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Gremlins in the Electrical System – brake lights

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  • #836257
    Gene KapoleiGene
    Participant

      Subject Car: 1989 Accord, 4-dr sedan, LXI 2.0 L FI engine, 5-speed M/T.

      Background: Have front end of the car raised up so I can work under it [have been looking at the P/S Gear Box and rack for leaks] Two 9-in blocks under the center frame support right under the trannie. Jack stands under the pinch welds. The front bumper is off the car. Yesterday I extended the two wires that go to the left horn and they are dangling in air – NOT touching. The horn is off the car. Yesterday a neighbor helped me out – sat in the car with it running and turned the steering wheel pin to pin. Repeated it with RPMs at 2500. Turned car off, removed the key. Car sat overnight no problem.

      The Issue: Worked around the car this morning and no problems. Went out with other car around 3 PM to run an errand and everything was normal/fine. When I got back 45-min later, I noticed the brake lights were on! Two on the right, two on the left and the center light. It was as if some were sitting in the car with their foot on the brake! So I got in the car and started it up. A friend was standing behind the car. I tried:

      • turning the ignition & engine off and on (engine started up no problem- battery not dead),
      • Shifting through the gears with the clutch depressed,
      • releasing and then resetting the parking brake,
      • pumping the brake pedal

      None of these attempts changed the conditions – the brake lights remained on.

      Did not have time to stop & disconnect the battery and eventually it was drained.

      So what happened here? What is the fix? Is it something mechanical – or do I need to hire a Exorcist? 👿

    Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)
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    • #836269
      Andrew PhillipsAndrew Phillips
      Participant

        The first thing to do, aside from charge the battery, is to disconnect the switch on the brake pedal in case it shorted out internally. If the brake lights go out when the switch is unplugged, then you can remove and bench test the switch to confirm the diagnosis, and replace the switch if bad. While you’re down there checking out the pedal switch, find the pedal stopper pad. It is on the pedal arm (the part that moves). This is what pushes on the switch when the pedal is resting that turns out the lights. They way this works is, when you depress the pedal, the switch and stopper pad move away from each other. The plunger in the switch then pops out and closes the circuit to activate the lights. If this stopper pad breaks, the plunger doesn’t get pushed, the circuit remains closed, and the lights don’t go out. If your pedal stopper pad is broken, they are about $3 at the dealership. Here is a picture (Note that your stopper pad may be a different color. I’ve seen black, blue, gray, green, and white):

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        #836284
        Gene KapoleiGene
        Participant

          [b]Cap269 – you are a genius! THANK YOU!

          Look at what I found on the carpet floor under the pedals!
          [/b]

          Then looking up at the top of the brake pedal – There it is! or isn’t as this shows!

          But I shot a video of the action on both of the pedals and found something interesting with the clutch! Guess the car will start without having the clutch depressed! Not a good thing! {better watched in YouTube as this format is too small}

          Off to get some parts!

          #836286
          Andrew PhillipsAndrew Phillips
          Participant

            Good that you found that. Easy fix, then. It appears that you’ll need two pads, one for the brake and one for the clutch pedal also. Glad I could help 🙂

            #836289
            Gene KapoleiGene
            Participant

              No sir, THANK YOU! The help is much appreciated!

              Excellent picture – knew what to look for right away. You make this look so easy – but I can tell this is knowledge from years of experience! Worth its weight in gold! Thanks again!

              #836341
              Gene KapoleiGene
              Participant

                $8 at NAPA! Go figure. 2 seconds to install, problem fixed!

                #836343
                Andrew PhillipsAndrew Phillips
                Participant

                  Awesome.

                  Would have been cheaper at Honda, but, oh well … 😛

                  #836347
                  Gene KapoleiGene
                  Participant

                    [quote=”cap269″ post=143903]Awesome.

                    Would have been cheaper at Honda, but, oh well … :P[/quote]

                    LOL! You are killing me! LOL! Rarely have I seen parts at Honda cheaper, but this case would be my luck!

                    Maybe I don’t know the secret code or “handshake?” Now if i were a shop doing an install…. I bet I could get a decent price on Honda parts.

                    But hey! only $4 per button! …for a part made in China at 5-cent cost!

                    Now I gotta figure out how to get the hood open – latch is stuck. Already have the bumper off, so took the mounting bolts off, but still held back by the release cable.

                    When it rains it pours! LOL!

                    #836348
                    Andrew PhillipsAndrew Phillips
                    Participant

                      http://www.hondapartsnow.com/genuine/honda~pad~pedal~stopper~46505-SA5-000.html
                      List price $2.53, online price $1.82 😛

                      Ok, for the hood, what happened there? cable broke? If the cable is still intact but the latch is seized, since the bumper is off, just grab the cable and pull like heck. It should unlatch. Pressing down on the hood while pulling the cable may help.

                      #836410
                      Gene KapoleiGene
                      Participant

                        What happened with the hood? LOL.

                        Well I noticed that the safety release (?) [the lever under the front of the hood] was kinda stuck or not working so well. Also, the hood latched but would not go down all the way. So I opened the hood and looked at things and movement seemed restricted. Also looked like it had 25 years worth of dirty, black, dried up crusty grease all over everything.

                        So I got out the degreaser, then some Dawn and finally shots of PB Blaster that I worked in using a tooth brush. Oh, had pulled the latch off the frame but left the cable connected. {Quite a pain while the bumper is still attached! } That worked just so much until eventually I used Brake Kleen to get most of the crust off. Then applied PB Blaster at the joints only. Now I had good movement on the front lever. So I reassembled everything and slammed the hood!

                        Great! Now the in-cabin lever doesn’t seem to move the latch and release it and I could not get the hood open! So off with the bumper, thinking I could access the mounting bolts much easier – yep, that worked but it gives me 4-6 inches of hood lift before the cable holds things back. So no joy. Looks like the workings are behind everything, not facing forward.

                        #836415
                        Gene KapoleiGene
                        Participant

                          [quote=”cap269″ post=143908]http://www.hondapartsnow.com/genuine/honda~pad~pedal~stopper~46505-SA5-000.html
                          List price $2.53, online price $1.82 😛 [/quote]

                          Yeah, I have seen that… but as they say…. the devil is in the “details!” 👿 ..and one of the reasons I “love” car repair – buying parts and not getting skinned alive! LOL!

                          Got burned a few times before I realized one needs to figure in shipping to match “all-in” costs in order to compare online prices to Big Box stores. I frequently beat up NAPA when they are high on price and I can get it cheaper on line. Seems like all of the “good” prices I find are in California and I have to decide if I wanna wait a week for it to ship to East Coast.

                          Thanks for the part number! So it looks like the best option woulda been a “buy it now” price with free shipping off eBay! $3.19 x 2 = $6.38. If I wanted to wait a week for it to ship from CA. So cheaper than NAPA for sure.

                          Can you detect my frustration with buying parts? Wish I owned a business and could buy this stuff wholesale! Sigh.

                          #836416
                          Andrew PhillipsAndrew Phillips
                          Participant

                            Or you could have walked into the local dealership parts counter, paid $2.53 each plus tax. $6 total and walked out with the parts without waiting. You’ve got the part number, give ’em a call and see what they are selling them for. I buy OEM parts for my Hyundai all the time because they are cheaper than at the parts stores. Truth. Anyways, it doesn’t matter now, your issue is fixed (and inexpensively, less than $10), so it’s still a win.

                            #836428
                            Gene KapoleiGene
                            Participant

                              Yeah, I have a lot to learn about this and buying parts is one of the things! Appreciate your input. Thanks!

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