In this video I show you how to remove the rear parcel shelf in your 2 door 2009 Honda Civic and replace the LED 3rd Brake light. Honda # 34270-SVA-A01
Thank you very much for the video. A dealer wanted to charge me $600 for the replacement. Following your instructions, I only spent $45 to replace it by myself in 30 minutes. Thank you! Thank you!
Just wanted to say a big "Thank You" for making this video!! My car failed inspection for the third brake light. I have a 2006 2 DR EX Coupe...it list a bulb $4.13 must have been a split year because mine took of course the...$97 LED Bar Assembly from Honda! They also wanted a $100 for install! Your video was spot on and I did it myself...your video was a life saver for me...after a company downsize lost my position...so cash flow is tight...just installed today...Thank You again for the video and making it so easy!!
t Holt again! Following the video, I just installed replacement led third brake light in 2 dr. 2008 Civic EX-L. I had to pry the rear fasteners out with a long bladed screwdriver for lack of a better tool and padded the tinted glass with a thick cloth so it wouldn't get scratched. After replacing light, I reinstalled the rear parcel shelf and realized I had not fed wire through hole. Popped up front panel and middle two fasteners and was able to stick my hand in to feed wire. Before beginning, I hooked the new light up to the wire in the trunk before installing just to make sure I didn't have a dud. To anyone contemplating doing this themselves, don't be afraid you're going to break the rear parcel - just follow the video. Thanks again!
Hey t Holt glad it worked out man. We have all been there, I've put on door panels before then been like...all crap I forgot to plug in the regulator...Grrrrr... haha happens to everyone a time or two I am sure :)
Thanks for posting this!!!! I thought changing the light would be a simple screwed-out old bulb, screw-in new bulb job. You've saved me countless hours of frustration.
My brake light would occasionally work. Paid a sound shop $75 to repair by soldering the joints another youtube video showed. Repair lasted about 3 months then light became intermittent again. Just ordered an OEM light and am going to install it myself thanks to this excellent turorial.
Thank you so much for posting this. I have had my light replaced less than 2 years ago on my 2008 civic. I never knew why it was a $300 fix. I'm more confident to try and tackle on my own. You are awesome.
Reason the LED stops working is because the wires are separating from the LED circuit board. To fix use a soldering iron on the positive and negative connections.
+Mike Hansen awesome advice, thanks buddy, took the assy out, heated with pencil iron on both positive and negative solder joints on the circuit board and presto the lite works fine saved 100 dollars thanks again
@@joelund655 that is just production woes, not Honda. Do you think they make those assemblies in their plant? Do you think they have a circuit board plant in house and do all the solders themselves? No. They have a supplier. A lot of civics are sold, 1.7 million approximately for this specific generation. If you have a reasonable defect rate of say 0.1%, that is still 1700 failures. 1700 people having a part issue. I bet you don't have a 99.9% success rate in your life. I had an isuzu I-mark when I was a teenager, they had an issue with cold solder joints on the main board, that in hot places like the south would eventually cause them to crack and cause issues with running. It happens. Once you live a little longer and have some life experience, you'll calm down and understand. Go work in factories. I've worked in many, including a house supplier. Humans are involved, mistakes happen in the process, and you don't always catch a small failure rate in even if you collect inspection samples every 5 minutes. So calm yourself and step into reality. Dont buy a Honda because most of them have interference engines with timing belts instead of chains. That makes at least some sense, even if most of the time following your (preventative) maintenance schedule will ... prevent issues. Not buying a Honda because an led solder from a supplier goes bad after 10 years of being in a window with direct sunlight and, seasonal heat and cold cycles, and the heat it produces on its own. Short blanket statements dismissing a brand without any knowledge of the systems shows your ignorance, and when you wear it proudly on your sleeve as if it is unquestionable fact makes you look the fool. This isn't dorman, with double digit failure rates. I bet if we talk to your exes, your failure rate might be similarly embarrassing high ;)
Great video. Thanks for sharing! Especially on things to watch out for and how to get the cover out. My Honda Civic 2008 EX 2 door worked just fine following your instructions. I got my third brake light from eBay for only $65 with free shipping.
I had a 2006 civic with the same problem. The issue is the solder is cracked and no longer connected to the circuit board. Just resolder the 2 connections. It worked for me.
Thank You for this video. I have a 2008 2 DR EX Coupe the...$105 LED Bar Assembly from Honda! They also wanted a $160 for install! Your video was right on and I did it myself, your video was a life saver for me, I am retired on a fixed income got the LED Bar from Amazon for $78 it was a Genuine Honda part # just like you stated in the video. just installed yesterday.Thank You again for the video and making it so easy.
