How to Install a Brake Light Switch on a 1997 Honda Accord

In the infancy of automotive development, cars had carbide brass lanterns on each of their four corners so other drivers -- if there were any -- could see it at nighttime. Unfortunately, this system did not allow a driver behind you to know when the car was coming to a stop. Fortunately for drivers in those times, automobiles were not plentiful. In modern vehicles there is a small switch -- brake light switch -- that completes the circuit to the brake lights to make them light up when you press the brake pedal. Replacing this switch on a 1997 Accord is fairly simple, but requires some body contortion to get under the dashboard to find it.

Instructions

1

Adjust the driver's seat as far back as it will go. Look below the dashboard and find the brake pedal stalk -- the metal arm the brake pedal connects to.

2

Trace the brake pedal stalk upward until you find the brake pedal stalk pad -- the flat metal pad extending from the side of the stalk. The brake light switch is the electrical switch that contacts this pad.

3

Press the locking button on the brake light switch's wiring harness, and pull the harness from the brake light switch. Loosen the locking nut on the brake light switch's threaded stalk, using a combination wrench. Twist the brake light switch counterclockwise to unscrew it from its mount.

4

Position the new brake light switch's threaded stalk in line with the brake light switch mount. Tighten the brake light switch into the mount until the threaded stalk touches the brake pedal stalk pad -- the button on the end of the threaded stalk is completely pressed.

5

Loosen the brake light switch a quarter turn. Tighten the locking nut on the brake light switch's threaded stalk, using a combination wrench, to secure the switch in place.

6

Plug the wiring harness into the rear of the brake light switch.