Honda CR-V Brake Lights

[dsurette]

My brake lights stopped working with the key in the in the ACC position. They are working fine in he ON position. They were working when I started to drive home from Bristol last Sunday but about half way home I noticed that the indicator light on the dash would not illuminate when I applied the brakes.
If I could get some schematics or a wiring diagram for the CR-V I might be able to figure this out.
Does anyone have any ideas what is happening? It seems as if there are two sources of 12V to the brake light switch, one for the key ON position and another when the key is in Accessory position.
Thanks for any help you can give.

[aether_one]

Too many unknowns:

I assume you are talking about when towed.
What kind of auxiliary braking system?
Do the lights work in ACC when you use the brake pedal in the CRV?

[Mr_D]

Did you have someone wire the brake lights for you?
What braking system are you using?

If using one of the systems that pushes on the brake pedal in the CR-V there is a relay setup that is used to cut off the CR-V's brake lights so the bulb doesn't get hit with two signals. One from the MH and another from the car itself.

I put one of the RoadMaster relay setups in my CR-V.

[dsurette]

I have the Blue Ox Autostop. It uses the Honda's own 12V for the brake lights. The lights work fine with the key ON and I depress the Honda brake pedal. They do not work in the ACC position when I depress the brake pedal. I am not hooked up to anything now.
The brakes are wired so there is no brake signal from the motorhome, only directional signals.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by dsurette

I have the Blue Ox Autostop. It uses the Honda's own 12V for the brake lights. The lights work fine with the key ON and I depress the Honda brake pedal. They do not work in the ACC position when I depress the brake pedal. I am not hooked up to anything now.
The brakes are wired so there is no brake signal from the motorhome, only directional signals.

The brakes are wired so there is no brake signal from the motorhome, only directional signals.

Hmmmm, Been wiring this kind of stuff for a few decades and, have never heard of it being possible to wire things that way. The reason I say this is because normally, at the trailer plug on about 99.99999% of the RVs out in RV land, you'll have a minimum of four pins. Most have the 7 pin round plug. Now, in either of those, the way things present is:

1. Right turn/BRAKE
2. Left turn/BRAKE
3. Tail/marker
4. Ground

Now, there's other pins in the 7 pin round but, they are used for other purposes. While you say that your CRV is wired FROM the coach, to only receive TURN SIGNALS, the way the wiring is in either the 7 pin or the 4 pin flat, either of the turn signals, right or left, is also a BRAKE LIGHT signal too. It depends on if the motor home turn lever is in the neutral position or not as to whether the two pins in that plug, BOTH send out a BRAKE light signal.

Even if the turn lever in the coach is activating a right turn or a left turn, the opposite pin will still send out a brake light signal. So, that means your CRV should still be receiving a brake light signal from the coach. If yours is not, just for my own education, I'd like to see the wiring arrangement you have in that plug, that does not allow for brake light signals to be sent to the toad.
Scott

[l1v3fr33ord1]

The AutoStop instructions I found at this link say (on page 5 f the PDF):

The AutoStop™ uses the towed vehicles brakes. Most vehicle’s brake lights work with the key in the off or in the accessory position. This creates the possibility of the towed vehicle’s battery being drained while towing as the brake lights are activated each time the brake pedal is depressed by the AutoStop™. Included are electrical parts which bypass the towed vehicles battery while towing. The only change you will notice to the towed vehicle is that the brake lights will only be activated by the brake pedal when the ignition is in the “on” position. We also include a light indicator that is installed in the dash of the towing vehicle which lights up when the brake pedal in the towed vehicle is pulled on by the AutoStop™.

The instructions include a wiring diagram. It shows a relay that is wired and works the same as the Roadmaster Brake-Lite Relay Kit.

This means that the toad brake light signal needs to come from the coach, via the hitch connector and the umbilical cable, and delivered to the toad brake light bulbs downstream of the AutoStop relay.

Wired that way, having the brake lights come on when the toad is disconnected from the coach and only with the key in the "On" position is "normal."

Now, not having the dash light illuminate when braking is a different kettle of fish. According to the AutoStop wiring diagram, the light should go on whenever the toad brake pedal is depressed (i.e., the brake switch closed). If the light is not going on, then the cause(s) could be:

1) The toad battery is dead
2) The braking system is not working (no or not enough pedal motion)
3) The wiring between the brake switch output and dash light is faulty
4) The dash light is faulty

You can test the system for 3) and 4) by connecting the umbilical (and any other cables) between coach and toad and then stepping on the toad brake pedal. The towbar does not need to be in place for that.

