I've posted recently about some engine issues, now here's a light issue, well and shifting issue. A while back the pad, pedal stopper for my break light switch broke, well i researched a fix that a lot of people are using, mine being the 3 penny fix for that, but now i'm not so sure if my brake light switch is still good, while i was under the dash i was pressing the break down and using my finger to manually press the switch and i was surprised that it was taking four or five presses to get it to click allowing me to shift my car out of park and seeing my brake lights light up. Now i'm thinking that the brake light switch is bad...any way to test? without having to buy expensive gear

 

what year? engine?

 

Do you consider a multi-meter to be "expensive gear"? For $15 or so you can buy a cheapie meter at walmart or autozone. It's a useful tool for a lot of jobs.

You can test continuity through the switch itself, then you don't have to play games with other symptoms. If the switch is flaky, or not consistant about exactly where the plunger position is when it switches ON, then you'll see that by testing the switch.

 

already got it figured out, bad brake light switch, threw the new one in and bam everything works, helpful guy on youtube eric the car guy, watched and got tired of playing the guessing game so i went with it and it came through for me!