Hi all,

I read through many posts here and did not find the exact answer to my question/problem.

First off, I already know I have a faulty brake light switch. I know I need to change it. My problem is HOW TO DO IT?

I can see it and touch it but it is in such a difficult place to reach, on the brake pedal.

Has anyone been able to change one out? If so, how? I can see it fine but am not sure how to get it off of the brake pedal column. I did get one of the nuts off of it but that was all I was able to reach.

My car has been parked for some two months and it seems an easy fix as it is not expensive to fix. The part is about $20-$30. I hate the idea of paying someone at a garage to do it if I can try and do it myself. A guy at an AutoZone here suggested I let one of my kids take it out but I told him he wouldn’t know what to do in order to remove it since it’s hard to see it once you put your arm up in there cause of the angle you have to get into in order to do just that.

I see this plate or metal cover right under the steering column. I was wondering if I should remove it in order to get at the brake light switch better but wasn’t sure if it’d make any difference.

I looked to see if there were any videos on YouTube about his but found none. I found one but it was about a truck and the switch was somewhere else and very easy to get to.

I hope someone can help me. Thanks in advance.

 

I'd really like if someone can reply with any suggestions, especially if they themselves were able to remove this switch. Thanks.

 

I don't know how to explain it but by looking at how it's sitting and by looking at the new one, it should give you a clue how it sits and what's holding it so that it doesn't move around. Thats how I always do it by looking at the new switch.

There maybe tabs on the side for you to press and slide the switch off.

 

Yeah, that part I totally understand, it's the physical part of actually REMOVING it off the pedal I am asking about. I asked about this metal plate under the steering wheel column, if I should remove that to be able to reach it better. It has some bolts on it, I think six maybe. I wondered if you have to remove that in order to remove the switch. If it doesn't make any difference, then I don't want to take it off if I don't have to. Also, can it be removed with one hand?

I have very small hands, about the size of my eleven year old son's, so I am not sure if this will take, say, and guy's hand, as their grip is stronger. I sometimes ask my older son to do something that I can't grip or open well enough and am always amazed he can and I can't. I sometimes forget he is a man now and not my little boy anymore. I don't want to send in my son under there is I can't tell hime xactly how to do it since i don't want him to damage anything. In this household, I'm the "car guy", lol, as I usually tell them what to do since I either can't reach it (I'm 4'11") or can't turn it.

I have tried squeezing the tabs to pull it off but it doesn't budge. I wondered if there was some type of tool I could use to grip it so it can come off. I feel I might damage it if I pull it the wrong way or squeeze it with a tool too hard. Also, is there a certain position the brake pedal should be in? Does it make a difference? I read in different threads how if the switch is not placed correctly, it could make the brake lights NOT turn off. That it would need to be adjusted in a certain position.

And if you have already removed the brake switch, was it a difficult job to do aside from the simple act of unplugging and plugging in the switch? Were you able to remove it with one hand?

 

I was able to finally get it off. The freaking steering column is right up next to it that it is difficult to hold onto the part that needs to be pulled off. I was able to remove it and install the new one yesterday. I used a small, flathead screw driver to pry it off slowly. I had to shimmy it across to the back side, the side that you can't see well from the position you have to be in to remove it and managed to get it under the rim and popped it off. Installing it is the opposite. You just have to have a good view of the hole into which the threaded point will go into and start turning to get it back on.

I went to YouTube and searched but couldn't find any videos featuring Honda Accords having the brake light switch changed out but I did find this video: http://youtu.be/OCWgA_4cvxE
Now, this video is in Japanese but all you have to do is mute it and just watch. The switch is very similar as the car in the video is a 92' like my Accord is. The video helped me out with what I needed to do and how.

My Honda's brake lights work just fine now and the gear shifter also started working again as this stopped working when the swicth went bad. Before, I had to push the ignition key into the little slot to put it in neutral to get it to turn on.