Thank you for making this. This bloody brake light has pissed me off so badly, but I feel better finally finding a video that describes this stupid design.
awesome video! going to take the ex tray put in my 2011 si coupe to get a fourth brake light glad it will fit over my subwoofer woo. this assured me, now can have 4 brake lights ( :
I totally agree. This is one of the worst designs, and one of the most difficult things I have had to work on. A real (PIA) "It should be a bulb"! You should also do another video from beginning to end, because this video was the only one I could find. And it was also helpful. So thanks For this video!
Eric, you are simply the Best. Thank you once again for not only showing how it's done but for showing me what Not to do ! My Sincerest Gratitude, Paul @ PEZ Choppers, Media, Pa.
Mine went out shortly after increasing subwoofer volume to max. Coincidence? Unassembled and reassembled everything and its back working again. All joints and connections were fine so maybe vibration of woofer was catalyst
Worst part is the sedan version is just a bulb you pop in without having to do any of this, of course my sisters coupe brake light just went out, thanks for the vid
The coupe and sedan civics of this generation are completely different and I honestly don’t know why Honda went this direction, but they did! I’ve had to replace my 2007 Civic coupe 3rd brake light and it’s definitely not a quick and simple task!
You can use any 12v LED strip light. Just cut the old wiring harness off and attach the lead to the new LED strip. The cost is $12.00 for an LED strip light that fits inside the old housing.
Those LED lights are notorious for going out. I got three from a junk yard to replace mine but they all failed. The same issue occur for all three, and that issue is bad soldering on the terminals. The LED strip works but because of faulty soldering it does not get any power or ground and fails.
It was $200 for the LED replacement from the dealership, or $150 for the non LED replacement. I checked the junkyard but no luck. So I bought it from Amazon for like $18.
Is it possible to leave the four rear white clips on the car on reinstalling arrange the parcel shelf onto those pre-situated clips before engaging the remaining fastenings?
Save yourself some money and try to solder the connections first. I had the same issue and soldered the positive and negative connections on the tail light housing and it works fine now.
Good question Valde3333 . This was a sealed L.E.D. assembly with no replaceable bulb. I didn't really fiddle with it much to see if it could be tore apart. Sometimes that stuff is hard to do in a shop environment.
If the wire to the brake lite is 12V. couldn't a person take a lite housing and socket out of a junk car with regular bulb and mount it on the package shelf and use that? Would the BCM detect a difference and throw a code? of course I realize this would not be standard operating procedure for customer work, but is something I would do to my car.
LED's don't last nearly as long as they claim. The LED "bulbs" will last a long time, unfortunately the electronics that control them don't last nearly as long. I replaced all the lighting in my house with LED's that are supposed to last 22 years. Its been about a year and 3 of them have already failed.
LEDS can die eventually but they last wayyy longe, but they do not require 12 volts it's just way too much, this is probably an issue inside that housing, possible a resister gone bad or a voltage regulator.
4:15 - what happened to the 90c bulb? Safety :) "Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) illuminate 200 milliseconds faster than incandescent bulbs - For an automobile this means a faster braking distance response time, about a full car length of extra stopping distance at 65 MPH."
+06acc LED's don't last nearly as long as they claim. The LED "bulbs" will last a long time, unfortunately the electronics that control them don't last nearly as long. I replaced all the lighting in my house with LED's that are supposed to last 22 years. Its been about a year and 3 of them have already failed.
i was really hoping, you just took a strip of red LED lights for a few bucks, hot glued it and connected to brake electrical wiring. $100 bucks, wow. I am guilty about this too, we are smarter then we think. I never done it, but seriously how hard would it be to attach a light in the car , You woke! Believe dat
remove that rear deck on a 4 door once... lol popping the white clips out by tapping on them with a hammer from inside the trunk makes It allot easier.. at least its allot less work than on my 4 door ex-l.. on the 4 door without the subwoofer in the center, its a old school bulb too... 2 second fix from inside the trunk... so, there is my comment
Note : removal/install of the plastic cover behind the seats, which is the most complicated, IS included, very clearly at the END of the video. I almost by-passed this video seeing it had already been removed at start of video. Dorman sells a replacement brake light on Amazon by the way. 2010 civic coupe (EX) was $48.98. OE fitment.
Got this LED bar from hondaautomotiveparts.com for $65 instead of $90 and installed it myself... and still felt like $65 was too much money. BUT im pretty sure it will never go bad again as long as i own the car which will be another 3 or 4 years max.
