Squeeze your brake lever and place a piece of thick cardboard in the gap between the lever and the housing. Chance are you already broke the switch, in which case it will have to be replaced. If you look at the switch, there is a rubber boot covering the switch. Press the boot and you will feel the switch engage if it's not broken.

 

i suspect it is broken, does that also explain blowing a fuse each time the brake is engaged? and which switch do i replace (front/rear) didn't know there were two. and one is like $17 the other like $68 at the dealer. can a novice replace with ease?

 

I have replaced broken brake switches before and none of them caused fuses to blow. Like I said, probably a pinched wire. The switch is in the switch cover and is not that hard to replace. There isn't much space in there, so I would recommend soldering the wires of the new switch to the wires of the old switch.

 

By the way the switch costs about $17.00 dollars. The other switch is for the rear foot brake.

 

called local dealer,, has plenty of switches, will pick one up on the way home this pm. if there is a pinched wire its probably in the lower switch housing. had problems getting that part back lined up with the cover replacement. May have to remove some of the covering (wire) to see any problems.

Thanks for your help.

 

That's where the brake switch is.

 

I am pleased to announce the electrical problems have been solved! The finger that holds the right blinker switch was pinching the wires to the front brake light switch. Removed the bracket to inspect the wires, could not see any damage but wrapped with electrical tape anyway to ensure no metal metal contact. That corrected the short and what do you know,,,,, the brake light switch wasn't broken either. Considering myself very lucky that the button on the switch was a little misaligned so it didn't reach the plunger in the master cylinder apparently. ALL IS WELL.... MANY THANKS TO ALL THAT ASSISTED!!!!