There are a couple of tail-tail-signs that your brake light switch is bad.
One is that you have no brake lights, and your fuse and wiring are good. And the second is that your vehicle will not come out of park.
Even pressing on the brake harder does not seem to help. You use to be able to wiggle the keys a bit, or even push and let up and push again on the brake and you could get it to work.
But now no matter what you do it still will not come out of park.
First let me tell you of a simple trick to get it to come out of park, but not a fix or a repair. You can turn your key as if you are starting it but only one click forward. Then shift your vehicle into neutral then start your vehicle and continue shifting into drive.
Now when I say one click, it’s really one click. You should have no dash lights on this click. Let’s call it a half click because it really is not far. So now you know the trick to get it started but keep in mind if it is now running and you go back into park. It will not come out of park again until you shut it off and do the trick again. Now that you know the trick, let’s fix it. Get your head down into the floor board. Follow the brake pedal up to the top and you will see a electronic switch at the top.
Not all brake switches look the same, but they do work the same. Find the clip that holds it to the brake pedal. There should be just one. Because, it needs to swing with the pedal.
Pull this clip and the brake light switch and wiring will come down.
There is a release lever in front of my thumb here. Press it and the brake light switch will come free from the wiring harness. Now we can take it to a flat surface and take it apart.
The brake light switch in this illustration has a clip on the side of it. Press as you did with the wiring harness and the top will come off. You may need to pry a little with a small screw driver.
Once you remove the cover you will see copper connectors. These connectors pull right out. Only pull one at a time so you don’t get them mixed up. Now would be a good time to take a picture for reference in case you do get them mixed up.
Now with a pair of needle nose pliers pull one contact out.
Look to see if it is burnt at all. If it is we are going to clean it. Even if it does not look bad, lets scratch it a little anyway. Sometimes the build up on it alone can cause it not to make contact. it will need cleaned if it is burnt or black. Now take a piece of sand paper and scratch the contact
When you have cleaned it replace it and do another. This contact was not working properly.
Once you have cleaned them all. Replace the cover and replace the brake light switch and clip. You now should be able to shift out of park, and have brake lights.
My 1997 Mercedes Benz E320 has a permanent Brake Light on and on driving gives a Warning: Release Brake, with the Brake SIgn. It appears that there is no current coming to the brake light switch and the rear brake lights are not coming on. I am not certain how the circuit works and what fuses I should be checking. Can anyone please help me, I have been getting assistance but they have also drawn a blank.