mrlittlejohn

I just purchased a 2002 Honda Civic LX for a college commuter for my son. It has 235K miles and purrs like a kitten and drives smooth as silk.

Driving it home tonight, I realize the dash lighting is mostly missing.

I tried to look for some tip on it, but can't seem to locate direct information on how to best replace the bulbs s we can see the gauges properly. It is not the dimmer, as it works for the maybe 2 lights working.

I am not trying to decorate with funkiness, but want the plain stock appearance.

I notice the cruise control buttons on the steering wheel do not light, nor does the mirror controls on the panel left of the steering wheel column.

I am also missing lighting on the blower fan control. I believe the direction (face/face and feet/feet/feet defrost/defrost) and the temp is working ok.



Any and all help is greatly appreciated !




Thanks,
Mike

ezone

235k. Probably needs most of the incandescent bulbs replaced.

Pull the cluster out, find all the bulb sockets in the back.

Each individual switch and the heater controls have replaceable bulbs....for the most part. (Some may not if yours is an LX, I don't keep track of stuff like this.)
They usually look like this

mrlittlejohn

Thanks again EZONE, great person here.

How difficult is it to remove the gauge cluster? Anything need special caution?

I see people making comments about needle bulbs and all. I don't care if the needle glows, just as long as the background is lit up. No color changing for me either...



Thanks again,
Mike

ezone

Short phillips. Reg. phillips.
Remove trim piece as necessary to expose cluster. Cluster is held in with i think 3 screws. Tip out, remove wiring, remove cluster.

See what's on the back. Twist and pull out bulbs. Stick a bright flashlight in each hole to see what will light up.

kinakoes2

Looks like the Majestic parts fiche doesn't list a separate part # for the cluster bulbs... unless they're listed somewhere else, non-intuitively. Does another part use the same bulbs for the back of the cluster? I have a slight dim spot atop my speedo that's probably one or two gone...

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

OP the power mirror uses a soldered in place bulb.

I took apart a neo-wedge and used it as a replacement.

01-05 is like 6 bulbs used in hvac cluster total, you should change them all together imo.

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

I see you have an 04..... those are led lit iirc. You still could have one that failed, or bad connection to pcb.

ezone

02 lx sedan?

kinakoes2

Oh weird -- when I put in my VIN, it comes up with this:



Cool -- I'll refer by another 7th gen rather than my VIN (damned Canuck car)

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

01-03 has incandescent & 04-05 is LED.

Two posters with different model years in 1 thread.

Does your dim section ever flicker on ?? Bumps ? bump with a fist on top ??

kinakoes2

Whoops -- missed this reply... thanks CraigW... THAT's why they don't list any bulbs for my VIN. May be a connection issue if it's not a bulb, it is salty as hell here. Maybe removing and inspecting will solve; we'll see after TS Iselle and her boyfriend Julio finish trashing my state.

kinakoes2

Sorry -- posted here thinking the clusters were the same between the early and late 7th gens.

No, tried that (my Escort had a similar problem). Not as obvious as an incand going out... but pretty obvious at night -- tach is properly and evenly lit, while the speedo is not... so if it's an LED, then it's gotta be just one of several in that area or it's a failing one... meaning a new cluster if I want it fixed.

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

They are likely SMD (surface mounted devices) virtually impossible to replace by soldering back onto PCB.

But....Never say Never.

ezone

Here ya go

mrlittlejohn

Let me tell ya...

I was certified to NASA standards while in the US Navy as an avionics technician. I have replaced more electronic components than most 30 year olds have used sheets of toilet paper. (sorry about that...) I could repair circuit boards, even multi layer boards. I have been trained to solder with heated air, using solder paste. We used microscopes and all, and our work was mandated to be better than factory. Although that was not saying much on many occasions. This video makes it look so much easier than it is. Don't let this video make you think you can do it and ruin a gauge printed circuit board and make a "want to do it" modification turn into an expensive repair.

All the correct tools AND a very steady hand and knowledge of solder techniques are mandatory.



Sorry, but I wanted to clarify the complex nature of this task.




Thanks for the inputs everyone,
Mike

ezone

^kinakoes will send you his cluster to fix LOL

kinakoes2

^LOL how much

Navy techs seem to be much, much more qualified at this sort of thing than Army techs were... though to be honest, if you were a citizen of a town that was moved to a giant diesel bathtub a week away from land... you'd:


1) first become a fireman

2) then become pretty friggin' self-sufficient (if you don't like how things are, what you gonna do, run away?) and good at your job, since your boss (and really, anyone who outranks you) can pretty much can ruin your every waking moment, until they're tired...

