 pm
Hello! Thank you very much for posting this information specially with the illustration. I was able to fix the problem with the brake light stay on in my 2001 Ford Escort ZX2. Thanks again. Luiz =)
April 25th, 2011 at 8:33 am
Thanks to all who provided their ideas and part numbers. For my temporary fix, I cut a piece of rubber from the pad of a broken bar clamp and used electrical tape to fasten it in place. Quick and easy. I don’t think the other stopper that’s on the arm is a spare. It also contacts a switch. I assume that switch is for the auto transmission safety device that prevents shifting out of park without the brakes applied. Can anyone confirm if that’s the case?
May 22nd, 2011 at 1:53 pm
Great Posts! I have a 99 zx2 also with the same problem several months ago. I originally glued the pieces together the first time, but several months later I have same problem again and found blue little pieces on floor this time. I knew I couldn’t glue it together this time, so I started to look online for alternatives. Seems this is not a part you can go to your local parts store to get, as you may need to go to a dealership to find this. But GREAT IDEA’s from this post has given me a few alternatives b4 having to spend a dollar to fix this. In my case, I happen to found a spare part on the brake pedal beside the sensor. It may be 12 yrs old now, but it hasn’t had any abuse either, so it may last as long as I have the car I hope. If not, then I look forward to using the wine cork top idea or another clever solution. I also seen that if you may not have a “spare” on your brake pedal, there might be a “spare” on one of the other pedals that will work also!
May 28th, 2011 at 7:21 pm
Thank you so much. I had the same problem with my Escort today and found the little blue pieces that had fallen on car floor. I used some tacky glue to put the oval part back and voila the brake lights turned off. I am hoping it will stick but for now I don’t really need to worry about my battery. Yay for your post. Now if I could learn how to put air in my tires
. Thanks from the girliest girl who doesn’t know a thing about cars.
June 12th, 2011 at 11:53 pm
Thanks a ton. I had the same problem last night with my 1999 Escort (173,000 miles) and, after reading this post, found the broken blue pieces on the floor. I located the spare bumper and slipped it into place – although that took one person in the passenger seat to depress the pedal with the left leg to create enough space to work with between the switch and the mount, and a second person to get under the dash and seat the bumper properly. Voilà, problem solved.
June 23rd, 2011 at 6:35 am
Thanks to everyone for their informative posts…..you saved me a lot of worry….same thing happened to my 98 Ford Escort….brake lights on continuously….
after reading the posts about the rubber bumper (blue) needed for the brake light switch to work, I checked my car to see if this was the culprit and found that it was…I found the part broken and lying in the floorboard of the car. Luckily the ford dealership near me has the part available for less than $5.
Thanks again to everyone for sharing.
June 27th, 2011 at 10:52 pm
Thank you soooo much for all of this info. I have owned my 99 ZX2 since I was 15 years old (about 9 years) before selling it to my boyfriends little sister. I found the pieces of the blue bumper on the floor many years ago and then noticed my brake lights were staying on off and on. I realized it must have been connected to my findings, especially after examining the pedal assembly. I put a little makeshift remedy in the spot that worked for a while but it has finally worn down and now his sister is having problems with it again. Someone told her those pieces didn’t exist and others told her it would cost her over $300 to fix (RIDICULOUS!! is what I told her). I have just been working on a temporary fix for her for a while because I hadn’t been able to find the actual piece so thank you very very much to all of you for the great and helpful info!
June 29th, 2011 at 3:08 pm
This was very helpful. I looked everywhere for the part and didn’t even realize on my 2002 Ford Escort I already have a spare still attached to the brake pedal. I am going to fix it as soon as I can. Too bad my battery is already dead beyond repair.
July 14th, 2011 at 9:01 pm
Thank you very much!!! This was very helpful.
July 26th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
My 2001 Escort battery kept dying because the brake lights would not shut off. I saw that a part was broken on peddle and my search brought your blog!!!! I found the spare and fixed it in 5 minutes! You rock! Thanks!
July 28th, 2011 at 3:48 pm
Thanks guys. You saved me 95.00 electronics diagnostic, and God knows whatt else.
I went to the Ford Dealership and all they had was the black Mazda rubber stopper part for my 1999 Ford ZX2. The part was $ 3.50. I got two.
I HIGHLY recommend purchasing 2 of these rubber stoppers because the second (there are two mounted on the pedal) will go out eventually.
I had my 15 year old son place the stopper on the car brake pedal just outside the Ford dealership parts department front door and drove off fully functional.
I feel like I dodged a huge bullet on this minor issue. Your the best. : )
August 2nd, 2011 at 6:17 pm
So glad I found this website. Saved me some $$$ taking it to the dealer. Had the same problem on my 1998 Ford Escort. Used the idea that Pat said above, used a rubber round felt pad you use on the bottom of a chair and stuck that right where the blue stopper goes. Tried to use the spare spacer but that broke off right away. Thanks again!!
August 9th, 2011 at 2:32 pm
Glad to find the problem was not bigger pain than it is – I dug about on the net and found the following part numberfor Ford using Mike number as the starting point (Thank You Mike):
Not an endorsment:
http://www.texasmotorsfordparts.com/partlocator/index.cfm?action=searchCatalogOEM&siteid=214462
Ford
Item Number MSRP Core Price Price
E7GZ7583A $3.20 $0.00 $2.39
RUBBER,STOPPER
August 11th, 2011 at 3:17 pm
Just so nobody else pulls a bone head move like I did make sure you are working on the brake switch, and not the cruise control switch! The blue switch to the left is the cruise control, it’s a twist lock part, very easy to remove. The brake light switch is to the right and is held in place by a nut. I spent about 3 hours mucking around with the brake fluid, emergency parking brake, changing out the (wrong) switch several times before I figured out to play around with the switch to the right… /facepalm.
