Hi,

I have a 1993 EX-R (canadian) Coupe and the Brake lamp warning light in the dash stays on. I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction as to the source of this indicator light. I have checked the obvious, having determined that all lamps do in fact light, and that each socket was checked for contact. Now what?

 

how do the brake pads look? also does you e brake work?

 

same thing happens for me. turns on and off every once in a while

 

sometimes bulbs work but do not have the right amount of amperage passing through causing the light to illuminate. very irritating but you can try changing out all the bulbs before you start getting deep into the electrical side.

 

check fluids and break system .. my brothers vigor did that .

 

has nothing to do with amperage or resistance, there is a whi green wire that goes from front to left side sensor, disconnect it and get a jumper wire and ground it, if the light goes out the problem is a faulty plug in the rear or a faulty light socket, when everything is reight the whi green wire is grounded throught the sensor and or light bulb filimants, it should check grounded at all times. could be a bad sensor on either side or a faulty conection, check and clean all plugs. there is a fals idea that it all works on resistance, not so, the white green wire grounds through the sensors or the bulb filimants

 

I'm unsure why you would bump such an old thread to spew incorrect information

The warning light CAN be related to resistance (if the bulb is blown/missing/replaced with an LED) the light will be triggered. What you're referring to is if there is a faulty ground. It's one reason why if they are replaced with LEDs they flash faster and the warning light comes on. Majority of the lights are negative trigger lights.

If the ground is always grounded then they would stay on.

The light can also be related to low fluid.

 

When working properly, and I say again, properly....the brake light warning light comes on o the dash whenever the master cylinder level is low.....as stated by MuffinMan, and if the parking brake/e-brake is on. If your switch for the e-brake is misadjusted, it is possible it can set it off, or you run low on brake fluid, which should be checked immediately.

 

brake warning lamp has NOTHING to do with brake fluid, that is a entirely different light, the warng lamp whit green wire that goes to the front of the car is normally grounded, the light stays off because the wht/grn wire is constantly grounded by the two brake light failure sensors connected in series, with the brakes off ground is provided through the diode, the failure sensor relay coils and bulb filiments to ground. with brake lights on all 5 relays(2 on left sensor, 3 on right connected in series supply grnd. if the chain is broken and the whi/grn wire is not grounded the warning lamp will come on.
This is how this thing works , there are two warning lights on the Honda, one indicates E brake ona nd low brake fluid, the other is a Brake lamp failure only, they are often confused (muffinman) and tamadrummer . study of the elec diagram will confirm this
Frank Allen

 

i say again, there are two brake lamps on the dash the brake warning lamp tells you you have a brake light out, the other light tells you when the e brake is on or low fluid, tamadrummer and the muffin man need to study the wiring diagram of these two seperate lamps before accusing of misinformation, I never post anything on this board unless i know exactly what im talking about, it is a effort to help others with problems ive experienced over the yrs. The original poster refered to the brake lamp warning.

 

Yep Frank you are correct, I misread the initial post. The light he's referring to, the small "BRAKE" that shows up on the diagram of the vehicle is relating to the wiring and bulbs, not the fluid. Not the larger E-brake warning light.

However I am correct in saying that it can be resistance related. I also misread when you're saying "light" whether it's the tail light bulb which is a negative trigger and what I was referring to, and not the indicator light on the dashboard.

Just a confusion of terms.

 

no problem, the problem with my car was a plug located in the trunk near the rear widow on left side under trim panel, bad connection.

 

Yeah it's certainly a possibility especially after years of use.

A change in resistance will trigger the indicator light even if the tail light lights up (like LED tails for instance). The vehicle looks for say 10 ohms and sees just 5 ohms of resistance, notices the difference and throws the alert up.

 

ok but a quick check would be to see if the whi/grn wire is grounded or not, if disconected at the left sensor and grounded the light on dash should go out, if it does not the problem would be a poor conection from the whi grn wire on up to front . assuming all brake lights are in fact working, there is also a ground wire near the rear widow on left side . the white grn wire when in circuit should read ground at all times if the bulbs wiring and sensors are working right. really easy to trouble shoot. the reason i say check the whi grn wire is to isolate the problem, will tell you if the problem is in the sensors , bulbs or wiring at the lights , or the wireing to the front of the vehicle. Thats all these things can drive you nuts if you dont have a understanding of how it all works, appreciate your input on this
Frank Allen

 

Oh, my apologies Frank, I also misread the post. Never really see posts of this come up that often, as compared to the brake warning lamp.

 

no problem , im used to getting bombarded when things dont sound right, should have heard what they said when i pointed out that the main relay could cause the tcu to malfuntion (found out the hard way) most dont see the ovious connection, where the main realy pig tail sends a voltage over to the tcu. oh well just trying to share experience with the little knowledge i have.
Frank allen
92 accord
98 civic
01 honda van

 

Sorry to bring this back after so long but I've had brake LED lights for 2 yrs. and never had a problem, untill recently when the brake lamp light went on.