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DIY: LED 3rd brake light fix

37K views 14 replies 14 participants last post by  homermacleod 
#1 ·
After encountering the apparently typical problem with the EX LED brake light not working or occasionally working and finding no good write up on fixing it, I decided to do a write up to try and help others with the same problem. Please forgive my unprofessional photography as I only had my phone at my disposal. This was done on my 07 coupe so I'm not sure if the process is any different for sedan's and non-premium audio vehicles.

First locate the 3rd brake light plug in the trunk



Once you find the plug, unplug it and remove the plug from the clip holding it the body by sliding it either forward or backward



I also unplugged the trunk light at this point as well as I wasn't sure how long it would take and didn't want it to drain the battery. Do so as you see fit

Next, pull the release handle for the rear seats in the trunk and lay the seats down flat. Once down, head inside to remove the cover that houses the light assembly. I found it easiest at this point to sit on the seats as they were folded down. Not the roomiest but gets the job done.

Once inside you'll need to unclip the speaker cover that houses the brake light. Easiest way, for me, was to hit straight up at the bottom the plastic with the palm of my hand. Doesn't take much to pop it loose. You'll wanna work the whole way across the cover to ensure all clips are loose



Now that you have the bottom clips popped, slightly pull the cover straight toward the front of the vehicle to release it from the rear fasteners. Be careful to not get carried away when pulling it forward as the wires for the light runs through a small hole. Lift the cover and pull the wires out.



Once the wires are clear of the hole, you can remove the cover from the car completely. Be sure to remove the push pins that hold the cover in as they will not come out with the cover. Replace them before reinstallation



Now that you have the cover out, unscrew the screws holding the subwoofer ring and also the two that hold the brake light in



Next, squeeze the two metal clips and pull up on the light assembly to remove it from the cover



The assembly should now be able to be removed. Unfortunately I did not take pictures of the solder joints before but you can clearly see they have cracks in them. I recommend having somebody that can solder do this step if you are not familiar with soldering. Simply apply some flux and heat the cracked solder to reflow it. I was unsuccessful in reflowing the solder so had to add some new in order to get it to flow. You may or may not have to add any. This is what it should look like after resoldering and the joints you should check for cracks





Now just reverse the steps in removing the light and speaker cover to reinstall it (being sure to feed the plug and wires back through the hole before snapping the cover in place). I found it easiest to fasten the front clips (closest to you) then popping the rear push pins (closest to the rear window) in. The front clips are fastened by lining them up with the holes and pushing down to snap them in place. Once everything is clipped in, fold the seats up, plug everything back in, and pat yourself on the back for a job well done and not having to worry about getting pulled over or failed inspections :woowoo:
 
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#5 ·
yeah its a coupe. pretty sure all civics have the third brake light regardless of whether its a premium audio or not

hi, did you take pictures of the re-soldered connections. after i took mine apart, i did not see any issue with the solder points, so i retested and the lights worked (until i got to the Honda dealer for the inspection, then it stopped).

if you have pictures, please post.

thanks,

jim
the posted pictures are of the joints after being re-soldered (hence them being shiney). unfortunately i didnt take any of the joints prior to re-soldering them but you could clearly see cracks on them. yours might not be as badly cracked as mine but id say try to re-solder it and see if it helps
 
#4 ·
hi, did you take pictures of the re-soldered connections. after i took mine apart, i did not see any issue with the solder points, so i retested and the lights worked (until i got to the Honda dealer for the inspection, then it stopped).

if you have pictures, please post.

thanks,

jim
 
#6 ·
I just recently had the same issues with the 2008 Civic coupe (EX) that I just purchased. I decided to try and find the problem with the 3rd stop light not working and I started at the 2 pole connector that is in the trunk area........as you have pictured. I took the connector apart and took a voltage reading on the side of the connector that comes from the wiring harness, while having my wife step on the brake pedal. As she did this, I held the meter on the two contacts and there was NO voltage present unless I really pressed the probes hard onto the connectors. This told me that the connectors needed cleaning as they were not making a good connection. I ended up taking the blade of my knife and scraping them, then tried scraping the pins on the other half of the connector. This is a very tight/small area to get to, so nothing really available that I know of to get into the connector area and clean/buff/burnish, etc., so the knife had to do. I put the connector back together and tried it again. The 3rd brake light is now operating perfectly. I'm sure that this will eventually happen again, as the connectors will get in the same condition as I found them the other day. When this happens, I will most likely cut the connectors off and just solder and heat shrink the connection and it will be done for good. Hope this helps for anyone having these issues with the 3rd brake light not working. Check the connector in the trunk first, before trying to remove the rear deck to access the actual 3rd light.
 
#15 ·
I recently had the same problem with my 3rd brake light.

After trying the fix posted above, I was able to get the lights working again. Howerver, only one light was bright, the others were dim.

Instead of messing with this anymore, I decided to replace the leds (I cannot see paying honda $70 for a replacement that will probably fail a few years down the road).

I ordered a 6 led strip from an online retailer for just under $5.00. After removing the the brake light housing from the vehicle and removing the lens, I ripped out the leds and circuit board. Then I ground down all the plastic posts so that I had a smooth surface to mount the new strip. The positive and negative wires were then crimped to the oem wire with the connector on the other end and everything was reinstalled.

If anyone wants to do this and has any questions, feel free to ask.

-Chris

Led strip in housing
Bumper Gadget


Connected to a 9 volt battery
Red Automotive lighting Light Automotive tail & brake light Lighting
 
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