Honda Car Forum

my wifes 96 accords brake lights are not working both sides I have changed
both bulbs and checked wires in trunk they look ok where do i go from
here??? thank you

Is the center brake light working? If not, I would suspect the switch
at the brake pedal. If the center brake light IS working, I would have a
look at ground connections at the rear brake lights.

Does the brake lamp fail light turn on (if you have that feature)?


tjsaccord wrote:
>
> my wifes 96 accords brake lights are not working both sides I have changed
> both bulbs and checked wires in trunk they look ok where do i go from
> here??? thank you

thanks for your help.the center light is not working either and no i dont
have the brake lamp fail feature.i was told that there is a senser that
will give you error codes to find the problem then reset. would you know
anything about somthing like that ?? thanks again for your help and your
time.

I doubt the brake lights would throw a trouble code on your car. Since
all brake lights are out, start checking everything that is common for
them all. Begin with the fuse. Sometimes when light bulbs break, the
become dead shorts. If you find that the fuse is bad and that the new
fuse blows too after you replace it, you might have a broken bulb. In
that case, I would simply replace all the brake bulbs (rather than
trying to find which one is bad, bulbs are cheap). If the fuse is fine,
check the switch at the brake pedal. If you don't have cruise control,
then the switch is a simple 2-pin variety. Unplug the wires to it and
short the two wires together with a paper clip. If this turns on the
brake lights, then you can be pretty certain the switch is the culprit.

tjsaccord wrote:
>
> thanks for your help.the center light is not working either and no i dont
> have the brake lamp fail feature.i was told that there is a senser that
> will give you error codes to find the problem then reset. would you know
> anything about somthing like that ?? thanks again for your help and your
> time.

ok first let me thank you again for your help. well i do have cruise
control. would the test be the same?the fuses were not blown and the bulbs
are good.ihave checked them all again after puting them in and trying the
brakes.i will pull the switch and check that.i will let you know.thanks
again

Cars with cruise control use a different switch on the brake pedal. This
switch has four terminals, and has two separate switches internally (one
normally open, the other normally closed). When doing the paper clip
test on your car, you need to short the WHT/YEL (White with yellow
stripe) and the GRN/WHT) green with white stripe) wires that go to the
brake pedal switch. Shorting these two wires should turn on the brake
lights, and if that is the case on your car it means the brake pedal
switch is bad.

tjsaccord wrote:
>
> ok first let me thank you again for your help. well i do have cruise
> control. would the test be the same?the fuses were not blown and the bulbs
> are good.ihave checked them all again after puting them in and trying the
> brakes.i will pull the switch and check that.i will let you know.thanks
> again

thanks again well i changed all bulbs and the switch. i got the lights to
work except for the high light in the back window i would have to guess
that line might have the short or unconnected wire thanks again.