91 Accord brake light problem
S. Heigl
Stick a test light to ground and the other to the back of the wire
grn/wht, grn/ylw or grn/red ) behind the bulbs and step on the brake.
Did you say (there are five) 3 brakes lights not working? If so, then look
for a wire (maybe green/white) and check to see if 12V+. I think this wire
is located on the "left failure sensor" probably located @ the right. Are
there any voltage when you step on the brakes. If yes, then the problem may
be around the fail sensor. To be complete, check each (green white) at both
sensors.
-Susan
> I've got a '91 Accord and the Brake Lamp warning light came on the other
> day. I checked and the passenger and center brake lights weren't working.
> I pulled the bulbs and the filaments were still intact. Additionally, the
> parking light on the passenger side, which is the second filament in the
> same bulb as the brake light, is still working. Just to be sure, I
> replaced the bulbs and still no brake lights.
>
> My bet is wiring (duh, right?). My question is, what is the best way to
> try and troubleshoot this? Anybody had a similar problem?
>
> --
> Wayne Menzie
S. Heigl
(the size of a bar of soap.) That fail sensor has a bunch of wires coming
out of it. One of the wire is green-white. Make sure that has 12V+, I think
it should. Since if this wire should not work, the two right rear brake
lights and the high mount won't work. Also, check that the black wire coming
from the fail sensor has good ground.
> >Did you say (there are five) 3 brakes lights not working?
>
> The passeneger side brake lights are completely out as is the center
> light. I didn't fully inspect the driver side so one of the two may be
> out but at least one works.
>
> >I think this wire is located on the "left failure sensor" probably
> >located @ the right.
>
> Were exactly are the failure sensors?
> Wayne Menzie
Arthur Russell
exact same problem (although mine was intermittent): The lamp warning
light would come one; upon further investigation, the all brake lamps on
the passenger side, and the center lamp would not light with the pedal
(but, the driver side lamps were always fine)
The problem is that the gasket around the right tail light assembly/or
the trunk lid weather-stripping has started to fail. Moisture from rain
has run down on the inside of the lamp assembly, and into the
multi-point connector that plugs into the failure monitoring unit that
S. Heigl mentioned. The pins in the sensor's male (sic) connector have
corroded, and the sockets in the female part of the connector (on the
wires) have as well.
I have completely fixed this problem on my car, and it wasn't too hard.
I unplugged the connector from the sensor (took awhile to gently work it
loose because of the corrosion), and also disconnected all of the wires
from their respective end points (most go to light bulb sockets which
come out of the lens assy, some go to another connector which is mounted
on a tab of sheet metal). Now unfasten the phillips head screws which
hold the sensor assy into the lens housing, and remove it as well. Take
the wire octopus and the sensor into your house.
The black plastic casing of the sensor comes off. I can't remember if
there are screws or snaps, but whatever. Once it's apart, you'll see a
simple circuit board with three glass reed relay bulbs inside the coils
for the lights. The pins (actually just metal fins) for the connector
are soldered to the board. Clean them up (fine sand paper or whatever)
and put the unit back together.
With a jewlers/eye-glasses flathead screwdriver or similar, remove the
individual "pin-sockets" (crimped onto the end of the wires) from the
plastic multi-point connector. These sockets consist of a folded section
on one side into which the pin slides, and a spring loaded burr on the
other side. When the connector is assembled, the sockets slide in, and
the burr snaps out after clearing a lip in side the hole of the
connector. You'll need to reach into the back side of the connector, and
depress each metal burr so that you can pull the "socket" and wire out
of the connector. Sorry I can't be more clear, after you mess around
with it for awhile, you'll figure it out. Word of caution: be careful
while you work on these individual socket things because if you break
one, you'll have to get inventive, get the soldering iron out, or pay
for new parts... also, obviously keep track of which holes in the
connector the wires go into. Once removed, each socket can be cleaned up
with the screw-driver just by scraping off the corroded tin so that it
is bright. If needed, snug up the springs on the socket which accept the
pin with pliers (gently!) Then reassemble the connector.
Reinstall everything back in the car, and before plugging the connector
into the sensor, put a bit of lithium or silicon grease on the pins to
prevent the same thing from happening again.
Finally, you should figure out how water got there, and fix the leak.
It's more than likely the semi-liquid gasket material that is part of
the lens assembly. Don't use weather-strip adhesive because it hardens,
instead try to use something which remains pliable.
Good luck!
-Arthur