Drav

Hi everyone, I'm trying to troubleshoot the electrical problems in my wife's Accord. It's a 1994 model, not sure on the trimline, and she bought it used from the local Honda dealer some years ago. When she bought it, the previous owner had installed an aftermarket remote keyless entry system, but the car already had power door locks. Shortly after my wife purchased the car (we're talking 3-4 years ago) the keyless system started acting crazy. She doesn't use the remote anymore, and even now the car will re-lock and re-unlock itself several times (it has never automatically unlocked itself after being locked, or vice versa, but you can hear it lock several times after you lock it, etc.).

This problem really wasn't a problem, and she got over it, because like I said it never unlocked itself after being locked and it's never locked itself after being unlocked. However, recently when my wife turned on the headlights, the horn started blowing. Turn off the headlights and the horn stops. So we took out the horn fuse, it stopped the horn going off with the headlights, but it also killed the horn (obviously).

Ok, moving on. Well now it seems as if her brakelights are no longer working. I was following her in my car on the way home from a friend's place lastnight and they never came on once. I had her stand behind the car when we got home, pushed the brake pedal, and she said nothing happened. At this point, it's now something serious and potentially dangerous. Riding around without brakelights is asking to get rear-ended, so now I'm worried enough to start fiddling with it myself.

It's obviously an electrical problem, possibly wires touching that aren't supposed to. I didn't think to check if there was a brakelight fuse, it's possible the fuse just blew. My first suspicion is that the hackjob keyless entry system is shorting things out, but I don't know. Where would the keyless module be and what should I look for? If I do find it, is there any problem just ripping it out? What else could the problem be?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Slunk

Your doorlock problem is a pretty common one for the 5th generation (94-97) Accords. It is caused by a bad power dork lock actuator which is a pretty easy fix.

Not sure on your other problems but i'm sure someone on here will be able to help you.

Drav

Ok, have been doing research on this site for a bit now.

You're right about the door lock actuator, seems to be exactly the problem as far as that goes. I'll cruise a couple junk yards and see if I can yank one from another Accord. I can't believe that's a $74 part at the discount websites (ouch).

The cruise control also doesn't work, and it seems the brake lights/horn/cruise all share a fuse, so that'll be the first thing I have to check. The car is a manual transmission, so she wouldn't have the problem getting it out of park, but I'll still check the brake switch near the brake pedal. I can paperclip short the switch to see if the brake lights come on. If it's the brake switch then we're looking at a $53 part.

I also remembered that her ABS light is on and has been for a long time now. Someone told her not to worry about it because it would be a $1000 fix at the dealership. However, after doing some searching on that, I found out I can do another paperclip short to see what ABS code it pulls and go from there. I'll also need to check the ABS fluid level (?) and see if it has air in the pump (?), not sure how to go about doing those things yet.

So to recap:
1. Replace L/F door lock actuator.
2. Check "STOP LIGHT" fuse under the hood.
3. Check Brake/Cruise/Horn fuse under the hood.
4. Check brake switch by brake pedal (via paperclip).
5. Check ABS code behind glovebox (via paperclip).
6. Check ABS fluid level.
7. Check for air in ABS pump.

Am I missing anything? Something obvious perhaps?


PS: Forgot to mention her 94 Accord is an EX, found that out at lunch.

Drav

No other ideas?