Trunk Lid Lights No Worky!

[ArokASE88LXi]

ok so once i took out the transmission for work i've gotten really ambitious about fixing every damn light thats on on my dash. the last one to go is the rear brake light on the door open light panel (the one that says which door is open and if the trunks open) sure enough the tailights on the trunk lid are inop. as are the license plate lights (police magnet :hmph: ) further inspection reveals no power to anything there (with headlights on or not) ground seems good but no power (other tailights and brake lights, and turn signals work fine) anyone know where the wires go for this damn thing and where to test?? (this is what i hate most about cars is tracing damn wires through the frickin thing) any help is greatly appreciated!

[BITESIZE]

Fuses all in tact?

[ArokASE88LXi]

unfortunately yes. that was the first thing i checked, also i figured it wouldn't be a fuse if the other tailights worked. but i dunno i'll go take a look now though to confirm

[ArokASE88LXi]

ok get this fuse 14 (R tailight, license lights) is fine power to it and through it (power on both sides of fuse) fuse 15 (L tailight) is ok (in tact) however no power to it. I couldn't find a schematic for it in the manual. weird thing is left tailights work fine. one right side tailight bulb is blown but that shouldn't be a problem for the trunk lid lights (they've never worked) ugh!! :chainsaw:

[ecogabriel]

Check the connectors as they may corrode and lose continuity; generally the wiring does not go on a single piece so there are connectors at some points in the wiring. My power lock door only "lock" when I got the car; the connector in the door itself was corroded quite badly that you could see the greenish rust that bronze produces. Now it works OK

I know it sucks to start hunting for the wiring maze all over the car; are you sure there is not a wiring diagram in the service manual? You may try a Haynes manual for the wiring circuit; take a peek at Autozone of one of those at least you'll get the wiring colors you have to look for.

[ArokASE88LXi]

i'm pretty sure it's not the connectors. this is what i got... the trunk interior is all removed along with the back seat (i had a mouse problem:stick:) the reverse lights on the trunk lid work just fine there is a green w/black stripe and black wire going to it the black is ground the green w/black stripe is positive they work just fine, now in the same box as reverse is another small tailight bulb with a black ground and a red w/black stripe positive wire going to it. the connector to this box has one black, one green and one red wire. both bulbs share ground so it's obviously good if reverse lights work. the license lights both have red w/black stripe positives and black grounds. i can trace the wires all the way to the back seat but then i lose them youre right i need a wiring diagram but the nearest haynes manual is 45 miles away (and im cheap and don't wanna pay for it lol) i dunno i'll keep searching the manual and the threads here for a circuit diagram.

[ArokASE88LXi]

Ok so i finally found a wiring diagram and it appears they are called marker lights on the trunk lid and the red/blk wire that runs to them is the same that runs to the license lights, then that wire runs to fuse 14 and thats all that's involved. fuse 14 has power to it and through it, it's working fine so unless im wrong there has to be a break in the wire between the trunk lid and the fuse right... :burn: .... i love my 3g i love my 3g i love my 3g (it doesnt seem to be working today lol)

[ArokASE88LXi]

FOUND THE PROBLEM!!!! ok stroke of luck i'm looking at the wiring and right before the trunk lid wiring meets up with the rest of the trunk wires i was trying to get the electrical tape off some of the wires to inspect/probe and guess what... the red/black wire that's the positive for the license and marker lights just pops out!! found it broken, spliced it back together and everything works great now!! that's been puzzling me since i bought the thing a year ago! doesn't that make you so happy when you find something like that! also popped in another brake light bulb, swapped the brake light sensors from my 88 into mine and no more "brake light" light on the dash! oh this is a good day indeed!!!!!!!!!

[ecogabriel]

Great! I know the feeling... kind of "I conquered!!!"

You said you had a mice problem. Did you notice anything strange in that part of the wiring before removing the tape? I know the f... living things try wearing out their teeth all the time. If not, just check whether the wires may flex or pull/push right there or nearby... My wife lost the door locks in her Camry (right side worked, left side would lock but not unlock... really weird) until I pulled off the maze of wires going from the door to the car's body and two of them were broken. Fix was easy

Good!

[ArokASE88LXi]

no i didn't notice anything strange with the wires but before i was working on this problem i found a nest under my spare tire with 4 baby mice in it :rant::rant::rant: i'd tell ya what i did but people might report me to P.E.T.A. ha ha and just today i was drivin in to get gas and one of those little Fu&*%rs dropped down in my footwell on the passenger side and stared at me!! I almost lost it i yelled at that thing so hard! (what else am i gonna do lol stop?) so i went to the store and bought about 6 mouse traps they're sitting in there now laced with peanut butter. I swear i'll kill them all before i sleep ha ha :gun:

as for the trunk area i gutted it took out the panels, the back seat everything back there then i actually pressure washed it and sealed the whole thing up with rubberized undercoating. next i'm doin the molded interior carpet with the same stuff under it. You know any tricks for keepin mice out?? I've heard moth-balls work well and red pepper. moths are another thing i can't stand so i think im gettin a bunch of those too.

[Dr_Snooz]

Congrats on fixing it dude! Those wiring diagrams at the back are the BOMB! They are the difference between troubleshooting on the couch and playing contortionist under the dash.

Sounds like you're getting really sick with the car. When do we get pics?

[ArokASE88LXi]

Congrats on fixing it dude! Those wiring diagrams at the back are the BOMB! They are the difference between troubleshooting on the couch and playing contortionist under the dash.

Sounds like you're getting really sick with the car. When do we get pics?

Glad you asked that i just got done uploading some trans pics to photobucket. it turns out before i was trying to upload pics that were like 1mb a piece so it took forever but i got it down now. i'll get some pics of the thing tommorrow the trunk looks much better now! I absolutely love drivin this thing again it's so much fun. feels a lot different than my 97 jeep cherokee (6.5" lift and 35's) ha ha ha much better power to weight ratio as well. speed limit is 65 i look down in the honda and woops i'm doin 85 and didn't even realize. I've gotta learn to use the cruise ha ha

[ecogabriel]

You know any tricks for keepin mice out?? I've heard moth-balls work well and red pepper. moths are another thing i can't stand so i think im gettin a bunch of those too.

I wonder how those mice got in in the first place. Finding a rat nest under the spare means that a f... female got in there first. You may have an opening somewhere in the body that is acting as a "door" for those f... :madflip: The first one that comes to mind (I remember from my Civic) is an air vent located behind the rear bumper (left or right side cannot recall) I would hunt for any opening bigger than a quarter and seal it if possible. If it is an air vent you may use a mesh (metallic of course) to cover it...

The f... rats here love sleeping on my engine bays; I found droppings on the valve covers in both Accord and Civic and my wife's car... well, she never sticks her head under the hood so she never knows.
Fortunately they did not start chewing wires... they'll be poisoned already otherwise.

If you do not have pets around, I saw exterminators putting water feeders with water (obviously!) and added some chemical that basically bleeds rats internally to death. :gun:
If you have a garage you may well use something like that; and plug/seal/protect the holes that let mice in