1997 Nissan Pathfinder Logo
Posted on Sep 30, 2011
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I have a 1997 Nissan Pathfinder. Tonight I went out to a movie and upon exiting my vehicle noticed my brake lights were on. I opened my door and pulled back on the brake pedal, for a second they turned off and then returned on. I pulled the interior fuse for the brake lights and went inside. When I came back out the fuse shocked me slightly as I reinserted it, only to find my brakelights still lit up. About 4 months ago my tachometer started to act funny flying from the normal 2100 rpm to 8000 rpm and finally falling to the peg on the left. I was wondering if the two were possible causitive of one another, or if they are unrelated. Also what is the problem with my brakelights? Can either matter be resolved

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  • Posted on Sep 30, 2011
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Joined: Jul 22, 2011
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Climb under the dash and look on the back of the brake pedal, brakelight switch will be on the back of the brake pedal arm halfway up the arm.

Look around in the floorboard and look for some fragments of rubber. If you see some fragments of rubber then the little piece of rubber that is attached to the back of the brake arm has probably fallen off. If the rubber piece breaks and falls off then the brakelight switch will stay on because it will be touching bare metal and grounding the switch making it stay on all the time.

And that seems to make sense because when you pulled back on the pedal the brakelights went
off. Because you pulled the pedal back until it was not making contact with the switch anymore.

And the tach problem is unrelated. And im not sure about whats wrong with the tachometer. But I would suspect the vehicle speed sensor is faulty.

  • 1 more comment 
  • kiwikoala19 Sep 30, 2011

    I checked this solution the piece is still intact from what I could tell. Any other suggestions? I'm a struggling college student so as much do it yourself information the better.

  • Anonymous Oct 01, 2011

    Make sure the emergency brake is completely disengaged.

    CHECK THIS LINK, ITS A DIAGRAM OF YOUR BRAKE
    PEDAL/ARM ASSEMBLY:
    http://www.courtesyparts.com/pathfinder-...

    Look at the part number 46512 on the very bottom picture.
    Its just a rubber stopper that the brakelight switch makes
    contact with on the pedal side.
    SO LOOK AT THE DIAGRAM AND COMPARE IT TO YOUR
    PEDAL, FIND THE ONE ON YOUR PEDAL AND MAKE SURE IT IS STILL THERE. ANYTIME IVE MET SOMEBODY WHO HAD THIS PROBLEM WITH THE BRAKELIGHTS
    STAYING ON ALL THE TIME THIS WAS THE PROBLEM,
    THE RUBBER STOPPER HAD FALLEN OFF. IT HAPPENED
    TO ME ON MY TOYOTA AND ON MY FRIENDS HONDA.
    SO CHECK TO SEE THAT THE STOPPER IS THERE AGAIN.
    I TOLD YOU THE WRONG PLACE TO LOOK AS I WASNT FAMILIAR WITH THE PATHFINDER UNTIL I DID RESEARCH. AND IM ALMOST CERTAIN THIS IS THE PROBLEM. AND USE A FLASHLIGHT.


    And heres an actual picture, the brakelight switch is actually
    on the front of the pedal.
    http://www.google.com/imgres?q=1997+niss...

    THE ONLY OTHER THING I CAN THINK OF IS THE BRAKELIGHT SWITCH IS GETTING STUCK. SO PUSH DOWN THE PEDAL (YOUR SWITCH IS NORMALLY PUSHED DOWN WHEN YOU ARE NOT PUSHING THE BRAKE, THE LIGHTS COME ON WHEN YOU RELEASE THE SWITCH BY PUSHING THE BRAKE PEDAL) AND TRY PULLING AND PUSHING THE BRAKELIGHT SWITCH BY HAND. HAVE SOMEONE ELSE TO CHECK AND SEE IF THE BRAKE LIGHTS ARE GOING OFF AND ON AS YOU DO IT. IF THE BRAKE LIGHTS ARE WORKING WHEN YOU DO THAT, THEN REPLACE THE BRAKELIGHT SWITCH.

    BUT FIRST MAKE SURE THE RUBBER THING IS THERE.

  • kiwikoala19 Oct 01, 2011

    I had found the plastic piece before. The portion which I saw was still intact. After I went back and began fooling with it again, the piece fell of to reveal there was only 1/4 of the plastic. Therefore it was the plastic piece. Thank you so very much. I had someone help me manufacture a replica and thus far it seems to work.

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