ndrew2505

i would be greatly appreciative of anyone that can give some help/advice on helping to identify a problem im having with my 91 accord ex.. i noticed about a week ago when i hit the brake pedal that the dash lights and running lights would come on.. didnt think too much about it at first but it has gotten to the point that whatever ground/short there may be is blowing both fuses(.. i ended up getting pulled over last night bc the fuses wont stop blowing on me.. i can follow instructions and change mechanical parts out fine but i have no idea where to begin with the electrical system.. the only known damage to the car was when i hit a dog that ran in front of me on my way home from work one night but the problem didnt start until a week or two after that.. ive looked at the wiring/harnesses behind the headlight on the side the damage happened but all the wires are still in there protective coverings and i cant seem to spot anywhere that may be grounding.. any help would be greatly appreciated if possible so i dont get pulled over again.. lol the 2 fuses being blown are the 15a small light and the 20a power seat(reclining).. my car doesnt have power seats so im not sure exactly what the fuse goes to..

basket_case

I wish I could offer more detailed advice about what it could be, but I'll throw out some ideas about how to approach it. A wiring diagram would be really helpful so you know what's in the circuit. Without it, you're flying blind. You might want to get something like this: http://www.helminc.com/helm/product2...3EL&itemtype=N

If you had the wiring diagram, you would know how power got switched when you hit the brake. Then, you could test the brake switch or other related switches with a DMM. Or, go to the junkyard and grab a brake switch and swap it with yours. Or, if the brake light switch is cheap, just get a new one. I hate to replace parts without identifying the root cause, but when it comes to easily/cheaply replaced parts, I'll replace parts that are old figuring the odds are pretty good. And if you were wrong, well, you didn't spend much time or money.

But, you've already partially isolated the problem from your observation. When you hit the brakes, the brake lights should come on, not the running lights or the dash lights. Somehow, power is getting routed to the running lights and dash lights. It could somehow be related to your light switch. That switch usually controls both running and dash lights and your brake light power might pass through the light switch. If you had a wiring diagram, you could see what they had in common and troubleshoot from there. For example, on my Ford, the lights (at least the front) pass through the multifunction switch, which is on the turn signal stalk. The multifunction switch does wipers, high beams and turn signals. I started noticing that the running lights wouldn't come on and then one day noticed that using the turn signals or wipers made the lights work. I grabbed the wiring diagram and saw how the power for the lights passed through the multifunction switch and then it all made sense. I never would have suspected that the turn signal and running lights were related without the wiring diagram. I'm not saying the multifunction switch is the problem in your case. It's just an example of how seemingly unrelated things can be related, but you need to have the documentation (wiring diagrams) that shows you this.

Have you done a visual inspection to make sure there are no abraded wires that could short when you press the brake pedal?

Also, try good old google and youtube. Eric the Car Guy does a lot of repair/troubleshooting videos for Hondas.