Weird electrical problem. Breaks causing lights to change. PLEASE HELP!

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Old 09-10-2012, 01:28 PM
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Weird electrical problem. Breaks causing lights to change. PLEASE HELP!

Hi. I have a really weird problem with my 2004 Acura TSX with navigation. I was wondering if any of you could help or have heard of such an issue. Here's the issue:

I was just driving it one day when all of a sudden, I notice that my turn signal lights were flickering every time I flicked the turn signal handle. The weirdest part was, every time I hit my breaks, my navigation screen would go from day mode to night mode. And when I let off the breaks, they would go back to the day time mode. My girlfriend, who was driving behind me, confirmed that my turn lights were flickering in a weird way. Also, now that I've driven it more, I noticed that my hazard lights (the triangle with !) and my VSA light are on. I can't turn off the VSA light.

So I take it into my local Acura/Honda specialist. After 5 hours of work, they said they couldn't fine anything that they could say was 100% the problem. They found no electrical shorts and their "best guess" is that it is the hood fuse relay box. Which is $390.

Has anyone else experienced this? Or know what it might be? I want to take it into another shop for a 2nd opinion.

The only mod I've done to my car was add a USA Spec ipod connector, but that was 4 years ago.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Jason
Old 01-15-2013, 02:07 PM
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2po
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1-15-13 : 2004 tsx : the wire harness that feeds the spoilers 3rd brake light gets smashed between the trunk and the trunk seal. Open trunk and look along left hinge for wire routing. I could see bare copper wire on mine, but yours may be partly concealed by black wire sheathing, but insulation underneath broken. Quick fix/test is to unplug green wire harness connector at left trunk hinge midpoint. This leaves you with 2 normal brake lights and no short.
Old 01-15-2013, 02:14 PM
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Cont'd: a hard short at this location will blow fuse 13 (20 amp), and wii knock out your brake lights, your horn, your cruise control, and your VSA (!) light will come on. Pull the connector feeding 3rd brake light, install new fuse, and PRESTO ! ... All the above functions are back to normal. Recommend www.helminc.com for factory authorized books.
Old 01-15-2013, 03:43 PM
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Originally Posted by 2po
1-15-13 : 2004 tsx : the wire harness that feeds the spoilers 3rd brake light gets smashed between the trunk and the trunk seal. Open trunk and look along left hinge for wire routing. I could see bare copper wire on mine, but yours may be partly concealed by black wire sheathing, but insulation underneath broken. Quick fix/test is to unplug green wire harness connector at left trunk hinge midpoint. This leaves you with 2 normal brake lights and no short.
This doesn't sound like his problem, plus he mentions nothing about a spoiler. Plus..... the post is 4 months old, so I hope he has it fixed by now.
Old 01-18-2013, 03:01 PM
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To those that create more heat than light, I would suggest reading the schematic ... Right-side- up. The common denominators in his case, obviously, are the tailights malfunctioning and the VSA indicator WHEN the brake circuit is activated. Countless members at various points in time will seek help by searching for certain keywords, and i hope my find can be of benefit to someone - whenever that may be. Any plea for aid such as his "any help would be greatly appreciated" will be answered by this guy if only possibly helpful. It's good Karma, you should try it.
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