The taillights are among the most important components of your Honda Civic. Having them intact is paramount to safe driving. This is why if they are not working and your brake lights are, you should be worried.
If you are worried and need a quick solution to this problem, you just picked the right post. We will show you the most common causes of this problem in this post. Also, we will provide you with a few easy solutions to the problem.
Honda Civic Taillights Not Working: Most Likely Causes
Your car’s taillights help in illuminating the rear end of the car. This way, someone coming behind can know that there is a car in front. Right now, you are bothered that your Honda Civic taillights are not working. Why aren’t they working?
In this section, we will discuss a few possible reasons for this problem.
Burnt bulb(s)
As you can guess, the taillights make use of light bulbs. These bulbs share a lot of similarities with the bulbs in your home in the way that they operate. What this implies is that after a while, they can get burnt.
So if you notice that your brake lights are working and the taillights are not, you should check the bulbs first. The bulbs may be out.
Damaged or dislodged wiring
Taillights work on an electric circuit. This electric circuit is made up of wires and fuses. If the wires are damaged or dislodged, then the circuit gets broken. Once the circuit is broken, the lights will not.
There are several reasons why the wires may be damaged or dislodged. The chief of these reasons is wear and tear. When you have used the car for a while, it is very likely for these wires to experience wear and tear. Soon they will peel and may even cut.
Another reason is rare accidents. When there is an accident behind your car, it may either dislodge or damage the wires connecting the taillights. This will cause the lights to stop working.
Blown fuse
This is another very common reason why your taillights have stopped working. Remember when we said that these lights run on electric circuits made of wires and fuses? Well, if a fuse is blown or dislodged, it means that the taillights will stop working. It is very important to check the associated fuses for their condition.
Electrical problems
Asides from the fuses, bulbs, and wires, there are other electrical components of your Honda Civic. If any of the components relating to the taillights fails, it could cause the lights to stop working. One of the easiest ways to know if you have an electrical problem is when a fuse keeps blowing after replacement. In this case, you need the help of a professional to locate the electrical problem and fix it.
Socket failure
Another important reason why your taillights may stop working is socket failure. The fuses and bulbs might be working great. However, if you fit a good bulb in a bad socket, it still wouldn’t work.
Sockets may fail due to several reasons. It could be a result of corrosion, wear and tear, or accidents. Whatever the case is, most times, you need to replace the socket to get it working again.
Control switch failure
This is the final reason that we will discuss in this post. When the control switch is bad, the taillights of your Honda Civic wouldn’t come on. If you have checked every other thing and they seem to be alright, then you should check the control switch.
Honda Civic Taillights Not Working: Fixing the problem
We have shown you the possible problems above. In this section, we will look at how to fix them easily.
Burnt bulb
Checking if a bulb is burnt is very easy. You can tell by a simple visual evaluation. If all the bulbs are on and just one is off, it means that the only one that didn’t come on is burnt.
For a better more precise check, you should take out the covering of the lights. Now, check each of the bulbs to locate anyone that is blackened. You can also look at the filament of the bulb to see if it is intact or not. If you notice that a bulb is bad, simply change it.
Wiring problems
To locate the wires of your taillights, you need to open the trunk. From here, you can check each of the taillights to be sure that the wiring is intact. If there are any issues, you should see some loose wiring.
In this case, you need to reattach these cables. However, if you notice that the wires are too muddled up and you can’t differentiate them, speak to a professional. Ensure that you use some tape to hold the wires and cover any naked wires.
Blown fuses
As stated above, a blown fuse may be the cause of the problem. If this is the case, you need to replace it. Sometimes, the fuse is not blown, it is just dislodged.
Simply open the fuse box and check for the associated fuse. Make sure that you switch off the car before doing this so that you don’t get electrocuted. Once you identify the fuse, take it out and inspect it. You can try to reposition it then check if the taillights come on. If they don’t, then you need to replace the fuse.
Socket failure
If you have tried all the solutions above to no avail, you should check the sockets. Check them to be sure that they are not damaged by impact, wear and tear, or corrosion. You can also run a simple test with a multimeter to check if there is any voltage reaching here. If you notice that the sockets are bad, you should change them.
