So I start up my car the other day, and try to shift into reverse. The reverse lights were on, but the car wouldn't move from "Park"! I figured, whatever, and used the shift lock to shift into R, and went on my way, only to notice that my brake light doesn't work at ALL.


When my headlight is on, my brake light is illuminated, but when I press the brake, it doesn't get any brighter.

Could this be a fuse, brake switch, or worse? I check the fuse under the dash "TAIL LAMP," and it looks fine, as does the "STOP LAMP" fuse under the hood. The car DOES work in other gears after using the shift lock to release it, but there is no brake light!

Thank you

 

Sounds like the brake switch. I would recommend you clean it first as they tend to get some dirt/dust down there. Same thing happened to me and I cleaned the brake switch. It has been fine since the cleaning.

 

INFORMATION- The ShiftLockRelease method you are using is the "manual bypass". (1)-> I would first replace the fuses for the brakes lights. (i) The ShiftLock is part of the brake system and sometimes share the same fuse but like said above-> (2)-> there is a sensor on the backside of the brake pedal. The stoplight switch. (i) It releases the shiftlock mechanism as well as makes the tail lamps "LIGHT UP" when the brakes pedal is pressed. It is a common issue amongst many cars. Another suggestion would be to check its contact point to the back of the brake pedal. Nissan uses a plastic plug as a contact point. It can pop out, crack and even become lost.

SOURCE for possible faulty part, photo, price
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par.../N-je1edZ9cias

Those would be my suggestions.

 

Thank you for your dedication and insight foodmanry and Navy00Maxima. Very helpful. Just to clarify, is this 'switch' is located directly behind the brake pedal (screwed on the chassis I'm assuming)? Or below the steering column?

 

You are correct. Behind the brake pedal. And is easily visible if you crawl underneath the dash. Requires minimal tools and effort

 

For those who need this resolved in the future, my issue was in fact concerning the brake light switch (the link posted above is the correct part). I purchased the part from Autozone, Duralast brand, and after removing the OEM part, I cleaned it up and it ended up working.