i checked extensively on the team integra articles, and on H-T, but i cannot locate a DIY, fix-it post.

has any one successfully fixed their non illuminating trunk light? i've exhausted my resources. any help would be appreciated. seems this is a very common problem that has yet to be solved.

thanks.

 

DO you have a latch on your trunk? I think GSR's do, if so, then keep pulling that latch quickly. Quick fix sometimes if you need the light and you have that lever.
HTH

 

yeah i've tried quickly swinging the black latch to the right and left several times, but i can't get the light to even so much as flicker.

 

morning bump for my homies.

 

 

there is this little white switch on the light is it in the on position? Sounds stupid but sometimes ppl are

 

haahahaha!

sorry man, but that's just silly dumb.

 

Open up the light cover and see if the bulb is burnt and also check if the prongs are still in place. As time goes by, they start to wear out.

 

everything checks out. the only thing i haven't tried is a voltmeter.

 

UP

 

bump

 

It's probably the bulb. Sometimes a bulb will be bad, even though visually it looks fine. A couple of times I thought my bulb was fine and I had a problem elsewhere, but when I put a new bulb in there it would usually work fine.

 

funny you mentioned that, i swapped the old bulb in with a working bulb late last night, and still no light.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Xymox007 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">everything checks out. the only thing i haven't tried is a voltmeter. </TD></TR></TABLE>Wouldn't a meter be the FIRST thing to try?

Sorry to be harsh, but what if someone says they're trying to get their valve cover off, & the only thing they haven't tried was a wrench...

 

if i bought a voltmeter, i wouldn't have a clue what i was doing. i'd be cluelessly tapping the thing on everything.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Xymox007 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if i bought a voltmeter, i wouldn't have a clue what i was doing. i'd be cluelessly tapping the thing on everything. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Provided that the switch is turned on, the lighbulb should have a 12V potential with respect to ground. Touch the positive lead of the volt meter to each of the bulb lugs, while the negative lead is connected to ground. If you have no potential, you either have a blown fuse or the plug on the back of the light is disconnected.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It's probably the bulb. Sometimes a bulb will be bad, even though visually it looks fine. A couple of times I thought my bulb was fine and I had a problem elsewhere, but when I put a new bulb in there it would usually work fine.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I tried that method. I swap the ceiling bulb with the hatch one, but it doesn't work. I swap my light assembly into a friend's Integra and it works. Put his in mine and it doesn't. I used a multimeter to measure the voltage from the two wires leading to the assembly and they read 12 volts. This weekend I might use my Helms and track down the problem. I'll probably have to strip most of my car just to fixed this one problem. Hopefully I'll find an answer to this stupid problem plaguing most of us.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Xymox007 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... i'd be cluelessly tapping the thing on everything. </TD></TR></TABLE>That's one way to learn how to use it...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Vu &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">This weekend I might use my Helms and track down the problem. I'll probably have to strip most of my car just to fixed this one problem. Hopefully I'll find an answer to this stupid problem plaguing most of us.</TD></TR></TABLE>

we're all counting on your, Vu!

*patiently waiting*

 

welcome to the integra owners club of: broken/malfunctioned trunk light
im sure you are also in the ...Broken antenna mast club as well

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FrostWhiteDC4 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">welcome to the integra owners club of: broken/malfunctioned trunk light
im sure you are also in the ...Broken antenna mast club as well </TD></TR></TABLE>

*phew* thank goodness I'm in neither!

 

my trunk light had some problem last year. It would work only about 50% of the time. Took it to the dealer under warranty. They found that it was a loose plug that the trunk light is connected to.

So check that plug.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RedGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
So check that plug.</TD></TR></TABLE>

which plug? the gray one that attaches to the white light housing?

 

Well, after numerous attempts, and God knows how many mosquito bites, I finally got my light to work. I don't have a camera, so no pictures. I'll do my best to describe what I did.

You don't need to take the light assembly out for this. You can do a quick test to find out if it works.



See the #14 item in the picture, the lock assembly. In the Helms manual its called the hatch latch switch. But I'll call it the lock assembly instead. There is a 6pin plug that connects to it. I don't know why Helms call it a 6pin, because I was sure that it only had 5pins. Anyway, one of the wire is green. That's the same one that goes to your cargo/trunk light assembly. Go ahead and disconnect this 6pin plug. If you put a ground source into the green pin, your light should come on. If it doesn't than my fixed might not help you.

To find a ground source, I disconnected a 3pin plug that's wrapped in blue insulation(I think). This plug is for your lock. One of the wire color should be black, its on one end of the three. I forgot the other colors. I added a jumper wire to the black pin, and connected the other end to the green pin on the lock assembly. That made my light come on. BTW, all of this was just trial and error. Go ahead and pull that jumper wire out so we can continue. You can skip this entire test if you like. It's just to show that your light still works.

Go ahead and remove item 14 and 25, the lock assembly and actuator. The lock assembly has 3 screws and the actuator has 3 bolts. There's a 2pin plug connected to the actuator, disconnect this too. The acutator has another plug connected to it that might be hard to see, just ignore that one. Before you can pull the actuator out, you need to disconnect the end of the rod that's connected to the lock assembly.

Okay, once you've taken those two parts out, your only concern is the lock assembly. You can leave it connected to the actuator if you like. Connect the lock assembly back to the 6pin connecter. See the 6pin plug on the lock assembly, well the wire on the connecter is green. The wire that's on the lock assembly is black. This black wire is insulated along with a gray wire. Trace the wires to the other end of the assembly until it goes inside of it. Here is the weird and trial and error part. I tried to open that area to get to the destination of these two wires with a flat head screwdriver. The part that I was prying was the gold-plated metal. There should be like a slot where you can insert your flat head. Well, before I can get it open, it slammed shut, and my trunk light came on. So I pryed it a bit again to take a peek inside to see what's in it. BTW, you can't take this apart, so don't do it or you'll end up bending it or breaking it. The two wires are either glued or solder onto this black, rectangular thing. I think this black thing is made of the same material as the back part of the buttons on a remote control of a TV, VCR or even our car alarm remote. I'm going to guess that the black thing over the years of slamming our hatch, lost it's contact with the gold plate. So go ahead and play around this area. I notice directly behind the black thing is 2 small prongs(I guess I can call it that). When I push one of it in, forgot which one, the light sometimes go out. Then I just pry the gold plate open slightly, let it slammed shut again, and the light comes back on. It's a shitty miracle I tell you.

This was a very easy fix. Too bad I was to lazy all these years to actually attempt to fix it. I even banged on the assembly to see if it will go out. Hopefully the problem won't come back.

Well, I'm tired and that's about all I remember. If you need help, respond to this thread, because sometimes I forget that I even have a PM box.

 

GREAT job, Vu. I'm going to attempt your fix tonight! if this works for me, i think you should post it on team-integra (DIY project/fixes).

Thanks again!