Can't get "Brake Lamp" warning light to shut off - Honda Prelude Forum

BionicKris · 11-28-2006, 12:03 AM

Hey everybody! I have a minor but very annoying problem. Recently my third brake light went out for the first time- not bad for a car purchased in July 1992. I replaced the bulbs with the exact bulbs recommended. The first time I started the car to go run an errand I noticed the "Brake Lamp" light come on, and now it continues to come on every time I use the car.

When I start the car the regular warning lights come on for a second and then go off, as they normally do. If I just leave the car running iin place it is OK, but as soon as I hit the brake pedal the first time it then comes on and stays on.

I took the third brake light cover off, removed and reinstalled the bulbs to make sure things were seated, but no luck. I went around and checked everything over- the taillights come on with the headlights or parking lights. I had my boyfriend check the rear of the car for me while I hit the brake pedal and the third brake light is working fine, as well as the taillights, but now this is really driving me crazy.

A few weeks ago I swapped out my taillight bulbs with LED Spiderlite 5-arm bulbs, and I know you need a voltage regulator if you use LEDs for turn signals, but not taillights. The taillight LEDs have worked perfectly, and I could understand if the warning lamp came on after THAT install, but it definitely started ONLY after the third brake light swap.

I know there is an easy procedure I could try involving pulling one of the fuses to reset the ECU. (I have to look it up in the shop manual to follow the exact procedure) Other than that, does anyone have any other ideas on what I can try? Thanks in advance for the help!

chester · 11-28-2006, 06:00 AM

Resetting the ECU would have nothing to do with the brake lamps.

slipknot95758 · 11-28-2006, 06:40 AM

if all of the break lights are working pperfectly i would put the culprit as being the break light relay a small box mounted usualy in the trunk not sure where they are in the 4th gen.

they wok by closing the relay when the signal comes through the ground if all three relays are closed its good but if one doesnt it throws the light.

if it will make you fell better restting the ecu pull the clock fuse from the under hoob fuse box for 30 seconds its a 10 amp fuse.

rayslude · 11-28-2006, 08:37 AM

also check brake fluid...

G_Loc · 11-28-2006, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayslude

also check brake fluid...

That only applies to the normal "Brake" light

Your best best might be to pull the 'brake lamp' bulb

The circuits that test the lamps are located inside the tail lamp housings. There's 3 of them. I believe 2 are in the passenger side one and one in the driver's side housing, or vice versa. I took em apart once and there's not much to them.

BionicKris · 12-01-2006, 02:31 AM

chester: Yeah, I thought pulling the clock fuse and resetting things couldn't hurt- but it didn't do a thing.

rayslude: I did top off the brake fluids (and other fluids) recently but I'll give the fluids another check.

slipknot95758: I'll also check into the brake light relay, and G Loc's idea of the taillamp circuits.

Hell, if it isn't any of those things I'll take G Loc's advice and just pull the damn indicator bulb!

It's just really annoying when I know all the lights are working and I have this bright red warning light that seems to be on for no reason. I could understand if the LED lights were causing it, but that didn't even trip things up. When I track down the cause I'll let you know who came up with the solution and who wins the bragging rights.

Thanks for the suggestions- I knew my guys would come through for me!

TruNinja619 · 12-01-2006, 02:45 AM

have you check the side marker bulbs on your rear bumper to see if those turn on when you apply the brakes?

I think those are related to the "brake lamp" warning light to come on b/c if I remember correctly... a buddy of mines with his 4th gen.. someone stole his rear side markers and the brake lamp warning light would go on as soon as he applied the brakes..

dark_rican · 12-01-2006, 08:54 AM

I had the same problem. I changed out my taillight white housings. The housings that hold the bulbs. I used my 95vtec part cars'.noticed that there was one less wire on the passenderside taillight housing. I tested the wire and ended up grounding that wire. Now my brake lamp light is off. All my lights work. Problem solved.