Freaking stupid design. Also don't bang your trunk release cable or you will be sawing a hole through the back of the small fold down seat to release your trunk pulls. That. Really. Sucked. This has to be the worst civic made. Also valve cover gasket goes around 90k miles and if you've got potholes around you, you will go through several upper motor mounts. 3rd one in 90k miles. Also random electrical issues with console lights blinking out and dimming like in the radio and the temp controls. Wish I'd bought something else.
5 years after posting this you’re still helping people out! This was perfect for me . Thank you for putting this together
Thank you very much for the video. A dealer wanted to charge me $600 for the replacement. Following your instructions, I only spent $45 to replace it by myself in 30 minutes. Thank you! Thank you!
Just wanted to say a big "Thank You" for making this video!! My car failed inspection for the third brake light. I have a 2006 2 DR EX Coupe...it list a bulb $4.13 must have been a split year because mine took of course the...$97 LED Bar Assembly from Honda! They also wanted a $100 for install! Your video was spot on and I did it myself...your video was a life saver for me...after a company downsize lost my position...so cash flow is tight...just installed today...Thank You again for the video and making it so easy!!
Susan Decker Glad to help ! Any time :)
Yes same here. I'm about to order the part and do it myself.
the sedans have a bulb the coupes have the led of those generation civics
I have a LX coupe, is it the same? Wheres it at
t Holt again!
Following the video, I just installed replacement led third brake light in 2 dr. 2008 Civic EX-L. I had to pry the rear fasteners out with a long bladed screwdriver for lack of a better tool and padded the tinted glass with a thick cloth so it wouldn't get scratched. After replacing light, I reinstalled the rear parcel shelf and realized I had not fed wire through hole. Popped up front panel and middle two fasteners and was able to stick my hand in to feed wire. Before beginning, I hooked the new light up to the wire in the trunk before installing just to make sure I didn't have a dud. To anyone contemplating doing this themselves, don't be afraid you're going to break the rear parcel - just follow the video. Thanks again!
Hey t Holt glad it worked out man. We have all been there, I've put on door panels before then been like...all crap I forgot to plug in the regulator...Grrrrr... haha happens to everyone a time or two I am sure :)
Thank you for including the part number in the description!
Thanks for posting this!!!! I thought changing the light would be a simple screwed-out old bulb, screw-in new bulb job. You've saved me countless hours of frustration.
My brake light would occasionally work. Paid a sound shop $75 to repair by soldering the joints another youtube video showed. Repair lasted about 3 months then light became intermittent again. Just ordered an OEM light and am going to install it myself thanks to this excellent turorial.
You got it :)
Thank you so much for posting this. I have had my light replaced less than 2 years ago on my 2008 civic. I never knew why it was a $300 fix. I'm more confident to try and tackle on my own. You are awesome.
Antonio Lugo Oh you can do it no prob!
Your instruction/demonstration is the best, thank you, I think I can do it now.
Reason the LED stops working is because the wires are separating from the LED circuit board. To fix use a soldering iron on the positive and negative connections.
+Mike Hansen awesome advice, thanks buddy, took the assy out, heated with pencil iron on both positive and negative solder joints on the circuit board and presto the lite works fine saved 100 dollars thanks again
Mike Hansen need a video! Lol. Where's the led circuit board located? I've got soldering skills just not much of a mechanic.
That's exactly why I don't buy a Honda
@@joelund655 that is just production woes, not Honda.
Do you think they make those assemblies in their plant? Do you think they have a circuit board plant in house and do all the solders themselves?
No. They have a supplier. A lot of civics are sold, 1.7 million approximately for this specific generation. If you have a reasonable defect rate of say 0.1%, that is still 1700 failures. 1700 people having a part issue.
I bet you don't have a 99.9% success rate in your life.
I had an isuzu I-mark when I was a teenager, they had an issue with cold solder joints on the main board, that in hot places like the south would eventually cause them to crack and cause issues with running. It happens.
Once you live a little longer and have some life experience, you'll calm down and understand. Go work in factories. I've worked in many, including a house supplier. Humans are involved, mistakes happen in the process, and you don't always catch a small failure rate in even if you collect inspection samples every 5 minutes.
So calm yourself and step into reality.
Dont buy a Honda because most of them have interference engines with timing belts instead of chains. That makes at least some sense, even if most of the time following your (preventative) maintenance schedule will ... prevent issues.
Not buying a Honda because an led solder from a supplier goes bad after 10 years of being in a window with direct sunlight and, seasonal heat and cold cycles, and the heat it produces on its own.
