Im confused

[Slyder]

Hi im Tim ive been coming to this site everyday for along time and was wondering if anyone could help me out. I did a tranny swap about a week ago(auto to manual) and now the handbrake light is always on even when the hand break is not applied also when the car is off and the keys are out i can turn on the radio or open the door and then the car has a high pitched sound.
what i dont get is that i didnt even touch any of the wiring.
any thoughts as to what i did wrong.




i figured i'd add a picture, the car on the left is the parts car. i took several parts off of it before i got rid of it but now ive thought of many others i should have taken. owell

[lessersivad]

Hi Tim. Welcome to the site. As for the "brake" light being on you may want to check the fluid level in the master cylinder. There should be a float switch that will activate the "brake" light also. As for the other problems I'm sure someone else on here should be able to help.

[Slyder]

I thought the light was just for the hand brake but i could very well be wrong. anyways thanks alot for the help i will go check that out.

[wrestler3025]

Hey Tim,

Check to see if you have anything else touching the e-brake handle's electrical connector. If you dropped a coin down there, it's possible. If you have any other metal touching it, it will stay lit. Check to make sure it didn't get bent as well.

[piratewilly]

could be ur out of blinker fluid, oh wait i think that only came on the aspires lol jk. Yeah sounds like maybe there is a ground loose somewhere in the car, maybe, and the light most definitely comes on if there is low fluid. Figured that out one day when i spent like all day doing my rear brakes, figuring my brakes didn't work well and the light was on because they were low, and then putting it all back together only for the light to still be on, and then trying all day to figure out when it was on. I finally started thinking smarter and checked the fluid level and it was low and i just had a bad master cyl. Replaced it, filled it up, and low and behold the light went off lol. It is unlikely that the 2 problems are related, but if they are i would be lost and have to take it to an electrical specialist

[Slyder]

ok i hadn't thought of that thanks for the help.

[Slyder]

Im not sure where i heard this but i was told that it was just for the handbrake. well it looks like they were wrong o well. anyways you have all been very helpful ill check all of those things first thing tomorrow.

[Slyder]

so i went and looked over my car and i was just low on brake fluid. i had immediately thought it was a wiring problem. i guess i should remember to check the simple things first. i was wondering do you think that me being able to turn on my radio and have the door buzz when the car is off is because i didnt swap the ecu? or should i reset the ecu (i dont know how ive just heard people say they've done that.)

[Safety Guy]

The ECU is the same for auto or manual. Should be a two plug for FI.

Karl

[geezerstiva]

i dont know why it does that, but you could just unplug the buzzer. its right up under the drivers side of the dash. black box with a two wire plug going into it. i think it says "buzzer" on the side of it somewhere. i did that just to make it not buzz anymore. i hate that noise :lol:

[Slyder]

lol ya i hate that noise to i think ill just do that then. Im still curious why my radio has power when it shouldn't. could it have something to do with the command start... nah that wouldn't make sence well thanks for all your help

[edudu77]

Is it a stock radio? Mine turns on without the car being on/without the key, but it's a blau. Germans are silly like that. My old pioneer had the same option.

[Slyder]

ok. My uncle owned this car before me and he put a stock civic radio in it. it is pioneer. The radio really isnt a big deal i was just wondering why it didnt do that before and does now.

[piratewilly]

ok. My uncle owned this car before me and he put a stock civic radio in it. it is pioneer. The radio really isnt a big deal i was just wondering why it didnt do that before and does now.

its not wired correctly, but no big deal really

[stefan]

Welcome to the site Slyder! Im in wpg.

For your radio, the wire that is supposed to be connected to switched hot is probably connected to constant hot.

One think I can think of for the trans swap... With the manual trans there is a wire going from the neutral gear switch in the trans to the ecu. Im assumeing the auto has something similar. I dont know if it would make a difference if you didn't hook this up though. When I installed remote start in my car i connected this wire to the remote starter so it wouldn't start if I leave it in gear. (might be a good idea for you to hook this up now that you have a manual tranny)

Oh... and if you removed your battery when you swapped the tranny.. then you reset the ecu... thats how you reset it!