4 days ago, my '04 Chevy Aveo (89,300 miles) would not shift out of park and no brake lights were coming on. I had to use the shift lock release to start the car in neutral, and I took it to dealer. Dealer replaced the brake switch. One day later, the problem returned. I took back to dealer, and they showed me that the light blue “15” stop fuse (the right column of fuses, second one down) had blown. They replaced. It again worked for a day, and the problem came back. Each time I put a new 15 fuse in now, it works temporarily, but now fries either immediately or within an hour. In order to drive, I still have to use the shift lock release, which isn’t great, because it means I have to drive without brake lights.
I already had to put $120 bucks in for the brake switch, which is annoying, now that I found out the part only costs about $10 bucks. The rest was in diagnostics and labor.
Ideas on what the problem really is and how to fix? Thank you to all who can provide helpful insights.