Honda Car Forum

Girlfriend has a 1999 Accord V6. Just had the 15,000 maint done,
including inspection of brakes. (yes, it is a very low mileage vehicle)

The "check brakes" light comes on & she goes to the dealer. Since
her brakes are ok, they tell her it is a lamp getting ready to go bad.
Huh? Never heard such a thing. Anyone else ever hear this?

Now the "check brakes" light is out, and all seems fine.


Thanks,

Rick

Rick wrote:
> Girlfriend has a 1999 Accord V6. Just had the 15,000 maint done,
> including inspection of brakes. (yes, it is a very low mileage vehicle)
>
> The "check brakes" light comes on & she goes to the dealer. Since
> her brakes are ok, they tell her it is a lamp getting ready to go bad.
> Huh? Never heard such a thing. Anyone else ever hear this?
>
> Now the "check brakes" light is out, and all seems fine.
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Rick
> =================

Dealer is smoking illegal substances. NO CAR HAS A SYSTEM THAT WILL TELL
YOU WHEN A LAMP IS 'GETTING READY TO GO BAD'.

The OWNER'S MANUAL tells you that the dash light will come on when you
do the 'LAMP TEST', when the park brake is on, when the brake fluid is
low, and when there's a malfunction in the brake circuit. Try topping up
the brake fluid.

P.S. Send a letter to Honda and tell them about this dealer of yours...

'Curly'

She probably misinterpreted what he said. IOW if one of the
brake light bulbs is failing, then it draws less current.
Unlike most cars, the Accord detects too little current drawn
by the light bulb and notifies the dashboard. Was it the
brake light, or was it the light bulb monitoring circuit? Big
difference which is why humans must be very careful to use
exact words.

Rick wrote:
> Girlfriend has a 1999 Accord V6. Just had the 15,000 maint done,
> including inspection of brakes. (yes, it is a very low mileage
> vehicle)
>
> The "check brakes" light comes on & she goes to the dealer. Since
> her brakes are ok, they tell her it is a lamp getting ready to go
> bad. Huh? Never heard such a thing. Anyone else ever hear this?
>
> Now the "check brakes" light is out, and all seems fine.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Rick

That seems more believable. Nevertheless, she often does get
things mixed up and probably did misunderstand the guy. I will
check all her lamps, but she called a little while ago and said she has
not seen the "brake light" come back on again. The dealer is one of
the most reputable in the Southeast, Ed Voyles Honda.

Rick



"w_tom" <w_tom1@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:40E2F30E.4FCA534@hotmail.com...
> She probably misinterpreted what he said. IOW if one of the
> brake light bulbs is failing, then it draws less current.
> Unlike most cars, the Accord detects too little current drawn
> by the light bulb and notifies the dashboard. Was it the
> brake light, or was it the light bulb monitoring circuit? Big
> difference which is why humans must be very careful to use
> exact words.
>

my brake light was on the other day but all the lights were working, i
think the bulb was just lose, after i took it out and put it back in the
light went off and has not came back on so far

Keefer 29365 wrote:
> my brake light was on the other day but all the lights were working, i
> think the bulb was just lose, after i took it out and put it back in the
> light went off and has not came back on so far
>
=======================

If the bulb comes loose, or if you've put it back in crooked, it will
never come on again. Your manual tells you how to test ALL your dash
lamps at the same time. Read my previous post, and your manual for
continued safety.

'Curly'

No reason to check her brake lights. If any brake light
bulb goes bad, then a dashboard warning panel reports that
failure as explained in the owner's manual. Ask her which
indicator light illuminated on the dash board. Warning light
for "brake system failure" is completely different from the
warning for a "failing brake light bulb". This warning system
that reports failing brake light bulbs has been a standard
function even on pre-1980 Accords.

Rick wrote:
> That seems more believable. Nevertheless, she often does get
> things mixed up and probably did misunderstand the guy. I will
> check all her lamps, but she called a little while ago and said
> she has not seen the "brake light" come back on again. The
> dealer is one of the most reputable in the Southeast,
> Ed Voyles Honda.
>
> Rick
>
> "w_tom" <w_tom1@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:40E2F30E.4FCA534@hotmail.com...
>> She probably misinterpreted what he said. IOW if one of the
>> brake light bulbs is failing, then it draws less current.
>> Unlike most cars, the Accord detects too little current drawn
>> by the light bulb and notifies the dashboard. Was it the
>> brake light, or was it the light bulb monitoring circuit? Big
>> difference which is why humans must be very careful to use
>> exact words.

Did you check each rear brake light bulb for darkened
interior glass - including the center brake light? Filament
vaporized onto inside of glass indicates that bulb is about to
fail; a condition detected by the dash board warning system.
Bulb has not yet failed but the warning system detects a
future failure; warns driver of the impending bulb burnout.

Are you saying you removed brake light warning bulb from
dash board because it was on? Why? If bulb is loose, then it
would not be on contantly. That bulb is on constant because
something is wrong with the rear brake lights. Does not
matter if you see all brake lights on. What matters is the
warning system detects the problem and you have not yet found
it. Now you may have also damaged the brake light warning
bulb in dash board - if that is the bulb you removed. Cannot
be exactly sure which bulb you have described due to
insufficient wording.

Keefer 29365 wrote:
> my brake light was on the other day but all the lights were
> working, i think the bulb was just lose, after i took it out
> and put it back in the light went off and has not came back
> on so far

w_tom <w_tom1@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<40E41A38.E71E6C76@hotmail.com>...
> Did you check each rear brake light bulb for darkened
> interior glass - including the center brake light? Filament
> vaporized onto inside of glass indicates that bulb is about to
> fail; a condition detected by the dash board warning system.
> Bulb has not yet failed but the warning system detects a
> future failure; warns driver of the impending bulb burnout.
>

try asking about the service bulletin on the brake light on, it
describes replacing the master cylinder strainer and float. ed voyles
should know about this.
Chip

Thanks for all the feedback, appreciate it very much. Finally got
girlfriend's car on her day off and went over it. Appears all it was is
the level in her brake fluid reservoir (I hope). Filled it to the max.
line,
and she says, so far, the brake light has stayed off. The fluid level
was almost down to the min. line, but not quite. Probably the movement
of the car while driving caused the light to go on & off. I am going to
monitor the fluid level for any possible leaks in her brake system.


Rick



"Rick" <rickv@nowhererick.org> wrote in message
news:cbuk56$la3$0@pita.alt.net...
> Girlfriend has a 1999 Accord V6. Just had the 15,000 maint done,
> including inspection of brakes. (yes, it is a very low mileage vehicle)
>
> The "check brakes" light comes on & she goes to the dealer. Since
> her brakes are ok, they tell her it is a lamp getting ready to go bad.
> Huh? Never heard such a thing. Anyone else ever hear this?
>
> Now the "check brakes" light is out, and all seems fine.
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Rick
>
>
>
>
>