Yesterday I had a rear brake light bulb out so I pulled the other light out to see what part number it was and I ended up having to take a pair of pliars and twist it out because it was rusted in there and all this dirt/grime came out of the plug in; so anyway i go buy 2 new bulbs and replace them and then realize that neither one of them works. When i turn the lightswitch on the brake lights stay on and still dont work. Any suggestions? I got the 1164 brake lights.

EDITED: Ok today I turned on the lights and all the other tail lights work (turn signal lights and the ones that stay on work) but the brake lights dont come on now at all. I changed 1 of the harnesses completely with another one I had laying around in an old tail light. I replaced the brake switch unnearth the brake pedal and I checked all the fuses! I almost got rear ended like 3 times today because the damn lights dont cut on. Please help me out here im all out of ideas


Modified by crexer at 8:13 AM 7/15/2003

 

this same thing keeps happening to me after one of my bulbs blew. now they come on for no reason when Im driving and go off when I step on the brake. so its backwards. It pisses me off.

 

I also had trouble with one of my bulbs, the running lights were fine, hit the brakes and the one light would go out. I noticed though it was the only connector that was rusted/corroded so I went to junker and cut off a good one and wired it up, problem fixed. So I'd say go to a junker and do what I did, theres also "bulb grease" that helps prevent the rusting/corroding. It was $.99 at autozone.

 

sometimes if the bulb is dual filament and you reverse the bulb it will stay on also. Try putting the bulb in the opposite way.

 

My bulb connectors wont let me put them in but 1 way, not sure on the diff years...

 

Maybe the switch that the brake pedal hits is fubarred.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mr. S &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Maybe the switch that the brake pedal hits is fubarred.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree with this, my friend had this exact same problem

 

help

 

thanks for the help but
I really need to figure out whats wrong here

 

did you check the little plastic piece on the brake pedal

 

yeah I just replaced the switch and they wont work; if they somehow shorted out what would I need to do?

 

Recheck your wiring and get a tube shaped wire brush (terminal brush) and clean the sockets until they shine. Cleaning the sockets fixed my problem. Be sure that your car and lights are off before attempting to clean the sockets.

 

still need help

 

no one has any more ideas?&gt; great

 

Just had this problem last weekend on my 89 Civic Sedan LX...

Its the brake switch... on the top of the pedal assembly. You will see what looks to be a spring with a nipple looking end....

Push the spring end up just a bit and have a friend stand behind the car... the lights will turn off...

What happened was that the piece that used to make contact has broken, on mine I didnt know what it was... I just saw some blue cover that was in piece and threw it out the window because I thought it was some debris from the 4th of July Weekend.

I just ended up bunching up some eletrical tape in a few layers and put it between the switch and the brake part... and that fixed it.

If you need more help, let me know!

Do a search for BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH.... there are alot of threads on it here!


Oh sorry, just saw your update... hell, I don't know what the problem is... sounds like a badground somewhere along your brake wiring from the front of the car all the way to the rear where the lights are... might have to rip out the interior and check it.

 

check your fluid level, you might need some brake fluid in your MC...

 

He's not talking about the interior cluster light I dont think... is he?

 

oops, I should have read it all..... on me, lol

 

i had this problem also but my lightss wouldnt turn off when i hit the brake pedal and it wasnt the switch it was the rubber stopper on the pedal, this is what depresses your switch when u press the brake, which is what makes your lights turn on check it and see if that solves anything
good luck

 

Try different bulbs of the same size. Actuall, on my rex the bulbs are the standard 1157 and 1156 bulbs, try those. I noticed once when I had the right size bulb it would only fit in one way, backwards. That made the brake light on all the time. I quickly nixed that and put different bulbs in. It might be a brand thing or it might be that you are trying 1164 or whatever. Try 1157 or 1156, whichever is the dual-filament, can't remember exactly which one it was.
That my best guess from my experiences.