H22 CB

I don't drive my Accord much, but lately, it seemed that the battery was dying real fast. My bumper lights stopped working after I did my wire tuck. Now that I finally got around to trying to fix that, I found that the bumper lights are getting a constant 12 volts. The wires seem to be connected properly. How do I find the open wire? Thanks.

phootbag

12 volts with the system on? Or, off? Before the load or after the load? Too much missing information.

H22 CB

Always 12 volts as long as the car battery is connected.

phootbag

Maybe I'm missing something, what bumper lights? Is this something you installed or something from the factory?

H22 CB

phootbag

You say you always have 12 volts. Do the lights stay on? If you have 12 volts at the bulb and the bulbs don't light up, there is an open on the ground side. If you have 12 volts and the lights are on, there is a short to power on the power side. A wiring diagram will be helpful. What year, trim level etc. ?

H22 CB

Lights do not turn on at all. Good info. Thanks. Here's a link to the wiring diagram.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...ingDiagram.jpg

I find it a little strange though that the ground to both sides went bad at the same time (separate ground wires). Seems to me it would be further up the chain.

phootbag

I should have said that if you have 12 volts on the ground side of the bulb there is an open ground path. Could be a problem at the ground buss on each front corner of the vehicle. Or, inbetween that and the bulbs. Looks like it's just a ground path from the bulb to the buss. Try running your own ground wire and see if the lights come on. Looks like they are only supposed to come on by power switched in the combo switch. Meaning, they don't seem to be supposed to have power as soon as the battery is connected.

Also, with an open ground for the bulbs, I doubt your battery is dying because of that problem. ( no current flow ).

H22 CB

I get 12 volts when I put the negative probe to the negative pin, and the positive probe to the positive pin on the connector. Doesn't having a constant 12 volts mean there's current, therefore draining the battery?

phootbag

If you put the positive lead of your meter on one pin in the connector and the negative lead of your meter on the other lead in the connector with the connector plugged in you are performing a voltage drop. This is how you measure how much voltage a load is using.

If you do it this way and measure 12 volts you are proving that the positive wire going to the bulb is connected to the battery and that the negative wire going to the bulb is connected to the battery through body ground connections. If you perform this test and the light bulb doesn't illuminate the bulb is probably burned out. If the filament is broken there will be no current flow.

The reason I say a burned out bulb is because you mentioned that the bulbs don't illuminate and from what you say, you have proved a positive connection to the battery and a negative connection to the battery. It is possible that the bulbs aren't designed for a 12 volt system and wont illuminate even though there is a circuit path and voltage is being "dropped

H22 CB

The bulbs always worked before. I didn't change them, and the filimant looks good.

I pulled the connector off and tested just the connector. You're saying that I need to do the same test with everything connected? And if it gets 12 volts, the wiring is good and it must be the bulb?

If it were just the bulb, I wouldn't think my battery would be draining, but I'll test it tomorrow. Thanks.

phootbag

The drain could be somewhere else. Try hooking up the battery with your multimeter in series and set to amperage. See if you have above about 50 miliamps or so. Then, unplug the bumper lights. See if the amperage drops significantly. That'll tell you if the bulbs are drawing current when they shouldn't be.

H22 CB

I don't know what you just said. "hooking up the battery with your multimeter in series"? I haven't had the bulbs in the socket during any of my previous testing (though I can put them in need be). Once I noticed they weren't working, I just put the bulbs away in a drawer. I've been testing only the wire harness. If you can clarify, your test suggestion, that'd be great. Thanks.

phootbag

I'm suggesting you test for parasitic draw to figure out why your battery is going dead. If you set your meter to measure amperage and hook it up in series with one of the battery cables you can see how much current the battery is pushing. Typically you won't see more than about 50 miliamps with everything off, key out etc... If you have more than that, there is probably something using voltage, ie current is flowing when it shouldn't be. With the meter still hooked up in series you then disconnect the bulbs either by taking them out or unplugging the connector. If you can watch the amperage go down to 50 miliamps or so then you can say that the bulb circuit is responsible for the draw. If the amperage stays high with the bulbs removed the draw is probably somewhere else. If there is never a draw no matter what, the battery is probably junk or system isn't charging. You may need to leave the car off for a few minutes to allow certain systems to shut down and stop drawing their own current, ECM etc.

phootbag

You'd understand if I showed you.

H22 CB

So I got my hands on an extra ICU...now instead of drawing 12 volts, it's down to about 0.6. Should it be zero though? The lights still don't blink. I confirmed that the bulb works by putting it in the corner light connector.

H22 CB

Did some more testing. Failed on #3.

H22 CB

Performed continuity tests for combination switch (per service manual) and that checked out fine and all fuses are good. How do you fix an open in a wire? Replace it completely?

fcm

If you have 12V+ at the bulb plug you do not have an "open in a wire" you have a short to 12V+.

Questions...

Are the "bumper lights" not just signal lights on a 92 Accord, [blink on only when signal or hazard lights are on]?

Has any "pimp my lights" rewiring been done?

Do the front side markers work properly?

Are you sure you are reading 12V+ on the bumper lights, connect a jumper lead, [long enough to reach batt.] to the lead that tests as 12V+, ground a light bulb to the batt. neg.(-) and touch the jumper to the bulbs pos.(+), any 12V bulb can be used, does bulb light up?.

Do you own a 12V test light? 94

H22 CB

I no longer have 12 volts after swapping out the ICU. It now reads 0.6. Should it be zero though? The lights still don't blink. I confirmed that the bulb works by putting it in the corner light connector.

The bumper lights are signal lights.

I extended the wires for my wire tuck. Wires are not crossed. There are no front side markers on 90-93 Accords, but the corner lights work fine.

I've been using a multimeter.

jdmwannabee

he's referring to the turn signals when he says front side markers. 90-93 accord bumper lights are turn signals, unless wired to stay on w/ the parking lights

Kristo Alim

Hi All

We have a CRV 2004,

> Original ECU code PNK is in troubble
> Replaced with ECU code PNC
> Everything goes smooth unless the check engine switch ON

Please kindly share how to switch OFF the check engine

Warm regards
Kristo Alim