disco tail lights....

dsprimal

Banned
hey everyone. The tail light wiring is all wacked out of order. ever since a mechanic my dad knew messed with the wiring. reason why he did was because the spoiler has a break light on it. apparently he said its illegal and i wont pass inspection with that break light on the spoiler. So he rewired it so that the spoiler break light no longer turns on and made sure that the break light in the rear wind shield turned on instead.

After installing my tail lights Is when i realized i had a huge wiring issue.

-When i break, all of my rear lights go on (reverse lights, signals etc).

-When i reverse. only my left reverse light as well as left signal turn on.

-When i turn on my left blinker, both the left break light as well as the rear wind shield break light blink with the left blinker. power surge issue?

-When I stop the car and hold on the break and turn on my left signal. nothing happens (no ticking or blinking of the left signals). but as soon as i release the break pedal is when it starts ticking and works.

Anyone know anything about wiring? thanks
 

R3dline

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wow, you need to undo the wiring that you have already done, and start over. you got some wires crossed somewhere
 


Trekk

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I do.... but TBH I dont know if I could guess that mess out over the web. I'd have to see everything he touched, spliced, moved ect ect. Sounds like he screwed up a ground and your getting a power feedback thats making all the bulbs come on.

I can tell you that a blinker is a single filament bulb, so if it lights up when you press the brakes it cant blink because it already has power to it.

Any green wire with a white tracer is connected to the brake switch. (should only power one filament of the brakes lights)
Any red wire with a black tracer is connected to the headlight switch (turns on brake bulbs other filament and tag lights).
Soild black is ground

Each turn signal should have its own power wire, so I dont think he'd splice into both, however all the lights probably share the same ground, so power could go in from the ground and power the lights, and find another place to get ground.
Pictures would help.
 

UncleHonrod

2 time Civic owner
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Since when is a brake light in a rear wing illegal?
 


Trekk

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Depends on where you live, by law some places you have to have 3 brake lights. One in each corner, and one in the rear (high mount). then again some places every light you have, has to work, or you can get a ticket for that. =)
 

UncleHonrod

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Depends on where you live, by law some places you have to have 3 brake lights. One in each corner, and one in the rear (high mount). then again some places every light you have, has to work, or you can get a ticket for that. =)

That I knew... but wouldn't the rear wing count as a CHMSL?
 

Trekk

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Should, but again, it might depend on the state. If they see a light in the window and it doesnt work, you have a light out, if you remove it from the window then 3 is 3? I dont think a spoiler light matters one way or another.
 

dsprimal

Banned
I do.... but TBH I dont know if I could guess that mess out over the web. I'd have to see everything he touched, spliced, moved ect ect. Sounds like he screwed up a ground and your getting a power feedback thats making all the bulbs come on.

I can tell you that a blinker is a single filament bulb, so if it lights up when you press the brakes it cant blink because it already has power to it.
would this cause any damage to the bulbs or fry anything? since it already has power going to it and i'm pressing on the break which cancels out the signal flashing?
 

dsprimal

Banned
so i looked at the tail light OEM harness and noticed the line up of wires were like this:

|Black||Red||Green||Green|

The adapter piece from the tail light should replicate that order right? so that the colors line up to one another when hooked up? Cause the right tail light is fine since the wires match properly. But when I looked at the left tail light, the wires were mismatched and non of the colors matched.

Is there a way to open up the tip of the adapter on either the OEM harness or the tail light harness?

and if this is the case, would this solve the whole issue with the whole left tail light + rear window break like to stop blinking when my left signals on? cause i tested it out and they don't blink all at the same time. they go at different rates (surge issue?). would this also solve the issue for my front left and rear signal light turning on whenever i press on the break?

or is this a bigger issue than just mismatching of wires?

I went to a local tuning shop and they said they could diagnose the problem for $40 and the amount of money they would charge for the "repair" is undetermined until they find out. anyone know the price range for fixing something like this could potentially cost?

thanks!
 

mymmeryloss

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If i were u, i would go to a junkyard and buy an unmolested stock brake light harness and start fresh...
 

RonJ

Banned
I can tell you that a blinker is a single filament bulb, so if it lights up when you press the brakes it cant blink because it already has power to it.
Start here^

Your car requires both single filament and double filament bulbs be installed in the proper locations. Check to make sure the proper parking light, taillight, and brake light bulbs are installed. Click here:

http://www.clubcivic.com/board/showthread.php?t=212636

Since when is a brake light in a rear wing illegal?
I agree. It makes no sense whatsoever. Many stock cars have a brake light in the spoiler, so it's obviously fine. The mechanic was a moron.
 

Mysteryemotionz

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Start here^

Your car requires both single filament and double filament bulbs be installed in the proper locations. Check to make sure the proper parking light, taillight, and brake light bulbs are installed. Click here:

http://www.clubcivic.com/board/showthread.php?t=212636



I agree. It makes no sense whatsoever. Many stock cars have a brake light in the spoiler, so it's obviously fine. The mechanic was a moron.
Some states require you to remove the 3rd brake light from the rear shelf when installing a spoiler with a light. It's kind of ironic if you ask me

Sent from my LG-E739 using Tapatalk
 

RonJ

Banned
Some states require you to remove the 3rd brake light from the rear shelf when installing a spoiler with a light. It's kind of ironic if you ask me

Sent from my LG-E739 using Tapatalk
If true, you would not need to remove the high mount brake light or rewire the circuit. Unplugging the high mount connector or cutting the two wires would disable it.
 

Trekk

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Normally you can just use a pin (needle) to relese the pins in a harness. When you look inside youll see a little plastic clip that holds the electrical pin in place. You need to use a pin (needle) to pry the plastic clip up, so you can slide the electrical pin out.
 


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