Honda tail lights not working — Service Bulletin Fix

My Honda tail lights don’t work and Honda license plate lights flicker

Honda has issued a technical service bulleting #08-094 to address two lighting issues on the vehicles listed bellows: Honda tail lights not working, Honda license plate lights flicker.

Honda states that the problem relates to the taillights on the trunk lid and the license plate lights. Either the lights don’t work or they flicker.

Affected vehicles

2004-05 Civic 2-door VIN starts with 1HGEM or 2HGEM

2004–05 Civic 4-Door – VIN starts with 1HGES or 2HGES

Honda has isolated the problem to a bad splice in the rear wiring harness. Here’s how to fix it.

Remove the right side trunk trim panel. Then cut the wire harness clips that hold the harness to the trunk hinge. Using a utility knife, slice through the tape that’s sealing the plastic tubing. Cut between the areas where the two clips were holding the harness.

Next, open the tubing and pull out the red/yellow wires and locate the splice. The splice consists of 3-wires spliced into 1 wire. Cut in front of the splice and then cut the opposite end beyond where it was held by the clip. Add a new wire of the same gauge and splice using crimp butt connectors as shown below. Cover both splices with heat shrinkable tubing.

©, 2015 Rick Muscoplat