Braking lamp light?

Hey guys,

I recently changed the back left bulb wire on my 92 Accord. I couldn't find
a left-side one, so I used a right-side one on the left side. All the rear
lights work, but inside the cabin on the dash the little red brake lamp
light is on. I know it's no big deal as long as everything works, but IT
ANNOYING AS HELL!!! How could I fix this?

Dave

 

turn your ebrake off

 

You've got excessive resistance at one or more locations, which the ECU
reads as a blown bulb. Either a wire is corroded or a socket is.

Better pull all of them out and check all the sockets.

 

Your car has two sensors for brake lamp failure, one for the left and
one for the right. If I understand your post right, you have now pulled
new wires for the brake lights, and both are supplied from the wire for
the right side. This means that the sensor on the left has no bulb
connected to it, and thus senses this as a brake light failure.

You could probably find a way to disable the brake light warning, but it
is probably easier to dig a little further and see if you can find the
wire for the left side and use that for your left brake light.

Out of curiosity, why did you have to replace the brake light wires?

 

In addition to what the other posters state....if you use the incorrect bulb
the resistance is not correct and this may indicate a blown bulb...for
future reference.

 

OK, I think I worded the post wrong. Here it goes again....

I replaced my left side 2-P connector with a ride side 2-P connector
because the left side one was corroded and I couldn't twist the bulb loose
to replace. I went to a junk yard and only found right side ones. So now my
car has 2 right side 2-P connectors. I did change the bulb, but supposedly
it was the correct one. I read on one post that if the bulb is not the
correct one, even though everything works fine the sensors will detect a
difference. Is that true?

I'll definitely check the bulbs tomorrow. What exactly do I have to look
for? What are the proper specs on the bulbs?

 

I'm sorry, instead of 2-P connector it's suppose to be 8-P connector....

 

Is your third brake light bulb out (the one in the rear window) ?

 

Honda uses special brake light bulbs because there is a relay coil in
series with each bulb. I will guess the bulbs see about 9 volts and
the relay coil sees 3 volts.....together they see 12 volts.

The relays, there is one for each tail light, turn on that red light
on the dash if they do not sense a properly operating bulb.

Honda tail light bulbs cost more than regular tail light bulbs.

 

Good call. According to the wiring diagram, some models run the high
mounted brake light through the lamp failure sensor, others do not even
show the high mounted brake light (I could never figure out the KB, KE,
KF, KG, KP, KQ, KS, KT, KU, KW, KY etc. designations).

 

The '92 Accord uses quite ordinary 2057 dual filament bulbs that you can
buy anywhere.

"Normal" relays are designed to have a certain voltage across the coil
(e.g. ~12V for automotive relays). It is desierable with a high coil
resustance for low power draw (fixed voltage => want to minimize current
for low power consumption). The relays in the relays in the lamp failure
units have low resistance coils. They see hefty currents (several amps)
and have small voltage drops across them (fixed current => want to
minimize voltage for low power consumption).

 

The left and right connectors are the same, but the wiring is different.
This may be a dumb question, but when you put a right-side connector on
the left side, perhaps some wires were swapped by inadvertently
following the wire colors rather than carefully mapping the wire
locations in the connector?

As for bulbs, if the bulb has a lower power rating than the original
bulb it would draw less current. If the current is too low, the bulb
failure circuit can detect this as a broken bulb. Sylvania lists 2057 as
the correct brake light bulb for the '92 Accord in the US.

 

----------------------------

The manual says that low brake fluid in the reservoir will turn the lamp
on, even if all else is OK, or am I thinking of another BRAKE lamp?

'Curly'

 

In the US you are supposed to have KA (49-50 state), KL (California), and in
the old days KH (high altitude). Most of the other designations are
probably European or Asian cars.

 

I agree.

Every Honda I have ever worked with used bulbs you could buy just about
anywhere. The only bulbs that were special were the ones in the interior,
and you can even find many of those aftermarket.

 

I believe you are thinking about the "other" brake light. The Accord has
the normal "Brake" light that comes on when the parking brake is on or
when the fluid is low. It also has a "Brake Lamp" light that indicates a
broken brake light bulb

 

So everyone is pretty much sure it's a thing with the bulbs (which I checked
and both are the 2057 model but one is bigger than the other) and not the
fact that I'm using two right side connectors. So there really is no left
side and right side connector? They both are the same shit?

 

They have different part numbers. so they are probably different. That is
probably your problem.

Looks like they are about $20 at the dealer.

 

Maybe. Do the lamps APPEAR to be the same brightness on driving lights on as
well as brake lights on?

IF NOT, swap the lamps left-for-right; otherwise, forget the following...

Does the brighness difference stay the same? If so, it's not the lamps, so
it's likely wiring. Try reversing the driving and brake light wiring in the
left side. (The socket you changed, correct?)

The reason for the above is there are two filaments in there, and they draw
different currents. If the wrong element in the lamp is wired to the brake
light circuit, it may appear as a failed brake light because it doesn't draw
enough current.

If the difference changes, then it may be the lamps. Try a pair of identical
replacements.

 

My son drives a '92 Accord and I have had trouble with that red light
on the dash. My son doesn't care about it. If it was my Accord it
would be fixed.
I have a '92 Accord wiring diagram in front of me. It shows 6
grounding points and a current relay in series with each brake light.

First......have someone push on the brakes when the car is in the
dark. get down on your hands and knees and look at each of the 5
lights. Is one of them brighter or less bright? Turn on the tail
lights and look at them with the brakes off and on.

If you have a bad ground, wrong filiments come on.
Four of the tail lights are dual filiment so if a dual filiment bulb
looses it's ground it searches for a ground and three filiments each
see about 4 volts. If you have a ungrounded light and you turn on both
both the tail lights and stop lights, the bulb goes off.

A few months ago, I was trouble shooting the headlights on a friends
car. I got no where untill I moved the car into the shade. It was an
ungrounded light. To troublehoot tail lights I would want it even
darker.

There are two current relay, one with 3 coils and the other with 2
coils......one of these could be the problem.

Have Fun