1998 Acura Integra One blind Brake Light Problem

Tiny
OPENER65
  • MEMBER
  • 1998 ACURA INTEGRA
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 158,000 MILES
98 Acura Integra 2Dr LS Automatic.

When the headlights are off the rear brake lights work. Turn them on and the rear passenger brake light turns off and doesn't work. All other lights unaffected and work fine. Upon closer inspection when the headlights are off the same light does work but seems slightly dimmer than the left.

I've done the "regular" things such as checking fuses and replacing bulbs and checking that the ground wire is still connected. To no solution. I was thinking about buying a replacement wiring harness for the lights but not sure if this is the fix or if its something else entirely.

Any suggestions on what I need to be looking at/for to fix this? Thanks for your help!
Monday, March 2nd, 2009 AT 12:36 PM

4 Replies

Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
Hi opener65,

Thank you for the donation.

The symptoms indicates possible faults of :
1. Faulty bulb socket. Check if there are any rust formation causing poor continuity. Quite often water leakages causses rust which hampers continuity.

2. Bad grounding circuit. Use grounded remote wire, connect to bulb socket ground side and test. Remove ground wire and clean terminals before reinstalling.

3. Wrong bulb specification used.

This should not require replacement of wire harness. When brake lights are working, are both of equal brightness? When taillights are turned on, both of equal brightness?
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Monday, March 2nd, 2009 AT 1:05 PM
Tiny
OPENER65
  • MEMBER
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Hi KHLow2008,

Thanks for the help: here are answers to your questions.

The symptoms indicates possible faults of :
1. Bulb socket clean and rust free. I removed the wiring harness and did inspection for breaks/cuts etc. Also the right brake light works but only if the headlights are off.

2. Will have to probably strip wire to test ground wire.

3. Replacement bulbs purchased were per OEM standard.

When headlights are off both of the tail lights work but the problematic right one is about 20-30% dimmer than the left.
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Monday, March 2nd, 2009 AT 1:58 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
Should be caused by a bad ground. The brake and tail lights are competing to get the use of the ground and this is causing voltage back flow and the bulb not working.

Try unplugging the taillight warness and swapping between left and right to test.

Did you check the grounding points on body?

To test ground, you can just use a wire to attach to bulb base metal part and ground to test.
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Monday, March 2nd, 2009 AT 2:15 PM
Tiny
OPENER65
  • MEMBER
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Thanks,

Will try your suggestions and let you know what happens.
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Monday, March 2nd, 2009 AT 2:38 PM

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