Manager Forum

Heres a good one to chew on.

Vehicle has serious lighting issues. Push brake pedal, key and car off, 3rd brake lamp works and tail lights(not brake lamps) come on. Turn lights on and press brake pedal, 3rd brake works and signals dimly lit and signal ind in dash come on. Hazzard on only and front signals flash and 3rd brake flashes and rear TAIL lights flash, turn running lights on and hazzard flashes much slower and tail lights and 3rd brake alternately blink and shift interlock clicks in sync and radio(factory) lights blink in sync. Running lights on with nothing else work proper. driving with cruise on works until signals turned on and of coarse cruise cuts off. Has a few other weird lighting issues with different senarios, key on or off, signals on or off. With hazzards on and pressing brake pedal, hazzards stop. Hazzard on and running lights on, blinks at half speed. Mitchels diag procedure sorta points to multiplex control unit, and after extensive input testing says to replace suspected unit with a known good one and if still not proper then replace the next best guess. Is this something that sounds familiar to anyone? Is there a definitive way to diag these units without getting a non-returnable part from dealer?

Help Help. I hate to send to dealer, but it seems the most cost effective way for the customer.. 00 accord ex auto 4cyl

There are a lot of symptoms. I'd pick the first one and go through the routine. Sounds like a short in one of the sockets crossing voltage. No history on those modules for me.

....

I would take a real close look at the ground point in the left rear of the trunk.

....

First thing that pops into my mind ya I know, is someone jammed an incorrect bulb into a socket or forced a socket into an incorrect port. There is a lighting module that can be damaged causing a huge feedback. I would be careful, it seems the main pcm may be getting spiked causing shutdown. as always I want to know exactly what happened or was done right before all this happened. If the customer was loading logs into the trunk, had the interior cleaned, was jump started or jump started someone else, anything at all ? Hauled a trailer and U haul installed a wiring harness, bottomed out..........

I would probably check the grounds first. Sounds like the circuit is hunting a ground.

Good point, something searching for a ground will cause this. Been a while but I think that these have circuit board issues in the tail lamp assemblies. I remember running into an issue with an older Honda and I ended up replacing the board on the left rear lamp. I remember because there was no information that I could find on this module so I just rolled the dice and replaced it. Tracked everything to it and going in it was fine but coming out it was all scrambled.

Update,,, After checking MANY grounds and inputs, diag procedure came down to changing suspected module with a know good one, and if not fixed then pick the next most likely module and change it with a known good one also. I was not willing to go there. We (begrudgingly) suggested the dealer. After putting several modules back together and pulling vehicle out of shop, noticed all lights working properly?????? Maybe was a bad ground that inadvertently got repaired when put back together. Maybe just a coincedence, maybe was grnd, bottom line is i hate when ya fix something but dont know how or why. Couldnt really charge much (1/2 hr diag) but "possibly" fixed issue. ????????? Thanks for the input anyway gentlemen...

Don't ever second guess divine intervention.................................

...

shouldn't Mitchell include a set labor charge for "Laying on of Hands" or something like that ??? I always explain to my customers that all of the major automotive production facilities are located on sacred Indian burial grounds. There's some things in this life you just can't explain ...

...

brother bubba wrote:...

shouldn't Mitchell include a set labor charge for "Laying on of Hands" or something like that ??? I always explain to my customers that all of the major automotive production facilities are located on sacred Indian burial grounds. There's some things in this life you just can't explain ...

...

like going into a house fire for $12.00 an hour?? lol

Rich wrote:
like going into a house fire for $12.00 an hour?? lol

...

Does 12 bucks include water or does that cost extra ???

...

OUCH.

Yep, don't question it! Something got put into an agreeable state and that is ALL that matters. I'm sure it offsets something nasty that happened before if you're really keeping score.

Man, you gotta be creative with the key board. Customer complaint; rear lighting system not working properly. Tech observation; appears to be a ground issue in rear lighting, possible incorrect bulb or broken wire. Service; Remove bulbs, inspect sockets, inspect lighting grid on each side, remove modules, inspect for damage, clean all plugs, connectors, grounds. Assemble and check system. All is working, possible solved issues could have been a combination of multiple faults including dirty contacts. Time on 2.5 hours, customer charge 2 hours. If you want to give something away make it a tire repair or such. You have to cover yourself if the vehicle returns with the same issue. You've already got paid for your previous work so you'll only get screwed once.