my little brother has just purchased an 89 honda accord and is having a brake light malfunction. the brake lights(both sides) stay illuminated, even when both car and lights are turned off. he has to take the neg(-) cable off of the battery so that it doesn't drain it. his passenger side(right side) bulb went out, and when i went to change it it was severly corroded(some wires were exposed near the lighting harness plug - not touching). removed bulb(using side-cutters and pliers)...baaadly corroded. replaced bulb(s) and has since developed the above condition. they were not malfunctioning when the car was purchased about 2 weeks ago. i did notice, however, that the "brake light illumination switch", as i will call it, looks broken.
1 what is this switch called?
2 how does it opperate****?
3 are the two adjacent plastic shafts supposed to be the same length?

i noticed a hole on the contact piece(on brake pedal assembly). there is also one on the clutch pedal assembly. i noticed the clutch pedal assembly also has a longer shaft on it than the brake pedal assembly. is this correct, or has it broken? here is a pic of the assembly:



does or has any one had this problem before or know what could cause the tail light to stay on?

[IMG]local://upfiles/1375/6A265EF5D5A74307ADCA170D5105201B.jpg[/IMG]

 

anybody....any ideas???? [sm=dontgetit.gif]

 

question,

when he reconnects the battery does the brake light come on immediatly or does it only illuminate after he pushes the break pedal and then it stays on??

if that is the case then the problem may be with the brake light switch.
the brake light switch is located on a bracket at the top of the brake pedal.

if you find it and check for continuity acrss the terminals with an ohmmeter.

check between terminals two and three, with the brake pedal depressed there should be continuity , when you release there shoudl be none.

then do the same between terminals 1 and 4 . if this is not working it has to be replaced.

this is the best i got, hope it works out

 

it was the switch.the plastic clip broke off pedal leaving hole.so i put a bolt and a nut on the inside so now the bolt hits the switch terminating the circuit.thanks for the help

 

happy i could help a little

 

I have this same problem with a 91 LX. The brake lights stay on. Except I get under the dash and pull the plug from the switch. So My first response is to order a new switch.. I did. Still not working. Any one have this problem? A friend of mine has a 1992 Acura Legend and had a similar problem the electronics in his car are going haywire... Hope this isn't a sign of whats o come...

 

if the switch is disconnected and they still stay illuminated it could be a couple of things, bad wiring (hopefully not...) or the combo switch that turns on the headlights/tailights might be broken, do they come on/stay on with the switch disconnected no matter what?

 

no when i unplug the switch they go off. I have tried a few things since replacing the switch. I took all the connectors off and put dielectric grease on the contacts. I replaced all the bulbs to make sure I had the correct lamps. Checked the actual brake system, fluid, calipers, wheel cylinders, all seems normal.. maybe the new switch is bad...??? i hope not.

 

on the brake pedal there is suppose to be a small rubber plug ..it is for the brake switch stopper plunger .if the plug is not there , the brake switch plunger will come out as if you are stepping on the brakes, when that happens the brake lites will always stay on even when car is shut off ......
make sure that that plug is there,, if not get it at the dealer,, 3-4 dollars

 

little rubber peice fixes it..... I hactually used some hard rubber and some epoxy and fixed it myself.. Oh well, Any one need a brake light switch? lol