Attention Master Tech's, Electrical Prob.

[scooterwheelz]

1991 Accord EXR 4 dr. f22a6 at. alb

For the past couple of years there have been intermittant tail light bulb
burnouts as well as socket and harness failures.

The problem starts with the dash light indicator comming on almost constantly, but never consistantly, just after you thing that you have solved the problem.

The socket and harnesses have changed and all bulbs changed ofcourse.
now usually the lights are alright.

Now ther is nothing wrong with the tail lights yet the indicator keeps comming on.

I redcently changed both ground under the hood, main being less than 30% remaining attached.

The problem still persists.

I have cleared the engine codes.

The problem still persists.

Let me know if anyone has ever heard of this problem, or has any ideas.
Thanks. much appreciated.

[ProJect]

Have you tried changing the lil brown boxes that are mounted on each side of the outer part of the tail light, im pretty sure that is what is causing your problem, they are held on by 2 screws, take them off one at a time and open them up and see if they arent burned inside or a bad connection in them

[xaxis360]

Yeah, definately check those. They are the "Stop Lamp failure" sensors for the taillights and can go bad if they get around moisture or just from age. Also, there is a remote chance it could be your instrument cluster, but I doubt it. Get new little brown boxes then let us know. BTW, if you have a Honda spoiler installed at the dealer, they will have replaced the little brown box on the right side taillight with a little black box that disables the middle brake light and keeps your BRAKE LAMP light light off. You need to order part no: 37540-SM4-901 if theres a spoiler and 37540-SM4-003 if you don't. The left-side pn is: 37540-SM4-A01

Hope that helps.

[scooterwheelz]

I inspected and cleaned both control modules and they seem to be fine, not burnt at all. I recall replacing one of them a couple of years ago when I bought the car. the harness plugs have become oxidised again after replaceing them a few months ago from parts from the wreckers. so I will once again change them and not use any dialetrixc grease as I did before. that is definately the wrong stuff for this type of application. The light comes on in the dash after startup and about 6 to 10 taps of the brake pedal, but there are no lights out.

So that is where I am at with this ongoing problem, thanks for your promt replies guys I really appreciate them. It is great to know that there are fellow enthusiasts out there who are so willing to help.

One thing that might be worth a chesk for you guys out there in the northern climates and that is to have a goood look at your negative ground cable, mine looked fine from the top but the underside had completely let go at the connection point where it connects to the frame. Having replaced it, it has never started better or run better.

[scooterwheelz]

Well I have replaced the outter left taillight that was leaking as well as both of the modules a couple of times from ones from the recyclers to no avail. I have changed all of the wireing again with some excellent ones with no corrosion at all.. The dask light indicator still comes on when it wants to, which is troubleing considering everything is pretty much new and in much better condition that it ever has been. I was just woundering if anyone who has had the entire interior our has seen a grounding point for the rear electrical? The hayes manual is not much help in this area. Once again thanks so much for all of your help guys it is really appreciated.

[F22-GURU]

Try the Brake Pedal Switch .
Just my AUD$0.014757 Worth.

[scooterwheelz]

Changed the brake and cruise switch on the brake pedal arm, and it seems better but only comes on after a long while of driving and there are no lightsd out and if I restart it the indicator goes off again. Any more ideas out there ??? Thanks so much for all of the imput so far.

[v4lu3s]

it is not uncomoon for the PCB in the gauge cluster to burn on that side of the cluster. whe you got some time you may want to take it out and look at the back side to make sure you are not wasting a lot of time.

[scooterwheelz]

Thanks man, Is it much work to remove the cluster, is it just the dash trinm bezel that has to come out first, thanks again.

[v4lu3s]

the bezel around the cluster/ac/radio has to come out, be very careful as it likes to break when it is this old. i have seen a lot of the clusters go through a salvage yard with a mild burn that causes erratic lights on the cluster before.

[scooterwheelz]

Thanks man will check it out this week and I will let you know, thanks. Hey do you know if while I am in ther , are the lights for D3 and D4 can be changed since d4 has always been out?

[v4lu3s]

i have never done it my self but i do beleive that some of the lighitng in teh gauge cluster can be replaced. I could not tell you which ones htough....good luck

[Jarrett]

It would be easiest to just purchase a whole new cluster(or see if a wrecker or board member will part one out). But I wouldn't do that until you've found the burnt crcuit board to be your problem. My board is burnt but it hasn't caused any problems(knock on wood) but your's may be worse than mine. If you've determined your board to be burnt, buy another automatic cluster and use the bulb and rubber sleeve from the bulb to change out the burnt bulb. Once you've opened it up, you'll find replacing that bulb to be very easy. Simply unplug the old one, and plug in a new one.