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Brake light fuse keeps blowing


Cruize
04-14-2011, 12:15 AM
'01 Accord Ex
4 cylinder

Car keeps blowing brake light fuse.

This past Sunday afternoon she backed into a fire hydrant and pulled the bumper cover off.

Car got rained in on Monday night: power windows + no keys + rain = water got inside. My friend set off the factory alarm looking to see if the keys were in the car.

Found the keys, put the windows up. She tries to leave at 11 - 11:30, and the brake light fuse is blown; needs to use the override to get the transmission out of park.

I put a new fuse in for her last night (Tuesday) about 7 pm. She drives the car last night and today. She used the car at 9:45 tonight - still ok. Leave the restaurant at 10:45 - the fuse is blown again. Replace the fuse. 20 minutes later she tells me the fuse blew again.

It has been raining off and on everyday since Monday.

Any ideas what I need to look for? Pinched wires? Shorted module in the dash board? I never had a Honda, so I'm not familiar with them. I have done my fair share of work on other cars though. I can trace wires, use a meter, read a wiring diagram, disassemble and clean switches, solder, etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

BullShifter
04-15-2011, 07:26 PM
Is the tail light cracked?

Cruize
04-20-2011, 12:43 PM
No, the lens is not cracked.

My friend took it to her mechanic before I could look at it. He claims it is either the brake switch or transmission interlock. I find it hard to believe a brake switch will cause the problem. In my mind, the switch will either fail open (circuit is open and the lights will never turn on) or fail closed (circuit is completed and the lights will never turn off.) I have not researched the interlock. I'm thinking if it's a separate device with no other function, I can unplug it to check if this is indeed the culprit.

I checked my Blazer the other day. No brake pedal / transmission interlock. I'm glad, because that's one thing that can't go bad on it!

Cruize
04-26-2011, 12:15 PM
The culprit was either the horn or horn wiring.

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