Seattle is a Navy town, to a fault ... lived there six years and got to know racing buddies in an even more insular community within the Navy, the submariners. Not to mention the sailors I partied with when I lived tri-service in NoVA while a soldier...

Back to the cluster... I think I'll just live with it. It's not worth ripping out and not driving for a week just to address a minor dimness. If it was a bulb swap fine... but complex PCB work? If it gets worse, maybe.

mrlittlejohn

I wish I could say I still had that talent. I could probably do it after a little practice and with the right support equipment. And truly would love to help those in need.

The Navy has an excellent electronic training program.



Back to lights. I ordered a set of 20 LEDs from Amazon which will be here tomorrow. My son is taking the car to Columbus this evening for school. Will I need any special tools to remove the cluster?

I need to make sure I bring whatever tools I will need as he has a minimum amount of tools right now. I plan to visit him this weekend and look to replace the dash lights. I saw a video or two on YouTube and it looked simple. But would love to hear it from someone with experience themselves.




Mike

ezone

Probably a variety of ordinary stuff, plus a short stubby #2 Phillips.

mrlittlejohn

I went to 6 stores and could not find a screwdriver like that. I looked up the part number on the handle and it is no longer available.









JK !



He drove home this weekend to work a day at his job (he has educational leave at Harris Teeters and has to work 1 day in 6 weeks minimum). I installed the LED lights and a few were in correctly for polarity and I observed such a drastic direct light, I was not going to be happy with it. I went to Wally World and purchased 3 packs of #74 lights and installed them. The panel looks nice again.



Thanks for the help all !










Mike

mrlittlejohn

Reply and asking for some more help...

I had ordered the LED lights and they are not functional as they are directional light. I had to go back to the Sylvania lights to give a light field to fill the area designed to light up.

When I had removed the panel, I heard rattling. What do you know, but the lights came out of the sockets in the cluster. I was able to finally to shake them all out, but replaced them in fear of age. Well, after a few weeks, almost all of them fell out of the socket again.

Where can I get new sockets at? I was missing one anyways and would like a replacement. I just reinstalled the lights and used a tad bit of hi-temp RTV to hold them in hopefully. Only time will tell.

I also need a lamp assembly for my light in the dash for the fan speed lighting. It is not a replaceable light itself. I am thinking it would be a dealership item, but some dealers like to just sell a heat/air conditioning cluster assembly. At least that was the way the Ford dealership was for a small part I needed for my Excursion.



Thanks in advance for the help !


Mike

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

You can get the plastic sockets for the cluster illumination bulbs from dealer.

HVAC bulbs are likely neo-wedge bulb/socket assembly.

ezone

The correct parts from Honda don't fall apart.


Yes it is.

Bulb #1, it takes two of them.



Majestic Honda link: http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/auto/jsp/mws/prddisplay.jsp?inputstate=5&catcgry1=CIVIC&catcgry 2=2002&catcgry3=4DR+LX&catcgry4=KA4AT&catcgry5=HEA TER+CONTROL

mrlittlejohn

Thanks ezone, but you may have mistaken my intended direction.

First, what was falling apart was the bulbs I replaced into the sockets in the instrument cluster was falling out of the sockets. I would expect that people have replaced bulbs millions of times in a manner like this. The sockets don't seem to hold the bulbs correctly any more. That is why I used a small amount of red RTV to hold them in place.

As for the lighting for the heat/air controls. The bulbs themselves are not replaceable in the sockets. At least I believe not. I believe I need the socket and bulb assembly. I do hope the dealer sells this part individually, and doesn't try to sell me a heat/air control assembly. I need one of the past designator #1 in the drawing. Do you have a part number to ask for at the dealer?



Dolt... I just realized there was a link to the drawing with a part number of what I needed. I will move on from here.




Thanks again for the advice,
Mike

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...e-cluster.html

I just ***-u-me(d) the 74s were cracking the plastic sockets but someone said the "74s were stock"

But the RTV was what I suggested to hold them in place.

ezone

That seems to happen a lot here.
What can I do to make links more obvious in a post?
The system doesn't seem to allow coloring of link text.

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

Turns blue if you hover over it, and it's underlined.