Hi folks,

Got a 1990 LX, 117k on it, with a brake light issue. I've tried to follow the norms for n00bs and looked through the FAQ and searched for similar posts, but can't find anything that works.

The passanger side and center (rear window) brake lights are out. The turn signals and warning lights work on both sides. The driver side brake light works. The brake light indicator is on on the dash (and is always on now when I start the car).

I checked the passenger side bulb. It was fine. I cleaned up the little bit of rust there was around the connections and replaced the bulb. Nothing. No water in the plastic cases. I had a friend (with the car on) hold down the brake pedal and I jiggled the wires looking for a loose connection. Nothing doing.

How can I proceed to troubleshoot this? I can't afford to take it to a dealership. Anything you got would be really helpful.

 

The quickest test is to use a volt meter and see if the green wire with a red? stripe has voltage when you hit the brake pedal. I try to find a bare metal bolt as my ground for my volt meter.

Also, one or both of the taillights has a failure sensor. It is a black plastic module on the the rear brake light(s). Let us know which tail light(s) have them. I believe the green/white wire is the power that comes from the brake switch.

 

See this thread and the other thread that is a part of it via my post #5.

https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/for...-accord-61516/

 

Thanks to both of you for your posts.

I'm not real skilled at electrical and since the center and passenger brake lights were out, I figured it was most likely the failure sensor (based on other posts). However, I replaced it (with a factory part) and still they are not working.

I just took the multimeter to the brakelights. On the driver side (which is working) I got a normal 12V reading. On the passenger side I'm getting a reading of .0029 (with the brake pedal depressed).

I don't see any visible corrosion on any bulbs or connectors, and I'm not sure how I should approach this to troubleshoot.

Do either of you have an idea? Would you say I should try to clean the connectors on the failure sensor pin or is the low voltage reading a sign of something else being wrong?

Thanks again. Very appreciated.

 

Hi I'm back to try and rectify your brake light problem. All wires that come from the brake light switch to the brake lights should be the same colour as they run through the loom to the back of the car they will split and go to the individual brake lights so there must be a multi connector taking the wires to the separate brake lights. You will have to find this connector and test the power/voltage from there onwards the, sensor you have changed at the front if the car would make no difference as it supplies voltage to all rear brakes lights. And it picks up a voltage drop to turn the brake warning light on on the dash. There is a quick and simple answer , splice a wire from the brake light wire that is working and run it through to the other light wires and splice it to them wires thus bypassing the suspected wire brake.
I do hope this makes sense if not get back to me. In fact this process is how Toyota recommended a fix on there cars which would quicker and cheaper than changing a section on wiring loom.