Short blanket statements dismissing a brand without any knowledge of the systems shows your ignorance, and when you wear it proudly on your sleeve as if it is unquestionable fact makes you look the fool.
This isn't dorman, with double digit failure rates. I bet if we talk to your exes, your failure rate might be similarly embarrassing high ;)
Thank you for commenting with this advice! This fixed the problem for me.
Great video. Thanks for sharing! Especially on things to watch out for and how to get the cover out. My Honda Civic 2008 EX 2 door worked just fine following your instructions. I got my third brake light from eBay for only $65 with free shipping.
Thank you. You showed the hardest part of the job very nicely.
cev176 Cool glad it helped :)
I had a 2006 civic with the same problem. The issue is the solder is cracked and no longer connected to the circuit board. Just resolder the 2 connections. It worked for me.
Thank You for this video. I have a 2008 2 DR EX Coupe the...$105 LED Bar Assembly from Honda! They also wanted a $160 for install! Your video was right on and I did it myself, your video was a life saver for me, I am retired on a fixed income got the LED Bar from Amazon for $78 it was a Genuine Honda part # just like you stated in the video. just installed yesterday.Thank You again for the video and making it so easy.
This helped me but I still couldn't get the front pegs in good when reinstalling. The video was great with letting me know what I was getting into.
Thank you for making this. This bloody brake light has pissed me off so badly, but I feel better finally finding a video that describes this stupid design.
awesome video! going to take the ex tray put in my 2011 si coupe to get a fourth brake light glad it will fit over my subwoofer woo. this assured me, now can have 4 brake lights ( :
I totally agree. This is one of the worst designs, and one of the most difficult things I have had to work on. A real (PIA) "It should be a bulb"! You should also do another video from beginning to end, because this video was the only one I could find. And it was also helpful. So thanks For this video!
Eric, you are simply the Best. Thank you once again for not only showing how it's done but for showing me what Not to do ! My Sincerest Gratitude, Paul @ PEZ Choppers, Media, Pa.
Mine went out shortly after increasing subwoofer volume to max. Coincidence? Unassembled and reassembled everything and its back working again. All joints and connections were fine so maybe vibration of woofer was catalyst
I just fixed my 2009 with this video. Thanks!
thx for the video ...just installed my led brake light and i'm off to get my whip inspected.
Glad it helped :)
Thanks for the help! Saved a fortune in labor
Worst part is the sedan version is just a bulb you pop in without having to do any of this, of course my sisters coupe brake light just went out, thanks for the vid
Great, I'm saving about $70 with this video! Bien bien 👍🏽👍🏽
Thank you thank you thank you!!! I had no idea where to start, but your video made it easy money! Happy New Year!
The coupe and sedan civics of this generation are completely different and I honestly don’t know why Honda went this direction, but they did! I’ve had to replace my 2007 Civic coupe 3rd brake light and it’s definitely not a quick and simple task!
Typical newer car shit. Thanks for the video.
This video saved me $200+!
I could be wrong, but this civic might truly be a 2006-2008. That appears to be the older style of EX wheels. Anyway, good vid.
Thanks a lot...this helped quite a bit....needlessly difficult design from a terrific company..oh well....
You can use any 12v LED strip light. Just cut the old wiring harness off and attach the lead to the new LED strip. The cost is $12.00 for an LED strip light that fits inside the old housing.
Hope you had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Those LED lights are notorious for going out.
I got three from a junk yard to replace mine but they all failed.
The same issue occur for all three, and that issue is bad soldering on the terminals.
The LED strip works but because of faulty soldering it does not get any power or ground and fails.
Great helpful video!! Thanks
It was $200 for the LED replacement from the dealership, or $150 for the non LED replacement. I checked the junkyard but no luck. So I bought it from Amazon for like $18.
Is it possible to leave the four rear white clips on the car on reinstalling arrange the parcel shelf onto those pre-situated clips before engaging the remaining fastenings?
Save yourself some money and try to solder the connections first. I had the same issue and soldered the positive and negative connections on the tail light housing and it works fine now.
Thank you I fixed my car
Damn, I wish I saw this video 6 months ago... Same issue with mine (2010).
Thanks for this video! Exactly what I needed 👍
Helped a ton! TY👍
Could the brake light itself be repaired? Can it be opened?
Good question Valde3333 . This was a sealed L.E.D. assembly with no replaceable bulb. I didn't really fiddle with it much to see if it could be tore apart. Sometimes that stuff is hard to do in a shop environment.
great video very informative thanks for the help
Really well done. Thank you
I'd like to have a look at the servicability of these led modules. $90, - sounds like a lot of money for what's basically a string of leds.
