Brake Pedal Switch Replacement Cost

The brake pedal switch or brake light switch indicates whether the brake pedal is being used. This is most important then starting the car, as the car won’t be able to be placed into a different gear while the light is off. You have to keep the brake depressed when shifting from “park to “drive”. Once the brake pedal switch is no longer working, then you may have some trouble shifting gears, because the car may not recognize when the pedal is being depressed.

This is one of the cheaper car repair jobs you can have done. Don’t expect to pay more than $50-$120 on even the most expense of cars for this minor repair. Parts can range between $20 and $70, depending on the kind of car you have, and labor tends to be about $50. How complicated it is to change out the brake pedal switch will determine the cost and time it takes to have this work done.

Brake Pedal Switch Replacement Cost Comparison

Your Mechanic

Midas

Mr. Tire

NAPA

Walmart

Amazon

What Is Brake Pedal Switch Replacement?

If the mechanic can access your brake pedal switch easily, alongside your entire braking system, you can probably wait in the repair shop while repairs are done. Most cars allow for easy access to the braking system, which means you should be in and out pretty quickly.

There are a few different potential reasons why the brake pedal switch could be malfunctioning. It could be a connector issue or just the pedal itself. The mechanic will have to get in there and look at it to make the determination. Any additional parts that have been damaged or need to be replaced will increase the price, but in most cases, the additional costs are minimal.

Benefits of Brake Pedal Switch Replacement

Once you get this problem taken care of, then you will be able to drive your car a lot easier. That pedal switch communicates with your braking and shifting systems, so getting it taken care of means that those systems will work like they are supposed to. Until the issue is cleared up, your car may or may not allow you to shift out of “park” and into “drive”, so you’ll want to have this addressed as soon as possible to get back on thee road again.

What Happens during Brake Pedal Switch Replacement?

Your mechanic needs to ensure that the brake pedal switch is the problem before switching it out with a new part. He will test the entire path of electricity from the brake light to the pedal switch to see where the problem is. It’s possible there will be multiple parts the need to be switched out.

The mechanic will need to remove the electrical connector and the retaining hardware to access the switch. Then it’s a simple matter of taking out the old switch and putting in a new one. The parts that had to be disconnected will be reattached, and the mechanic will test everything to ensure it is working properly. Not much of a drive test will be necessary to test this new part out. Simply shifting the gears and applying pressure to the brake should be enough confirm it all works like it should.

When to Get Brake Pedal Switch Replacement?

In many cases, you won’t be able to drive the car when this switch is not working. Your car simply won’t recognize that you are pressing down the brake pedal when you attempt to shift out of “park”. You may also notice that the brake light isn’t working, but don’t assume that the problem has to be the brake pedal switch just because you are seeing one of these signs. It could be something more serious and costlier. Still, you need to get this problem fixed right away if you plan to drive. Otherwise, you could end up stranded somewhere because your car won’t let you shift into “drive”. It’s not usually a problem that will affect you while you are driving, but it can cause you some serious frustration when you are parked and trying to get back on the road.

How to Save Money on Brake Pedal Switch Replacement

You can actually do this yourself if you have some knowledge about the electrical path the braking system works on. That’s a great way to save some money, and this is a fairly straightforward procedure. You can test the braking pedal switch yourself and switch out the damaged part with some very basic tools. If in doubt, though, have a mechanic do it for you, since this is not a very expensive procedure.

Another way to save money is to compare costs between different mechanics, but you aren’t likely to save a lot of money, since the cost is relatively low anyway.

Sample Brake Pedal Switch Replacement Costs