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Brake lights won't turn off and now car won't start

I just got home! I have a 2002 Ford Explorer. We got home, put our car in park, turned it off and noticed the brake lights were not turning off, and thought they were sticking. So we gently pulled on the pedal, and that didn't do anything. So we thought we'd take a look at the fuse box. After just eyeballing the fuses and not touching a fuse, we closed the fuse box and then tried to start the car, and it won't start, and now it makes a tack, tack, tack, tack sound when you turn the key. What the heck just happened? It's been working perfectly fine, until now! Someone please, give me some feedback.

Reply to
shellbellncheez
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There is a brake switch sensor bad. Same thing happened to me. I believe the bill was 65 bucks.

Reply to
Rush

Also sounds like the constantly on brake lights drained the battery...

Reply to
Happy Traveler

After you recharge your dead battery, check the brakelight switch again. Look under the dash on the brake pedal arm and inspect it. Maybe it was moved somehow and needs re-adjustment. Otherwise, just replace it.

Reply to
gordo

A month ago, the brake lights in my 2002 Explorer XLT (140K miles) began to stay on. I simply pulled out the brake light switch, opened it up, cleaned it out, reassembled it, and put it back. Simple to do, took about an hour, and solved the problem. If you decide to do it, take careful note of the assembly order of the various small parts as you remove the switch. When you go to put it back, it may not be obvious.

Bill

Reply to
Bill Jeffrey

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