Honda Car Forum

There is a warning light on the dashboard that goes on sometimes
indicating a brake or brakelight problem, usually when it's wet out.
There was actually even a burned out brakelight once.

While driving over the weekend, wet out, that light was on, and then
all four door open indicators came on. Visual inspection confirmed
that the four doors had not, in fact, opened so I continued on my way.
When I started the car a few hours later, everything was back off.

I'm going out on a limb and guessing that something is shorting. Any
idea how I can figure out what the problem is?

On Mon, 30 Apr 2007 07:47:52 -0400, dgk wrote:

> There is a warning light on the dashboard that goes on sometimes
> indicating a brake or brakelight problem, usually when it's wet out. There
> was actually even a burned out brakelight once.
>
> While driving over the weekend, wet out, that light was on, and then all
> four door open indicators came on. Visual inspection confirmed that the
> four doors had not, in fact, opened so I continued on my way. When I
> started the car a few hours later, everything was back off.
>
> I'm going out on a limb and guessing that something is shorting. Any idea
> how I can figure out what the problem is?


You say, "...all four door open indicators came on." Is there an indicator
for each door? A couple cars I had had this feature, the rest showed the
doors open when indeed, only one was. If it is supposed to show which door
is open, then you have a central fault causing a bad signal. Now, I don't
know for sure how this car is set up, but I'd be looking for some kind of
control module (some cars have a central locking 'computer' that allows
the locking and unlocking of doors. How this interacts with the dash is
beyond me, but that is where I would start; there and any other place that
is central to the system.

If the indicators come on no matter what door is open, then you have water
collecting in the panels near the switched, and I'd be looking for rust
holes, etc and patch them. Now, I know Toyotas better than Hondas, but I
think (If I can remember correctly) that my Accord used the same system,
ie the switch in the door switches Ground and not the 12V source. By
opening the door, you are providing a path to ground, the overhead light
goes on and the Door Ajar warning illuminates. Rusty water, obviously, is
a conductor, so check the door switches for being wet.

And, the above may also be a clue for any centralized system that may be
in use here. Grounds are funny, and like water, electricity will 'leak'
wherever it can to get to ground. You may just have a faulty ground
somewhere that needs to be cleaned up, waterproofed and regrounded.

Since this seems to be happening when it's wet, I would soak the car down
and go hunting for water where it shouldn't be.

These are just general troubleshooting thips that could be applied to any
Ground switching car. Perhaps someone here knows more about your
particular situation and can point you in *less* of a general direction!

Good Luck!

On Mon, 30 Apr 2007 20:57:46 GMT, Hachiroku ???? <Trueno@AE86.gts>
wrote:

>On Mon, 30 Apr 2007 07:47:52 -0400, dgk wrote:
>
>> There is a warning light on the dashboard that goes on sometimes
>> indicating a brake or brakelight problem, usually when it's wet out. There
>> was actually even a burned out brakelight once.
>>
>> While driving over the weekend, wet out, that light was on, and then all
>> four door open indicators came on. Visual inspection confirmed that the
>> four doors had not, in fact, opened so I continued on my way. When I
>> started the car a few hours later, everything was back off.
>>
>> I'm going out on a limb and guessing that something is shorting. Any idea
>> how I can figure out what the problem is?
>
>
>You say, "...all four door open indicators came on." Is there an indicator
>for each door? A couple cars I had had this feature, the rest showed the
>doors open when indeed, only one was. If it is supposed to show which door
>is open, then you have a central fault causing a bad signal. Now, I don't
>know for sure how this car is set up, but I'd be looking for some kind of
>control module (some cars have a central locking 'computer' that allows
>the locking and unlocking of doors. How this interacts with the dash is
>beyond me, but that is where I would start; there and any other place that
>is central to the system.
>
>If the indicators come on no matter what door is open, then you have water
>collecting in the panels near the switched, and I'd be looking for rust
>holes, etc and patch them. Now, I know Toyotas better than Hondas, but I
>think (If I can remember correctly) that my Accord used the same system,
>ie the switch in the door switches Ground and not the 12V source. By
>opening the door, you are providing a path to ground, the overhead light
>goes on and the Door Ajar warning illuminates. Rusty water, obviously, is
>a conductor, so check the door switches for being wet.
>
>And, the above may also be a clue for any centralized system that may be
>in use here. Grounds are funny, and like water, electricity will 'leak'
>wherever it can to get to ground. You may just have a faulty ground
>somewhere that needs to be cleaned up, waterproofed and regrounded.
>
>Since this seems to be happening when it's wet, I would soak the car down
>and go hunting for water where it shouldn't be.
>
>These are just general troubleshooting thips that could be applied to any
>Ground switching car. Perhaps someone here knows more about your
>particular situation and can point you in *less* of a general direction!
>
>Good Luck!


Thanks. There is a diagram of a car on the dashboard panel and each
door lights up when the door is opened. I have not seen any of the
door indicators light up when the door was not open until the other
day, when all of them went on.