Brake light microswitch

It had to happen after 3 years, she's finally broken! Thankfully, only the brake light micro switch. There is no 'click' when you push the pedal and the brake lights are stuck on. (as the nice police men stopped and told me twice on the way back from gunchester tonight)

A little 'how to' on replacing it yourself. About 30 mins, easy but fiddley.


1) Remove pedal box plate. There are 5 bolts. 3 removed with a 5mm Allen key (2 in the base of the pedal box the third behind the brake pedal). The pedal stop bolts are removed with a 7/32 Allen key after cracking off the nuts that set the depth of the bolt.

• Its important to ensure the bolt length is not altered so it keeps the same pedal travel for the clutch/accelerator when re-fitted.

2) Micro switch looks like this (See below). Remove the two wires that are fitted with spade connectors. Using a 7/32 spanner, whilst holding the end of the screw, undo the nyloc nuts that secure the switch to the bracket.

3) The switch will slide out and new switch can be inserted. It can only go in one way!. The correct position for the switch is 'made' when the pedal is at rest. Pushing the pedal releases the actuator arm on the switch.

• I tested the switch by connecting it loose and made sure it worked before fixing it in place.

4) Connect the spade terminals and switch the ignition on and test for correct operation. If lights operate in reverse i.e. on when the pedal is at rest, check you have used the correct terminals on the switch. If the lights are on or off all the time, check the position of the switch so that it is 'made' at rest and released when the pedal is pushed.

5) Reposition pedal box cover and bolt into position. Replace pedal stop bolts ensuring they go back on the clutch/accelerator at the same length they were removed. Nip up the bolts on the pedal stops to stop the bolt working loose.