I have an 01 Accord VP, I4/auto. Tranny went out around 50K and was replaced. It now has 63K and is very difficult to shift out of park. It feels like the brake/safety (whatever you call it) is screwing up. Is this electronic or a cable? I want to fix this before I get stuck somewhere.

could be the brake switch. :dunno:

I'll see what I can find out later today


Welcome! :wave:

Thanks. I was checking it out under the dash but can't see anything that looks like it runs to the shifter.

The brake interlock will work or not.

How would you descrbe how hard it is?

Is it like a catch? Or is it a spongy feel? Is it a solid or progressive feel? and just what kinda force is needed? Is there a hill involved that you park on? Say a sloped driveway. Does it happen all the time? What are the conditions that it happen at?

No hills or slopes involved, I'm in Louisiana. It happens every time it is placed in park. No excessive force needed, just keep pressing the brake pedal until it lets me press the button in on the shifter to get out of park.

Maybe the brake inter lock switch needs adjusting?

where is it located? what does it look like?

Check & see if your brake lights are working. If not, you need a brake light switch located at the brake pedal bracket.

I thought it would be a 2-stage switch. :dunno: Tapping the brakes pedal to make the lights blink isnt enough to disengage the rake interlock.

Had the same exact problem. The same switch that operates the brake lights also releases the transmission lock. It is an easy replacement - located at the top of the brake pedal arm. The switch (from Honda) is way over priced - but that does not surprise you.

Hello Board I am a newbie and a Honda Lover...anywhoo my dear car has decided to do this very same thing. Figured out it was the brake light switch..now my issue is where can i get one of these? My dealer Main Line wants $102.5 P/L for something I can do myself..They sell the part for $55..does anyone have a cheaper alternative or a place to order this from? I am in PA and am not adverse to doing it myself.

Oh and does it do any damage to the car by using the shiftlock to drive the car? Thanks

Something like this happened to me, but it eventually fixed itself. It was stuck and I had to jiggle the wheel and push the brake a lot to get it to shift out of park. You don't have to worry about getting stuck because you can use your key or a screwdriver to push down a little button near the shifter to unlock it, shift the car into neutral, start it up and then shift into drive or reverse (see the owners manual for more in depth instructions). it could also be a solonoid problem.

I fortunately did figure out how to drive my car (happened on my mom's car before but only 1x). My brake lights are out as well (bummer) I take it to the dealer next sat but don't want to give them that kind of $ for less than .5 hours worth of work. Autozone here says they don't sell it and I didn't find it at say Pep boys either...

That switch is usually a dealer item.

Here's how to replace & adjust it....


1 of 4:

Pedal Height
Disconnect the brake pedal position switch connector, loosen the brake pedal position switch locknut (A), and back off the brake pedal position switch (B) until it is no longer touching the brake pedal.

Turn up the carpet. At the insulator cutout, measure the pedal height (C) from the middle of the left side of the pedal pad (D).



Standard Pedal Height (with carpet removed):
M/T:
165 mm (6 8/16 in.)

A/T:
169 mm (6 10/16 in.)

Loosen the pushrod locknut (A), and screw the pushrod in or out with pliers until the standard pedal height from the floor is reached. After adjustment, tighten the locknut firmly. Do not adjust the pedal height with the pushrod depressed.

Screw in the brake pedal position switch until its plunger is fully depressed (threaded end (A) touching the pad (B) on the pedal arm). Then back off the switch 3/4 turn to make 0.9 mm (0.04 in.) of clearance between the threaded end and pad. Tighten the locknut firmly.

Connect the brake pedal position switch connector. Make sure that the brake lights go off when the pedal is released.

Check the brake pedal free play as described below.

Pedal Free Play
With the engine off, check the pedal free play (A) on the pedal pad (B) by pushing the pedal by hand.


Free Play:
1-5 mm (1/16-3/16 in.)


If the pedal free play is out of specification, adjust the brake pedal position switch (C). If the pedal free play is insufficient, it may result in brake drag.

Thanks! :thmsup:

No problem..... :)

I haven't been on much lately due to the heat causing power outages & internet failure.... :dunno:

Ok I take my car to the dealer this weekend because I couldn't find the switch anywhere (already scheduled service anyway) to get a tuneup/oil change etc and yesterday my horn decided it didn't want to work! This is a new added aggravation. I don't want to drive it because some idiot almost hit me yesterday while he was running a stop sign. If I wasn't paying attention he may have hit me but when i tried to honk the horn nothing..Is this the start of something bigger? Help! :dunno:

Looks like fuse 47 controls all the things you mention. Maybe as simple as a fuse out or weak..... :dunno:

Have you check to see if you have any brakelights in the back recently?

