Brake lights stuck on
 

Hello all, new to the forum, hoping to find some answers here if someone's run in to a similar issue like mine. Normally I don't jump in like this, but imagine getting lost hiking in a forest somewhere without a map or compass, or anything to guide you, and no way of fishing. That's kind of how it's been! Now, onward?
This is possibly a unique issue, as vast internet searching on this has turned up dry on anything relevant for me at least.

The vehicle in question is a 2001 Cherokee Sport (4.0L, auto), I'm not an expert, and have gone as far as pulling the dash plastic apart (and is still apart) to find the root of the issue, to no avail.
The brake lights are stuck on as if the brakes were being pressed, so I have to keep disconnecting the battery, not much of a nuisance, but it would be nice to not have to do that every time. I've looked up videos and threads about a brake light switch (even going so far as to buy a new one), but found nothing specific on my year of Cherokee. I don't even see the thing they have in the videos under the dash at all, though I do see a spot for it there. There is no hanging wiring harness there either, so I am a bit stumped as to why this is happening. Before, the lights functioned normally. In addition to this, I no longer need to press the brake to shift the car out of park. It's just like the brake was being pressed all the time.

I have pulled the dash forward to search for a possible switch or harness, but no such thing did I see.

I have some photos to share as well.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...11475b2e91.jpg
Under dash, picture from brake pedal pad, facing upward


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...fc11a93e65.jpg




https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...c3beb7be66.jpg


Forbid if the switch must be spliced in somehow, not sure where I would start with that. Any thoughts?

Get a better picture of the uppermost end of that brake pedal. I think that's where the switch is located.

I thought so, too! At least, at first. But there are no wires leading way up there and even lighting it up under there revealed no switch, or even the vague shape of one.

Look up under dash could of popped out and landed back on wiring

I was under there all day yesterday trying to find any sign of this switch and its wire harness, but there was NOTHING to be seen under there of the sort. Even pulled the dash forward to feel for loose wires or look for a switch -- nothing!

Parts missing, and looks like the wiring has already been messed with quite a bit. Unless you did that? Some of those splices dont have any wires at one end. Could be the missing wires you are looking for? IIRC, the brake switch wires are White/Tan, and Pink/Blue. That hole above the brake pedal is where the switch should be.

I can agree with the others... I know for a fact there is a switch, had to adjust mine not too long ago on my 99. If you don't see one on yours, maybe it's been messed with. Should be an easy adjustment.

This is the first time I am ever looking at something like this. I am not entirely confident in my ability to even piece back together this dash plastic I've taken off. This just started happening earlier this week (wednesday), my roommate pointed it out after I got home. I have not messed with anything under here before except to lay down some fatmat soundproofing, and even back then, I dont seem to recall seeing this switch or harness around.
I cant seem to see any loose wires in this mess, though there are these two small black boxes I have no clue what they are for. Verification on those wires?

What would you suggest? I'm open

It won't and can't be inside of the dash. There won't be any need to remove it. It is a plastic piece with a call on a cylinder that pushes into itself. The metal of the brake pushes into the cap. When the switch is such closed, then the electronics show that the brake is pressed even when it isn't which is why the lights are always in and the car starts without depressing the brake.
Go to O'Reilly's and look at the new one that you will need. It will help you to find the old one. If it somehow broke of, then the new one will help you still...
Submit images parallel to the ground facing the forgot bumper from just a few inches behind the this metal piece that connects the brake's passed surface to the point of pivot.

I spent thursday and friday searching for the old one and its wiring harness. It is nowhere to be seen. I had already bought a new one the day I started doing this. Again, I cannot find it anywhere, no matter where I look.

It looks like this and I believe snaps into the hole you see in the first picture.
https://www.autopartswarehouse.com/e...ndard/sisls208
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...879f0d2a3c.png

I already know what it looks like.

Put the new one where it goes. That will help to find the wiring that fits it by shape and length.
I'm not sure how the old one became missing. I could believe that it was kicked or snapped and fell. It is less easy to believe that the wiring connector was unplugged. It would likely be hanging somewhere around where it goes.

It should not be anywhere near that mess of wires inside of the dash, though. Are you suspecting that it has always been missing and some very strange work-around was installed that has failed?

I'll take some more photos tomorrow, but yes, I do think it has always been missing, and it's possible (actually 100% in that case) that a work-around was made. There are no wires or connectors that I could find in my many, MANY hours across two days of searching that I could find hanging near where this switch is supposed to go.

If it was working in the past, then there was a switch somewhere. It could have been something fabricated not by the factory. The brake is a lever. The switch would be engaged and unengaged by it's position. It would have to be mechanical and in contact with the metal ever somewhere not exactly at the pivot. I hope that this information helps and makes some sort of sense.