Ford Brake Light Switch Fix 

I read a few things online and I found this video and confirmed my notion that simply the resistance of the brake booster was not enough to engage the switch(brakes lights "work" with truck off and a few pumps on the pedal). I got a spring at Lowes that was close enough and cut a few loops off and after some trial and error (4 pack of springs) I got it dialed in just right to return well enough to cut the lights off but also engage the lights with the slightest touch of the pedal. It's interesting how light the spring has to be. If you just tap the brakes with the truck off, now they will stay on. But if you tap and release quickly to snap back they will go off. Any more pressure and it would not engage the lights properly. But with the truck running the brake returns on it's own even with slightest little tap tap and shuts off the lights and they come on for the taps! Just make sure you don't bump the pedal getting out and leave your lights on all day! With that in mind I am also considering adding an extra return spring from the pedal just above the brake switch, to under the dash frame, just to make sure it comes back up and stays up all the way but not so tight it interferes with pressing the brakes! Who knows, it might improve that pedal-feel a little bit!! If you know you know, the brakes are bled and not spongy, it's just really really soft on the pedal to stop the ol' truck more than plenty good Thanks man!! I knew it was that spring!! Now I can return that new switch to O'really's! 👍

thankyou sir you saved me from buying it which is around 50$

*_CRITICAL STEP_* YOU MUST ALIGN IT ONE WAY OR NO WAY. Additional tip about this simple electric on off switch. That black plastic hat like cover is placed in the post stem,with the flared brim flush against the brake arm that extends about 3/4 of the brake arm. The open loop will press against the top if the black hat acting like a spacer so that the switch isnt up against the brake arm. The cotter pin went on using a small vice grip to push it in all the way down flush and to the loop the vice grip is pinching, snapping into place and assuring it doesn't easily back out. Thus you should not try to force the stem with that hat on through the loops of the switch! Its unecessary and besides its very hard to push that switch all the way down the stem and could tear the hat. When reinstalling the switch be sure the two loop metal end point of the switch points at the vac booster and the wire harness points away towards the driver. In this way the switch body length wise it is pointing the same direction as the the brake rod and parallel to it, that extends from the vac booster. You can see why this is a one way because of the flattened squared area of the brake arm that will push down against the floating rectangular metal plate in the middle of the switch, so that it makes contact when the brake is depressed as the spring compresses. That little open space that creates a T like top no wider than then a single spring loop metal that coils closes, making the floating inch long rectangular platform press against the metal case. Now, within that base at the other end of the spring coil is two thin metal electric contact tips. One is soldered on both ends. The other points away from the contact but soldered at its other end. So the brake compression forces that rectangle at the other end down and allows the electric circuit to close and power to flow into the brake lights. You cant see those metal contacts unless you fully expose them by prying open outwards the switch to release the spring and rectangle. Note if you took a finger length wire stripped just a 1/8 inch on each end, holding the unattached wire harness, and placed one end in one socket and the other in the other socket, + & -, any order, creating a bypass, the brake lights should come on. It doesn't matter if the switch harness mated comboo is mounted or not for the switch to work, by the way, if you are simply testing the switch by compressing the spring to make the light come on. Thus there is constant 12 V power to the harness. Whatsmore, the vac booster has no wired power to create the brake light circuit nor does pressing the brake directly effect the circuit. It's extremely elegant and simple such that a complex mind cant intuitively figure it out at once. Physically compressing that switch closes an electric loop. A slight inch long edge on the brake rod presses. This comment should be very helpful to this otherwise helpful video. The host told us to keep the position the same but clarity about what specific position to use and its relation to that squared metal molding would facilitate the job and explain the mechanism. Knowing the electric contact points is key if you want to know the mechanism and sand or file lightly the oxidized contacts. It's a bitch to carefully pull the whole switch apart to service all contacts but straight forward if you take pics after each part removed. Dont crack the plastic as you pry open the metal prongs holding it together. In my opinion, if you install it the ONE WAY, its should work . I dont think sanding the floating rectangle is necessary. There are plastic pin like retainer seats on each end of the spring. I misplaced the half of the cotter pin cover but leaving that cover off didn't effect lightning brakes, but kicking and breaking or disengaging that cotter pin could create an unpleasant fail. BTW, it seems unnecessary to sand or file spring because its doesn't make electric contact. If you think it would help with length or seating it flush then maybe it helps, but if the heads of the spring are relatively flat and even, I find filing or sanding unecessary.

I bought one yesterday $10.00 Canadian.Don't mess around with it just replace it.