Hello,
I own a 1991 Accord SE 4-Door.

I have a problem with the center rear and passenger side rear brake lights not working.
Yesterday, the dash light came on that says "Brake Lamps". I checked the brake lights, and first noticed the passenger side brake lights were out.

So, I removed the 2 brake lamps and put in new lamps. The brake lights worked fine.....for a while. About an hour later, I again noticed after I started the car that the dash "Brake Lamps" light came on again. I put in new bulbs, but still nothing. I also noticed that the center rear brake light does not come on either.
The driver side brake lights are working fine.
I checked ALL fuses under the hood and down by the drivers left footwell, and all fuses are fine.
I done a general check on all the brake wiring, and does not seem to be any problems.

Any suggestions? Could the brake switch on the brake pedal be bad?[/align]

 

Not likely since one brake light is working. What's the condition of the socket? Is it clean and pretty looking or rusty and ugly? Any water in the lenses?

 

Hello,
Condensation or water is not a problem on my Accord. 1 of the sockets looks like some minor corrosion, but the other 2 look fine. If 1 bulb socket for brakelights on the passenger sideis corroded, would it effect the operation of the other passenger brakelight and center brakelight?

I removed the brake lamp/reverse light plastic assembly unit from the passenger side trunk lid and plugged it in the drivers side and it worked fine.

So, I am wondering if it is either a wiring problem or the under dash brake switch that operates with the brake pedal.

Does anyone know if the brake pedal switch could go bad and just effect the center rear and passenger side only, and the drivers side remain fine?

 

Like Chiovnicda said, NO it can't.

 

drewk2:
I have the EXACT same problem. (1991 Accord, Automatic)
The center and right side brake lights do not work. (replaced bulbs just to ensure that they were not defective)

Additional info- the red "Brake Lamp" light on the dashcomes on when the brake pedal is pressed. Once pressed, it remains on until the car is cut off. Start the car (light isoff) press brake pedal and its on again (and brakelights still not working) (in other words, something is resetting itself when the car is turned off)


brake fluid level is ok
fuses ok

I have seen a couple of other postings regarding similar problems but not the smoking gun. These have suggested verifying that all of the bulbs on each side are rated the same and that each element is working in the double element bulbs since the sensors are checking for the voltage use on each side.Another suggests looking for crimped wiring harness in trunk-driver side-near lid hinge. I have yet to perform these checks on my car-but will post results.
I'll keep checking back.
good luck

 

Yeah,you shouldcheckall those things. Smoking gun? Lots of people never post back saying how they actually fixed it; then we never know.

 

Poor connections or bad bulbs are most likely cause. I've had this problem w/ connections that looked good, but the bulbs apparently had very fine filament breaks (old bulbs). When cold the bulb would work, but after warming up and w/ vibration would open momentarily which sets the brake light warning on the dash.

Suggest polishing the contacts w/ small wire brush and replace any older bulbs.

good luck

 

Found the problem. The plug on the Right side brake light sensor. Apparently crimps inside the plastic housing of the plug thatare on the ends of the wires are loose. I can get the lights to work momentarily if I shake/wiggle the wires at the back of the plug. Unplugged anddis-assembled the sensor(removed it from the plastic housing) to clean the terminals and inspect solder connections-all ok. The terminals were a little corroded-so I cleaned them; however, this did not fix it. I'll be looking for a replacement plug/pigtail.