I'm having an interesting set of problems related to my 97 CL 3.0. After replacing several bulbs assuming they were bad, and getting the driver's side brake lamp to work for a few days each time, I finally got a bulb to work (or so I thought). A few months later, the socket popped loose from the housing and the bulb melted/welded itself to the housing so that the socket will no longer hold in the housing. So...after months of procrastination, I finally ordered a replacement used taillamp housing, and asked the dealer to throw in the "socket and harness" for free. Today I recieved the part from the used part dealer, and installed it. But... the brake out light in the console still came on...both brake lights were not lit. I jiggled the wire on the passengers side and the bulb lit. I tried getting the bulb to work on the drivers side without much luck. I ordered two new wiring harnesses from an OEM dealer. I'm hoping this fixes the problem for the next 50K miles or so...

I cruised through the forums, and noticed that a lot of folks are having similar problems with this wiring harness, and it's always the brake lamp socket that seems to "go bad", "get moisture in it" (really? from where...sure the dealer didn't just jiggle some wires and tape them in place?), "burn out", "cause intermittent problems". Here is what I'm thinking. The brake lamp socket is a different material than the other sockets in the harness, and the lamp gets significantly hotter than the other bulbs. I can't help but wonder if the socket/wires are melting.

Has anyone else noticed this? Did Acura change the replacement harness? Maybe the new harness will provide a permanent fix?

Any thoughts??

Thanks in advance.

 

When you have a common fault, both brake lights off, you should look for a shared component; such as common ground, wiring splice, brake light switch, etc. I suspect you're missing something simple somewhere.

I would trace power to the trunk looking for faults. Then trace ground/s for each light assy. Any wiring splices should be replaced w/ good quality crimped fittings. No manually twisted wires or wire nut couplings.

good luck

 

Texas-

When I jiggle or play with the wiring on the passenger side socket for the brake bulb the light comes on and off. I'll replace the harness and go from there. The brake socket on all three harnesses (originals + used replacement for drivers side) all show signs of over heating (slight melting of the black plastic). If replacing the harnesses is a bust, then I'll start tracing wiring. I would really surprise me if there was a problem ahead of the sensor since none of the other lights in the system show any signs of problems (side markers, turn signals, etc. all fine...just high intensity brake light bad).