My brake lights went out recently, and my fuses are fine. The horn works, so the fuses should be good. We also replaced the brakelight switch just to make sure that wasn't it. Since it's not bulbs, fuses or the switch what would be the next logical thing to look at?

 

1. Is this a 2-door or 4-door?

2. Do you have a voltmeter to test?

3. Also, does the high-mount brake light work? (This is to try to narrow possible areas of the cause.)

 

It's a 4 door. The high mount break light does not work. I do have a voltmeter thankfully.

 

There is an open (break) in the circuit; either on the power (+) side or the ground (-) side.

You can test for power at several places along the circuit. Either start at the rear or the front.

1. At one of the brake light sockets (for example: left, right, or high mount), test for power with the brake pedal pressed.

I included images for the left side; but, the others connectors' wire colors to test are the same.

Disconnect the wire harness connector from the bulb socket. Then with the voltmeter, touch the meter's red lead to the wire harness connector cavity terminal where the Wht/Blk wire is, and the meter's black lead to body ground. The ground bolt used by all the brake lights is on the rear left side (G701). If there is power, then the issue is a ground problem - check the wiring going to G701.

(Wht/Blk is a wire with white colored insulation and a black stripe running through it.)

(Unless your meter is auto-ranging, set the voltmeter to the 20 volts setting.)

If there is no power in the rear, then the open (break) is along the Wht/Blk wire leading to the back or near the front at the brake pedal position switch.

2. If there is no power (+) in the rear, you can test for power coming out of the Wht/Blk wire at the brake pedal switch in front. (You can always start the test here instead of the rear.)

You will have to backprobe to test for power at the brake pedal switch.
Backprobing is either using a backprobe set or using a thin needle or something and making contact with the metal terminal of the connector without piercing the wire in the back of the still connected connector. Care must be taken to ensure that the wiring does not get damaged. You can use something like a T pin, available at Walmrt, etc., and backprobe. These pictures are just to give a picture of the concept of backprobing without piercing any wires.

https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/foru...%5D-t-pins-jpg

https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/foru...back-probe-jpg

With the brake pedal pressed, backprobe the Wht/Blk wire at the connector for the brake pedal switch. Touch the voltmeter's red lead to the Wht/Blk wire terminal from the back. Touch the the voltmeter's black lead to body ground (for example, a metal bracket on the car).

 

You can unplug the brake light switch and test for power on the red wire going to the brake light switch. Any bare metal bolt should serve as a good ground.

Plug in the switch and push the plunger on the switch to see if the brake lights turn on. There is a plastic cap on the brake pedal that should push the plunger on the brake light switch. This plastic piece can get brittle and break.

 

So to follow up. We are idiots - I checked 2/3 lights for a blow out before we switched out the brake light switch and ended up checking for shorts everywhere. It was the 3rd light that we didn't check that ended up being out and it caused all 3 lights to go out. Thank you everyone for your suggestions, we tried them and they were awesome! next time I will not waste 12 hours futzing around and make sure all the lights are good before going down a rabbit hole!

 

Good to hear and thanks for reporting back that it was resolved. Many times we never hear back what happened.

 

You guys answered with details and pictures, only a jerk wouldn't follow up!

 

... drum roll... and replacing all 3 bulbs was needed for me too. Horn worked OK (red tail lights lit up with headlights or when locked with key fob), and I replaced the bulbs before replacing the switch. This post saved me some time.
I did waste time searching/checking all fuses, researching switch, and similar issues on this site.