brake light help, not working
 

Hi guys, almost got rear ended tonight. All three of my brake lights are not working. I changed fuse, tried changing one brake light bulb only and the new bulb blew, maybe I touched it with my oily hands?

Seems like light socket is okay cause I stuck a fuse reader in and it lights up. I am out of options other than taking into the stealership. What can I do?

Check the brake pedal switch?

Sounds like a switch if your fuses are ok

What kind of vehicle do you have? Do your brake lights also serve as turn signals?

Does your 4 way still work?

09 accord v6, I checked fuse 27 and replaced with 10amp. Not sure if thats the one for brake lights. The tail lights are on fine, the 4 ways are also working fine. I dont remember if they serve as turn signals but I believe so because theres only 3 bulbs I see. tail lights, brake lights(dead) , reverse lights

Not sure how to check, but i took a look and there is a little nipple. that is depressed when brake pedal is not engaged

I think your switxh is located somewhere on your brake pedal, common on Hondas and Toyotas.

Take a look to see if it was knocked out of place when (I'm assuming) you braked hard and "almost got rear ended"

I checked, and it looks fine. The switch comes out normally when pressing the brake pedal. How much would stealerships charge for this :okay:

I used to have a 08 Accord Coupe V6.

The running light and brake light are the same on both Coupe and Sedan.

Wear gloves and if you got some oil on the bulb, wipe them with alcohol swabs.

Here is the diagram for the brake light switch:


Did you check the right terminals?

Brake light system really isn't complicated. You should be able to fix it yourself.

I will have to figure out how to take off the steering cover in the morning. Looks like my OEM bulbs are fine when i took them out. Is there more to that diagram on how to diagnose the issue?

If this fails what else should I look out for? I mean all the lights work in the back except tail lights so it makes sense that it could be the brake switch right?

Usually you don't have to take off the lower dash cover to access the stop lamp switch (in general with most makes), the diagram is just illustrated that way to better show you where it is. You just crawl in headfirst and you'll be able to see it. Did you have a helper press the brake pedal for you when you checked the new bulb? Easy to check is have someone step on the brakes while you check for battery voltage 12V with a voltmeter at the bulb socket, then you've eliminated the switch and the wiring. Easiest one to do is the high mount... I'm not sure what you meant when you said you put a fuse reader in the light socket?

Generally yes, if all stop lamps are not working it's most likely it's the stop lamp switch. But there was one time at work I encountered a same gen Accord and simply all three bulbs were burned out. And make sure you replace the correct bulb and not the turn signal bulb lol. Stop lamp is the same dual filament bulb as your tail lights. As well, it's hard to do a visual check on a bulb. Sometimes it's obvious the filament is broken, but other times the break is so small you can't see with the naked eye and you'll think the bulb is ok but not actually.

I hope im switching out the correct bulb? 7443 or something? I forgot. The taillights I looked at are the smaller bulbs at the bottom. ILl have to buy a volt reader. All I do is plug it into the socket while someone presses on the brakes?

7443 and yup, check voltage when you have a helper step on the brakes. May be Easier when you touch one lead on the trunk latch hook for ground, then prod the contacts in the bulb socket one at a time, then your hands won't be as full trying to stick both leads into the socket at the same time

Okay so i narrowed it down a bit. I replaced the bulb for the 3rd brake light and it works. The two main ones still dont. I've tried 7443 and 7440 bulbs. I took out the OEM bulbs and all three were 7440 . I bought the pedal switch as well but havent swapped that in yet. Is there a chance it could still be the switch?

Here is the link for the entire service manual for the I4 Accord. There is a V6 one somewhere, but the V6 service manual only includes parts that are different from I4, so the body lighting is included in the I4 manual.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/7jx5cba0x9wmwui/

Anyhow, coneZONE is correct. With high mount, you can actually kinda see the reflection in the rear window when the high mount lights up.

That's the problem. 7440 is single filament, while 7443 is dual filament.

Like mentioned, brake lights and running lights are the same. If you look in the socket, there should be 4 contacts, 2 for each filament.

You can put 7443 bulbs in 7440 sockets, but not the other way around.

Put 7443 in your brake light sockets first. They will likely solve your issue at this point.

unfortunately they didnt. I tried both types of bulbs and none of them light up. It can either be the switch or the connectors that theyre plugged into. Not sure why they would go out all of a sudden. All the fuses are good

Its not the switch, your 3rd brake light working eliminates the switch

I was thinking is the switch pressure sensitive? I am not sure what else it could be

It wouldn't be. It closes the circuit when you press on the pedal, even just slightly.

You can unplug the sockets and check the pins inside and see if they are getting any voltage when the brake is applied.

would I have to buy a volt meter for that? At least now I got one brake light working so I can drive again

Yeah, get a multimeter.

It's a pretty useful tool anyway. Good for checking batteries as well.

I'd guess its a fuse or a bulb issue first.

Your stop lights and 3rd brake lights are on different fuses usually.

I'd just pull all the fuses and inspect them, never hurts to check as not all blown fuses give you a dashlight.

If you want to eliminate the switch from your troubleshooting, unplug it and short the connection to simulate the pedal being pressed.

I'm not sure how old the car is but if it's a newer car, there's a chance the junction box can be fried if aftermarket HID's were installed without relays. I did that on my old 2011 Sonata. It does weird things, my brake lights still worked but I was constantly blowing bulbs.

OP, have you fixed it yet?

Here is the circuit diagram.

If your 3rd brake light is working, you can eliminate the fuse and switch, as they are shared. So you are looking at bulbs or grounds. Considering the left and right share the same ground, and the high mount has its own, and you have tried bulbs, I would be looking towards that ground g602. Could be a loose bolt, could be rusty or corroded. Take a look, follow the black wire till it hits the body