I have back lights when I:

Lock/unlock my car w/ remote
if I turn them on

No lights when I step on the pedal though..have to use shift lock release to get out of park. I had checked my back light fuse last week and that was fine. Will check again to see if anything changed.

TGFTF= Thank God for this forum!

Not backlights/tail lights, you need someone to push the brake pedal while watching for brake lights. It's a different light system.

Not backlights/tail lights, you need someone to push the brake pedal while watching for brake lights. It's a different light system.

No lights when I step on the pedal though..


So now I have:

No brake lights when stepping on pedal...
Back lights are on when I press remote or turn on lights in car
No horn when i tap it nor for 2nd signal on remote
Using Shiftlock to get out of park to drive...
Have checked fuses and seemed to be ok. (took it out and checked it & had someone else look as well)

sigh...i hope i don't have to give a kidney to pay for it. I am hoping it is just the brakelight switch that is causing all of this nonsense.. :bawling:

The normal pattern has been that the horn shorts out & blows the fuse, which causes the problem in the shifting out of park & no brake lights. :dunno: AS soon as I mentioned this to my prince, he told me the process he sees all the time. Let me make sure I found the right fuse for you to check.... :dunno:

The normal pattern has been that the horn shorts out & blows the fuse, which causes the problem in the shifting out of park & no brake lights. :dunno: AS soon as I mentioned this to my prince, he told me the process he sees all the time. Let me make sure I found the right fuse for you to check.... :dunno:

Ok came home from work and checked fuses UNDER the hood. I had checked the wrong one. Pulled a 20 Amp for the horn and it was blown, replaced it and everything worked fine UNTIL i tapped my horn..Blew that fuse and my horn sounds like crap. So I replaced the fuse and didn't touch my horn. So kids what have I learned from all of this?:

1. May not need a brake light switch after all...may be a short in the horn or need new horn.
2. I can shift out of park and have brake lights if the fuse is not blown
3. DO NOT substitute a 30 amp for a 20 (like a previous poster did) if i don't want to fry my car.
4. Princess rocks! :notworthy

Princess what did your prince say about the process? Does he he have a general ideal of how expensive is it a fix or is it common thing? I did all this after my shop closed so i will call them tomorrow to see what the damage is for that.

I will post a picture of my Batmobile after all this is done so you can see how purty she is and you will see why she is called The Batmobile.

I'm not sure what the most common spot for the short in the horn is.... I can't ask at the moment, he's under the house right now. He decided to change the new pipes to bigger new pipes for more water pressure.

I'll ask later. :)

When you said you didn't have a blown fuse.... it just didn't make sense to me. II looked to see if I'd posted the wrong one, but nope, it was right.

I'm glad you found it!! :yes: Much easier to replace a fuse instead of brake switch!! :) Now hopefully we can help track down that short!! :paranoid:

It's internal the horn itself. The horn would need to be replaced to cure the short altogether. You can unplug each horn to find out which one. Beep the one left plugged in, if you don't have the test equiptment to hunt down the short. The one that blows the fuse again is the bad one.

He said you've passed your "beep" limit & wore the thing out!! :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

He said you've passed your "beep" limit & wore the thing out!! :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:


Tell your prince i said thank you and quit pickin on me :boohoo: . She is a 2000 but I adopted her in '04 so i may have the old owner to thank for that. Funny thing is when i went to do my alarm on the car about 3 wks ago i noticed that she didn't beep on the second click but I didn't think too much about it. That was my signal then. But now i feel better so thanks!

We almost never use the horn. I forget I have one until I've avoided the idiot that scared me on the road!

He uses it from the key to torment me. I HATE it when he double clicks the alarm when we get out in a parking lot..... He makes it beep & then get bopped!

I use the horn to very occationally to the classic thing....when his heads under the hood & I'm in the car.... then run!! :lmao:

It's internal the horn itself. The horn would need to be replaced to cure the short altogether. You can unplug each horn to find out which one. Beep the one left plugged in, if you don't have the test equiptment to hunt down the short. The one that blows the fuse again is the bad one.

He said you've passed your "beep" limit & wore the thing out!! :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:


Got my new horn yesterday and all is well! :thumbsup:
Now I am back to beeping folks to get the hell out of the way :naughty:

But thanks to you I was able to tell them exactly what was wrong and not go through a whole bunch of nonsense!

ありがとう
Dank u
Grazie
Obrigado

Thank You!!!