Hello. I have a 2000 honda civic ex 2dr. The other day I noticed that my high mount brake light was not working. Checked the high mount bulb and it appeared to be burnt out. I replaced it with a new one and it still doesn't work. ALSO noticed that the rear brake lights were not functioning either.

The tail lights(except the high mount) do work when turned on, but do NOT turn brighter when the brakes are applied. Any ideas on how to fix this?

Thanks!.

 

Check for power at the high mount brake light. If there is no power there then you have a problem. I need to pull up the wiring diagram for your car to figure out the problem, which i can do later today. You will need to check for power at the brake light when the brake is applied.

 

Thanks for your reply. I spent some time with my brother today, trying to diagnose the problem. All the proper fuses seem to be ok. He tested the stop light switch with an (ohm?) meter and all was good.

He also used a test light on the main fuse box under the hood and I assume the stop light switch/or fuse box under the dash. All working properly.

THEN he asked me to step on the brake pedal while he tested the high mount brake light. We got NO power from that test. So I'm baffled as to what's going on here.

 

Don't do resistance tests, they are inaccurate and should only be done when the component is removed from the circuit/car. Instead, do a voltage drop test on the brake switch. The voltage drop should be near zero. If you are not familiar with a voltage drop test, you pretty much find the 2 to wires that the switch connects together. Hook up the positive and neg leads of meter here. Check the voltage.

 

Yeah, we removed the stop light switch completely from the car before testing it.

As far as the voltage drop test, I will talk with my bro and see if he has one lying around to try out.