crf524

Hey all, I am new to the forum here and have an electrical issue that I have absolutely no clue what is going on. I have searched many times to find an answer however most fixes seem to deal with the dash and cluster lights completely out all the time.

I currently have a 2001 Civic LX sedan that the cluster and dash lights go out intermittently. At this point the cluster gauges will go to zero, a/c control lights go out and the only lights that work inside are the emergency brake (on cluster), left/right turn signal (on cluster), and the radio. The car has been doing this since 130K miles and has continued to get worse (currently @ 170K). It went 70K miles fine with no issues after an aftermarket radio was installed professionally (@60k miles) so I do not believe that it is a dimmer switch issue.

Is there a potential ground wire loose that could cause these groups of lights to go out? Possible a relay? I've checked for loose and blown fuses and all were good.

TFMEX

I had this issue and it was the alternator.... they tested it said it was good and i replaced it anyway... fixed my issue... the alternator was putting out too high of voltage. have you checked your connections at that point with a meter?

crf524

I went and checked the voltage output and the highest I saw was 14.4V with all things inside off. I'm assuming this is still within spec.

TFMEX

14.4 is normal.... did you check when you were having an outtage? Mine was spiking randomly which was the issue.

crf524

Yeah it took me a while but finally it went out for a few minutes and I checked it then at the alternator and looked at my scan gauge and it was still at 14.4V. I'm at a lose for where to even look.

If the cluster were to be malfunctioning would that effect my ac control lights?

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

Next time it goes whack the top of pod holding cluster and see if the returns....I think your cluster may be dying, seen this discussed before on early 7th gen models.

crf524

Ok I have whacked it before with no response. I'm not against getting another cluster, but I can't seem to find if it controls the A/C lights as well? They are going off at the same time the cluster completely dies.

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

The button illumination dimmer circuit is built into the cluster.