If the wire to the brake lite is 12V. couldn't a person take a lite housing and socket out of a junk car with regular bulb and mount it on the package shelf and use that? Would the BCM detect a difference and throw a code? of course I realize this would not be standard operating procedure for customer work, but is something I would do to my car.
dan andy Mmm dunno why not really, I would have to look at the wiring diagram to see where it comes from and how it is controlled ya know.
Great video, thank you!
Very helpful, thank you
LED's don't last nearly as long as they claim. The LED "bulbs" will last a long time, unfortunately the electronics that control them don't last nearly as long. I replaced all the lighting in my house with LED's that are supposed to last 22 years. Its been about a year and 3 of them have already failed.
And they charge like 3 to 4 time the amount of a regular bulb. Doesn't pay to buy LEDs .
I didn't think LEDs burned out. Wonder what happened with this one.
LEDS can die eventually but they last wayyy longe, but they do not require 12 volts it's just way too much, this is probably an issue inside that housing, possible a resister gone bad or a voltage regulator.
This video saved my ass
4:15 - what happened to the 90c bulb? Safety :)
"Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) illuminate 200 milliseconds faster than incandescent bulbs - For an automobile this means a faster braking distance response time, about a full car length of extra stopping distance at 65 MPH."
Mine is messed up need help it works time to time but then later it don’t work but the other brake lights work need help can’t figure what’s wrong
great, as always...
Thank you
I drive a 2006 Honda civic LX, where do I change the lightbulb?? The cops gave me a warning
Spray paint it black and no one will know its even there.
Yes! We did it. Would have cost $350 at the dealership
Just smash the covering on the light and it costs nothing.
Maybe the subwoofer is damaging the light. LED's should last a long time.
+06acc LED's don't last nearly as long as they claim. The LED "bulbs" will last a long time, unfortunately the electronics that control them don't last nearly as long. I replaced all the lighting in my house with LED's that are supposed to last 22 years. Its been about a year and 3 of them have already failed.
My 2006 Honda Accord LED tail lights still work fine.
+06acc my on when out about 8 months ago. 4 months ago my state make it a law to pass inspection. Go figure.
+jason127x99 09 civic coup
So there is no bulb?
i was really hoping, you just took a strip of red LED lights for a few bucks, hot glued it and connected to brake electrical wiring. $100 bucks, wow. I am guilty about this too, we are smarter then we think. I never done it, but seriously how hard would it be to attach a light in the car , You woke! Believe dat
The subwoofer vibrated the led connections.
Easy money 💴
Thanks. Honda charges $238 for this job.
Just pain the plastic cover black with black paint and no one will know it even exists. That's what I did and it cost me virutlaly notning
remove that rear deck on a 4 door once... lol popping the white clips out by tapping on them with a hammer from inside the trunk makes It allot easier.. at least its allot less work than on my 4 door ex-l.. on the 4 door without the subwoofer in the center, its a old school bulb too... 2 second fix from inside the trunk... so, there is my comment
Lucky you.
For the 'I'm impressed by L.E.D." crowd...
How friggin much for what should be a 99cent 194ll. Oh and don't tell me , it also threw a code right! Just stupid!
Zebralight H602w .... You'll thank me later :)
Wow, I can't believe it is almost $100 for a stupid third brake light. Nobody can just leave a good thing alone.
Take a hammer to it and its lie it was never there in the first place. Who cares if you're driving?
Note : removal/install of the plastic cover behind the seats, which is the most complicated, IS included, very clearly at the END of the video. I almost by-passed this video seeing it had already been removed at start of video. Dorman sells a replacement brake light on Amazon by the way. 2010 civic coupe (EX) was $48.98. OE fitment.
My light was a 117 dollar replacement
Got this LED bar from hondaautomotiveparts.com for $65 instead of $90 and installed it myself... and still felt like $65 was too much money. BUT im pretty sure it will never go bad again as long as i own the car which will be another 3 or 4 years max.
Wear your hat, OK? Nice video.
this Chevy avalanche third lights are just bad
Anyway they can get your wallet they will....
Freaking stupid design. Also don't bang your trunk release cable or you will be sawing a hole through the back of the small fold down seat to release your trunk pulls. That. Really. Sucked. This has to be the worst civic made.
Also valve cover gasket goes around 90k miles and if you've got potholes around you, you will go through several upper motor mounts. 3rd one in 90k miles. Also random electrical issues with console lights blinking out and dimming like in the radio and the temp controls.
Wish I'd bought something else.
Dorman now makes this led bar part number 923-218