Honda Car Forum

I own a 1994 Honda Prelude SI (auto). When I brake the taillight's dont get brighter. They do turn on fine when I turn the lights on but just doesnt get brighter when I brake. Nor does my tail light on my spoiler turns on either. I've replaced the bulbs just incase, and that seems to not be the problem. I replaced the brake light switch under the brake pedal and im still at step one with no results. Now its come to a wiring issue or something, i've no clue. Shed some light please. Im too broke to take it to a shop atm. ThanksNote: Re-checked fuses and they all seem to be fine, guess i'll have to chk the wiring. Thanks for all the helpAdding on additional info. Nothing has been modified on the car, car is stock and was working fine a few days ago. The lights simply just dont work when I brake now. Im no expert in cars, please dumb it down a bit for me...im a noob yes....but from the looks of it I guess time to find $$$ and take it to a shop.

Check your fuses.

Try checking your brake light bulbs. Odd if both sides are burned out, though. Really sounds more complicated. And, hey, it's cheaper to get the shop to fix the lights than it is to get a ticket if not get hit and still have to get the lights fixed.

Go to a good auto parts store and buy an electrical tester with a probe ($10 or less) Get a friend to help you by pressing on the brake pedal while you poke the wires looking for power. Import cars usually have a separate circuit and bulb for brake lites. The turn signal will be amber. The tail lights red and the brake lights bright red. You might have fuse out or the wrong bulbs if there is power to the brake light wire when you press the pedal.

Check the fuses. If no problem there, look for a broken wire in the boot (trunk).

do you have a 12 volt test light? check for power at the new brake light switch no power there look for the fuse that powers brake lights. Note that car might have up to three bulbs for brake tail turn-signal and reverse lights. Rookie mechanics make the wrong bulb decision and accidentally replace the wrong bulb. Do the turn-signals work? next time you have the tail lights out check grounds at the individual bulb holder bases.

Check the fuse or relay. Maybe one is blown. I'm guessing that you tested the switch underneath the pedal. Has the switch been wired up correctly? Search the net for forums with people troubleshooting a similar problem for your model of car. I've found answers to just about every problem I've had with my car by running searches on google, finding forums and searching them.

first check the fuse for your brake lights. i would check all the fuses because sometimes a fuse that looks like not for the brake lights can be in the circuit down the line somewhere. if the brake has a two wire connector a easy way to check its operation is to jump across the connector to the brake switch. another thing to check is the gnd wire for the brake lights. this may sound stupid but did you put the proper bulb back in the right sockets some times and most of the times a brake light bulb and a tail lamp bulb are the same bulb but have two filaments in the bulb you would only have tail lights. what were you doing when you noticed this problem? did they just stop working or were you installing something else and then created this problem trace your steps back double check your work. this system is not that complex it has got to be something simple that you are over looking. again check all your fuses even the ones you dont think it could be. hope you resolve this issue. check for a pwr and gnd at the connector to the bulb holder. check for continuity from the gnd wire to a known good chassis gnd (something metal attached to the car perferrably not painted or insulated w/plastic or rubber). check for loose connection at all connections. check terminals in connectors make sure not corroded, broken or loose.

Since you replaced the bulbs, (I presume you used to ones your owners manual said to, or asked at a parts store,) the brake light switch, (only one way to hook that up, so that's not the problem,) checked the fuses, and still the lights won't work. First check the grounds on the rear to both sides of the pigtail. If they are corroded, then that would cause your problem. Also check the center post, or posts inside the receptacles. If your test light lights up, then you might have gotten a pair of defective bulbs. Rare, but it happens. Also check the plate that pushes against the brake light switch. There should be a rubber bumper on it that hits the button on the switch. I've run across two vehicles where this has worn enough to fall off and the brake lights stay on all the time.

IF all the bulbs,wiring & Fuses are good then your Turnsignal Harness that runs through the Steering Column is bad - especially if U have a tilt steering wheel !