Questions and Answers

Honda Civic Lights Won't Shut Off Q. Vincent, I live in Hong Kong and I have just been given a 1988 Honda Civic 16 valve 1.4 liter with automatic transmission. It has done only 50,000 kilometers and is in great shape for its age, but has been standing for about six months. It has an electrical fault which caused it to run out its last battery, which the previous owner has thrown away.

I have bought a new one but when the battery is connected, the tail lights, both stop and tail I think, come on permanently, even if the key is not in the ignition. The car needs an MOT, but I don't want to take an unidentified problem to a garage where I don't know the language. Seems like the fastest way to get ripped off and I have a suspicion its probably something very simple. Would really appreciate some advice.

Thanks,
Matt

A. A lot depends on if the brake lights, tail lights or both come on. If they both come on, you probably have two problems.

As you can see in the accompanying wiring diagrams, the two lighting systems do not interact with each other. In the brake lamp wiring diagram to the left, you can see the most likely reason the brake lights are staying in is because of a bad brake light switch. The brake light switch is very easy to replace. Just unplug it, loosen and remove the lock nut and remove the switch. Pop in the new one and it's done. The tail lights are a bit more complicated, as you can see in the wiring diagram below. But the most common reason the tail lights would stay on is due to a bad head light switch. And I would bet real money that is the problem you're having. To replace the head light switch you will need to remove the steering wheel.

If they are both coming on, you could have a short in the wiring and either a bad brake light switch or head light switch. I don't think this is very likely.