Thank you very much for the information on this page, it’s going to save me a bunch of $$ (when I return this cruise control interrupter switch), too bad it couldn’t save me from myself!
August 13th, 2011 at 8:52 am
Thanks for sharing your bone-headed move! Wish I could say I’ve never been there.
September 7th, 2011 at 8:57 am
My 97′ ford escort has the same problem right now. Im glad I called a ford dealer and got the part ordered for about 5 bucks. I’ve been looking all over at auto repair shops and they just continued to to tell me to replace the whole brakelight switch mechanism. Now the tricky part of putting my super glued nub back in temporarily until the part comes in tomorrow. Getting that piece in is tough. Any tips?
September 7th, 2011 at 5:45 pm
Jason, An elderly neighbor lady friend just came to my door with this problem. I had no idea what it might be. I checked all of the knobs and switches, to make sure nothing was turned on inadvertently (she’s 86 years old). I came home and Googled 1999 Ford Escort Brake Lights On, and up came your. sure enough, when I went back over to her garage (with flashlight in hand) and looked on the floor, there was the broken blue button! We’ve just installed laminate flooring and I have a lot of the industrial floor pad material around, and it worked like a charm! Thank you so much for posting this invaluable information. You saved an older person from having to deal with a dead battery, or an expensive trip to the dealer.
September 8th, 2011 at 8:00 am
@Holly – The only tips I and the commenters above have is to push the nub through the hole rather than attempting to pull it from the other side. Aside from that, if it’s only temporary you could always use some tape.
@Jim – It feels great to see this comment list grow over time with more and more people that have found this page and fixed their own problem! I really appreciate that folks take the time to share their experience here.
September 8th, 2011 at 7:59 pm
Went out to a dead battery today. Jump started the car and realized the brake lights were stuck on. One google search later, I found your blog. Problem solved. Thank you.
September 13th, 2011 at 10:30 pm
Jason,
Great article, great sketch and great info in the responses! I took the above Mazda part # from Mike & went to the nearest Mazda dealer. They had the part in just one day & it only cost $3. I liked Jam’s idea for depressing the brake pedal far enough to get the stem in, but had no help available. In the end, the only tools needed were a headband light, contortionist skills, and strength. My 99 Escort is back on the road!
September 14th, 2011 at 12:31 pm
Wow, the lifespan of that rubber stopper must be coming to its end. Lots of new posts lately. Glad this is still helpful. Since then I’ve sold the ’97 Escort but my ’02 Escort is still on its original rubber stoppers so far!
September 15th, 2011 at 6:33 am
My brake lights locked on last night. Thank you all for your posts! I will try to fix this tonight using all of your tips!!
September 16th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
Awesome, thanks for all the part numbers!
I need that bumper/bushing/plastic mushroom for my clutch pedal. Without it I cant adjust my pedal height properly which throws off the free play adjustments.
My brake pedal stop pad also broke years ago and ive been using electrical tape wrapped around the bracket to engage the brake light switch…
September 18th, 2011 at 9:44 pm
same problem! thanks this website. there is extra one on the car, but still order two from the following website with free shipping
http://www.shop.pdcshipping.com/main.sc
thanks again
September 25th, 2011 at 5:49 pm
Oh yes, how did our ancestors survive without the Internet? The same thing happened to me. I was thinking it was some very expensive clutch problem, but I remembered the blue rubber disk that was laying in the floorboard a couple of days before, and fortunately I saved it. Just as happens with most of us when we need some silly little piece, those are the worst to find anyone who knows what you’re talking about. This forum saved me from certain financial death at the hands of a local repair shop, not to mention what Ford would have done to me. Thanks a million and double thanks for the part numbers.
September 26th, 2011 at 3:39 pm
This post is a godsend. I had the same exact problem and nobody had any idea what I was talking about. Thank you!
October 2nd, 2011 at 11:07 am
Thank goodness this blog exists! My brake lights wouldn’t turn off on my 97 Escort and I wouldn’t have known the source of the problem until I saw this post and numerous references to the blue rubber stopper, which was indeed lying on the floor with the stem snapped off. Thanks everyone for their comments and recommendations!
October 5th, 2011 at 7:43 pm
I thank God that I found your site after driving home from work and noticing that my brake lights were still on… My wonderful wife (a former kindergarten teacher) had some foam that I used along with poking through a flathead screw to perform the repair. I have 3 square pieces of foam taped together – one over top the screw and two that the screw is poked through. Works for now – hope it lasts!
October 7th, 2011 at 8:00 pm
Just had this problem with our 98 Ford Escort. We ended up using the felt pads you use on the bottom of furniture. To my amusement… I see others on here had the same idea. The guy at Autozone actually knew what the problem was and told us you could use just about anything. He suggested sticking a bolt or screw in there.
However the real adventure started while trying to fix it. After my husband spent 2 weeks taking the fuse in and out and forgetting to take it out and running the battery down… I was convinced I found the spot where the problem was. The husband wouldn’t let me do anything until he could see what I was taking about. (That never happend) He ended up getting stuck hanging upside down between the seat and steering wheel. I had a good laugh.
He let me do my thing after he flip floped out of the car backwards and up-side-down. It only took a second. However it wasn’t easy to hold the pedal down while trying to place the piece. You really do have to be a contortionist!
Needless to say… The blog was a help, especially the diagram. I used it to show my husband I wasn’t crazy so he could see what I was talking about. Lol!
November 9th, 2011 at 7:43 pm
1 new battery later and a 1 minute Google search and the problem is fixed. Thank you so much. I found the blue button on the floor board and laughed histarically at how easy and accurate this is. I ended up drilling thru the middle of the button and zipped tied it back in place. Great solution…and the 99 escort rides again!!!