The cruise control stopped working on my 2000 Maxima nearly a year ago. Then, yesterday, the battery died because something failed and the brake lights were constantly on. As it turns out, both these problems are the result of the pedal stoppers cracking apart and falling out of their holes in the brake arm bracket. The stoppers engage the cruise control switch and brake light switch when the brake pedal is up. Without them, the two switches both "think" the brake pedal is depressed. So, cruise control won't activate, and the brake lights never go off.

The original stoppers are little plastic buttons that are pressed into the holes. They look like this:


The Nissan part number for these is 46584-5P010. The dealers want almost $14 each, a price that makes me so mad I'll probably never buy another Nissan product. On top of that, the dealers want $100 or more in labor for this job. Searching the Web, I have discovered a lot of homemade solutions. People glue pennies over the bracket holes, or use little round magnets, or install a bolt and nut to fill the hole.

A better solution in my opinion is to use an actual hole plug. Lowe's sells a 3/8" metal plug that fits perfectly. I installed a pair of these just this afternoon, and everything is back to normal. Total cost was about $2. The picture below shows what I bought. It's tricky getting them in, but they fit snug and you can press them in by hand.


Hope this tip helps someone else!

Jack

EDIT: The brake pedal must be pressed down to create enough space between the bracket and switch to insert the hole plugs. This can only be done while the car is running (or if it has just been shut down and still has vacuum for the brake booster). Also, you'll need a way to hold the brake pedal down while you're doing the work. I wedged a piece of 3/4" Sch 40 (white) PVC tubing exactly 24" long between the lower edge of the brake pedal and the carpeted floor riser under the front of the driver seat. This was very secure, and it minimizes the risk of getting your fingers pinched in the danger zone. I highly recommend that you get this ready before starting the job. It's cheap enough to throw away after you're done, just part of the cost of the job.

Finally, the brake lamp fuse is located in the fuse box under the dash, in front of the driver's left knee. Just pull the cover off for access. If you pull the fuse before starting the job (or the night b efore you start the job), the brake lights won't drain the battery.

 

Same thing happened to my car last year. I chalked it up to the vehicle being 17 years old and replaced them without much thought... while I was waiting for the parts to come in, I used some gorilla tape and it worked fine. If this is the thing that makes you switch brands, I'm betting you'll run out of brands eventually...

 

This is a very helpful thread, with photos, diagrams and everything.

My car lasted 22 years before this happened. You won't know what's going on after seeing bits of rubber or plastic in your driver-side footwell, and then your cruise control fails to engage
(you think it's non-related) and THEN your brake lights stay on, and well there you have it. I'm glad I was "combat parked" otherwise the brake lights wouldn't have been shining on the front of the garage door
showing me that they were on.

To me, this meant a simple electrical switch failure but I am glad I came to the forum and searched, simply, "brake lights stay on".

By the way, you can't switch brands and avoid this problem, it happens to other makes of car, truck and SUV (your web browser will know), sadly, and seems like a really bad automotive design feature.

 

I just used the shortest M8 bolt I could find and a nut to go with it. never have to worry about it again, same for my clutch pedal.

 

funny these threads are popping up again my plastic plugs finally broke
and i thought it was the switches. went to go put them in and it was actually the plastic stoppers. WHY PLASTIC STOPPERS?
what i did was use dimes and electrical tape them over the hole. works, free and will never happen again.

 

My guess is that soft plastic is less harsh on the switches that they touch. My car had the nut and bolt when I got it, and I replaced it with the correct part for $9 from Courtesy Parts. They give an online discount.

 

Wrong, it cost you 10 cents per dime.

There's probably a substitute stopper or rubber plug out there for general purpose use, like maybe a package of 50 for a few bucks.
The portion where it fits in the hole or the "peg" needs to be about 8.8-9mm in diameter and 15mm diameter on the larger "working surface".

This looks promising. Just a 2 minute search found 9mm plugs complete with a sizing guide: https://www.ebay.com/itm/22509979152...5481a78041a48d
Then again, I am way overthinking this. . . . .

 

I will confirm that the rubber stopper #46584-5P010 fits the brake pedal, for the cruise control and brake light switches. I wrote about my ordeal in another thread but decided to post a portion of it
below that illustrates a much easier install procedure. Your mileage may vary and you may be able to do it another way if your physique is anything like Gollum's.

You will be cursing if you try to put your head and arms into driver side footwell and attempt to install them from underneath the dashboard...

I removed the lower part of the dash under the steering wheel to assist. I used the FSM here: https://www.nicoclub.com/service-man...F2000%2Fbt.pdf
It doesn't show very well but there's two Philips screws at the extreme left and right at the bottom of the dash panel, and then you can pry the panel off because it is held on
with wedge-like friction clips.

HOW TO INSTALL:
With the lower dash removed, you can kneel on the ground outside the car and lean over facing forward to install the rubber stoppers. You can see through the area that
was previously blocked by the panel and see the brake light and cruise control switches and where the stoppers go. Or you can just feel your way around
1. Start the car so you will be able to depress the brake pedal with the palm of your (right) hand.
2. Use your other hand to place the stopper into position
3. Release the pressure on the brake and pull it forward against the stopper and it will seat itself against the switch. It pops right into place.
4. Repeat for both stoppers. Et voilą!

I did all this for the giggles and because I am too OCD about proper parts. If there's a next time, I will use small nuts and bolts like others have suggested.

 

Went through that with my G35. Z-1 Motorsports has them for about $3.50. Infiniti dealer had them for about the same price but they were on back order. Don't know if the Maxima is the same but the cruise control had two stoppers.