[dsurette]

I guess I was given some bad information about how the brake lights work. I went to the storage place today and connected the umbilical between Honda and MH. The brakes lights were actuated by the MH brake switch just as everyone was telling me. Yesterday I called the place that installed the tow bar and they told me differently from what I was told when they installed it. Or maybe I just heard it differently then. Sorry for all the confusion on my part. Thanks for all the replies.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by dsurette

I guess I was given some bad information about how the brake lights work. I went to the storage place today and connected the umbilical between Honda and MH. The brakes lights were actuated by the MH brake switch just as everyone was telling me. Yesterday I called the place that installed the tow bar and they told me differently from what I was told when they installed it. Or maybe I just heard it differently then. Sorry for all the confusion on my part. Thanks for all the replies.

No need to apologize, we all learn at some point in time. Now, what I'd like to ask you now is, how EXACTLY do your turn signals work? If I'm not mistaken, you have AMBER turn signals on your CRV, correct? Is your CRV wired so that the Amber lights are used as turn signals or, are you using actual brake lights as turn signals. What I'm talking or asking about concerns the way the CRV is wired to the coach, and what happens when you use a turn signal on the coach. You see, there are some, including some supposed "techs" that work at certain repair/installation establishments, that do not have a clue as to what happens when in certain lighting situations.

So, before I go any further in explanation, it you'd be so kind as to answer the questions I've asked, then I can help you with potential other problems. Good luck.
Scott

[dsurette]

Thanks Scott. We are leaving on a 5 day trip to Tulsa, OK and not towing this time. But if I remember correctly, the brake lights and turn signals are both red and use the same bulb. The high center brake light does not work from the MH but does work from the CRV brake pedal. A person on the CRV tech forum sent a brake light diagram which helped quite a bit.

[Winemaker2]

Originally Posted by dsurette

Thanks Scott. We are leaving on a 5 day trip to Tulsa, OK and not towing this time. But if I remember correctly, the brake lights and turn signals are both red and use the same bulb. The high center brake light does not work from the MH but does work from the CRV brake pedal. A person on the CRV tech forum sent a brake light diagram which helped quite a bit.

What yr is your CR.V ?

Just finished wiring my '14 CRV but installed an additinal LED bulb to avoid any interactions.

[Sweetbriar]

I also tow a CRV and when you get a chance check one item. If the installer wired the coach signal for turning to flash a red trail light rather than the separate amber CRV light the braking system in the CRV may override the indication. I used a splitter module that will separate out the turn from the brake signal coming from the coach.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The problem occurs only when you have an active turn indication coming from the coach AND the supplemental braking system in toad is active. The problem will also override the four way flasher. This problem ONLY occurs if the installation is using the CRV's lights and did not include an independent additional light as with Winemaker2's setup.

[Winemaker2]

I've set up and towed 2CR.Vs and chose to do both w independant ....new bulb on both...glad I did as Ive read about issues w tieing intp factory wiring. ..why risk it...easy to keep them separate.
Current set up should activate borh for brakes as I'm using a RVI3 brake system that activates the toad brake pedal.

[FIRE UP]

There is NO RISK when tieing into the factory wiring. I've done it no less than a few dozen times. I too used what's called a "Tail light converter". And, in the case of the CRV, it's the version like shown in the link, a "two wire to three wire" converter. There are opposite ones too. Those are 3 wire to 2 wire. For the CRV, you need the first one.

When done correctly, your CRV tail lights will act the exact same way they do when towing it, as they do when driving it. And that will include both the Amber turn signals and third brake light. This is a matter of knowing where to tie into and, also the use of diodes to keep the light signals from going places where they're not supposed to. All of them that I have done are still working just fine and, have not burned to the ground.

The one linked is the one needed. When I setup our CRV, I drew up a schematic to show exactly how it's done. Many have used it. Pretty simple. The problem I have now is, Photobucket, the host sight for many of us that link photos on here and other forums, has no changed its policies and now CHARGES for linking photos. Well, that's not gonna happen so, for now, I can't link the schematic that would really explain things.
Scott

[dsurette]

What I installed is the Hopkins Custom Tail Light Wiring Kit for Towed Vehicles Item # HM56304.

I did all the taillight wiring according to the instructions and tied back the wiring to be completed when the base plate was installed. Everything is working fine now. The turn signals work the same hooked up as they do unhooked as do the brake lights. This thread was started because of a misunderstanding on my part. I thought the Honda powered the brake lights but I found that they are actually powered by the MH. I was trying to get the brake lights to work when not hooked to the MH.

I do appreciate all the help.

BTW, I cut and pasted the Hopkins information and that's why everything is in BOLD. I promise I an not screaming.