Forbidden · 12-02-2006, 05:42 PM

The brake lamp light should only come on if one of the brake light goes out. If all your brake lights are working fine, it's probably one of the sensors. The sensors are the small black boxes in the white bulb housing in the taillights, I'm not sure if there's a way to test them though...

rmichels · 12-04-2006, 07:06 AM

I had the same problem on my daughter's car. She purchased a set of lights online. The wiring on the lights were not the same. There is a send wire from the lights that control the brake warning light. I don;t recall exactly what I did, but I compared the wiring from the old lights to the new lights along with a wiring diagram.

Ray

BionicKris · 12-09-2006, 07:21 PM

Last week I had my boyfriend get behind the car while I backed ov... sorry!

He stood behind the car and checked the lights out for me and everything seemed to be working fine- it's weird that the warning light came on ONLY after I installed the third brake light bulbs, since I used the stock replacement bulbs for that one.

I'm really surprised it didn't happen after I swapped out the taillight bulbs for the LED Spiderlites. I know LEDs can be a problem if you use them for the signal lights because you need to run an in-line voltage regulator, but not if you're using them for taillights (basically if they blink independently of the headlights/taillights)- but everything was fine for the month or so I had the LED bulbs in before the third brake light went out. This was actually the first time I've had to swap out the third brake light bulbs since I bought the car new in'92!. I hope the new bulbs last just as long.

I think I'm just gonna put all the stock bulbs back in as they originally were and then check things step by step as I swap out the various bulbs. This time I'll check out the signals and side marker lights as well.

I'll letcha know what happens...

BionicKris · 12-13-2006, 10:28 PM

Well, Ill let you know what happened- I picked up my car today and got some interesting news.

My brake lights are now fixed, but the "Brake Lamp" warning light is still on. The reason is because my LED taillights are drawing a different amount of current from the stock lights, so it trips the dash light. Even a tiny variation can set off the light. I can try to get the in-line voltage regulators that are used for LED bulbs when used for the turn signals, but the voltage still might be off just enough for the sensors to detect it and keep the dash light on.

A while back I posted a problem I was having with my ABS light staying on also. It was checked for a code when it first happened, but it was nothing that needed immediate attention. At this visit they found out the source of the code-- The ABS pump motor assembly is shot and the cost is.......$1,275.00!!! Needless to say, it will stay broken.

I'm just going to remove the dash bulbs for the "ABS" and "Brake Lamp" indicators because they are driving me crazy by their being on constantly.

Thanks everybody for the input- you guys/girls are the best!

dark_rican · 12-14-2006, 02:37 PM

If youre not that far from NYC..I could take a look at it..I fixed my problem.

BionicKris · 12-14-2006, 10:33 PM

I might take you up on it sometime. I'll send you a PM after the holidays and all that blows over to see what we can do and if we can hook up. Thanks for the offer!

I knew the best Prelude people hung out around here...

dark_rican · 12-15-2006, 06:51 PM

let me know

BionicKris · 09-30-2011, 05:40 AM

The warning light is now off. It had to be one of the sensors. The light went out for a day, then came back on, then went off for a few weeks. Since nothing had changed bulb-wise the sensor must have been the causeof the intermittent on-off. I didn't replace it but I'm regularly checking to make sure all lights are working. Thanks for your input.

G_Loc · 09-30-2011, 07:14 AM

Thank goodness!

AliKhan · 10-01-2011, 10:39 PM

The driver side brake lamp sensor loves to fail. If the problem comes back, you can just stick a jumper wire between the black and green wires going to the left brake failure sensor (driver's side).

If that does not solve the problem, then try also installing a jumper wire between the White/Green and Green wires going to the right failure sensor (passenger side).

This bypasses the brake lamp fail circuit. You can put LED bulbs in if you like and use this jumper method to shut that annoying BRAKE LAMP light off.

AliKhan · 10-01-2011, 10:45 PM

Here's a diagram of the wires to jump...

I would start with just the driver's side first, that's the one that likes to fail.
Jump pins B (GREEN) and F (BLACK).

If that does not work, go to the passenger side and jump pins B (WHITE/GREEN) and D (GREEN)

jaydeem · 10-08-2011, 09:06 AM

did this take 5 years to fix....??