2001 Accord EX brake light on dash

Not sure about that model, but it could indicate low brake fluid.

Greg.

Or your parking brake isn't off all the way or switch is bad.

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It means you have to look in the glovebox. Does your insurer know you've been driving the car with the BRAKE light on?? I guess if the horn works, it's OK, right?

'Curly'

I keep seeing this - "Special"? How? If the number is right, the lamp is right. Correct me if I am wrong.

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That's right. Honda tranny fluid is 'special', but a brake lamp is a brake lamp. Honda doesn't manufacture brake lamps.

'Curly'

Thanks, Curly.

Honda installs a relay in series with each Tail Light Bulb so the bulb sees less than 12 volts. I did not intend to say that you have to buy a bulb manufactured by Honda. A bulb intended for other than a Honda would fit, but not have the correct brightness.

For other than a Honda tail light, if I had a burned out bulb I would look in a box in my garage for a bulb that looked the same and it would work.

Cheers Charlie

Not. Spec'd lamps are standard. A 327 or whatever has a specified voltage, base design, current rating, and output (candlepower) . Honda can't change that unless they design their own lamp, with their own specs (and number). I don't see where they have done that. If you have an example, please post it.

eh? that's a new one on me! how does a relay drop the voltage to a bulb??? by how much???? what's the purpose???

Charlie S said

Huh? A relay is just an on/off switch.

Casey

It's not a relay Contact in series with each Tail light bulb it's a relay COIL. A COIL has a voltage drop so I assume 9 volts on the wire between the relay and the bulb.

This is not new Honda has been doing this for over 10 years.

I remember going in to Kragen's and being told that Honda has different Brake lights than other brands.

4 of the 5 Brake lights are dual filiment.

I have a '92 Accord wiring diagram in front of me and I can see the relays.

Not a valid assumption. The effective resistance of the lamp would be around 6 ohms for a 27W stop lamp. I'm sure they've made the relay to be around .5 ohm or less, so the voltage at the lamp would be closer to 12v in a real-world 12.8 -

13.5 volt world. It'd be interesting if you could actually measure one of the relays, and/or the voltage across it and/or the lamp(s) in your car.

I believe it.

I believe this too, but I also believe whover told you that is/was full of it.

Immaterial. As I understand so far, the relays are in the brake lamp circuits. Presence of a tail light or whatever in the same lamp envelope is of no concern.

No doubt. Probably the other responders misunderstood the discussion so far. Is there a part number for the relay on your car? Maybe I can find the specs. Googling is good, but in this case I'm either not coming up with the correct search parameters, or there's just too much stuff...

you /assume/ a coil has a voltage drop of 3V??? what's the resistance of the coil in proportion to the bulb??? the math is real simple.

dude, /no/ manufacturer puts a relay coil in series with a high wattage bulb. period.

no. get the bulb number and cross reference it against all the other applications - it's just a stock bulb used industry-wide.

so? it's called redundancy. it helps keep the car safe when neglectful drivers fail to check to see if their bulbs are working properly.

i have two different helm [honda factory] circuit diagrams in front of me right now, and there are no relay coils in series with any light bulbs. there must have some sort of problem with the drawings you have if you think you're looking at relay coils.

doesnt the symbol for "light" look like a coil of wire in a bulb? mebbe TE cheah has morphed?

and the bulb current is not conducted by the coil, it's conducted by the reed. that's why there's no voltage drop.

I had the same problem .The brake light on the dash stayed lit.There are

2 coils in the bulb. One coil of the rear brake light bulb had blown.I replaced the bulb with the correct voltage bulb ,but it did not work.I went to Honda dealer and they put in the correct bulb,at minimum cost-$2.00

c'mon city-SCAY-Jeff