And3

Hi guys,
I have a 2002 civic, since couple of days ago, the dashboard lights went off. The radio lights are the only ones which are on, but are flickering. I thought it is one of the little bulbs burnt and checked all of them, even with the dashboard board connected the radio lights are still flickering. All the fusses are good. Another thing which i noticed is that the light reminder is beeping very quickly. If i dimm the dashboard to the minimum the radio lights are low but stable.
Can any of you help solving this issue?
Thanks!

ezone

I'd get out a voltmeter and check any of the affected lights to see which half is going nuts, the power side or the ground side.
Then once I know which half of the system is having a problem, decide what to do next.
If it's power side, I look for problems in that half.
If it's ground side going nuts, I track down that half of the system.


Wild guesses:
If it's got an aftermarket radio, pull it out and unplug it from the original dash harness.
If it's a factory radio, still pull it out and disconnect it...see if this restores operation of the rest of the dash lights.

If not, I might be disconnecting every dash light on the circuit to see which one is pulling the system down.

And3

Thank you for your reply.
Everything it's stock, radio, everything. In one morning I just noticed that i don't have the lights when i turn on the beams . All the lights in the dashboard are working (key, gas, engine,etc) with the exception of the right signal and the hazard light. Even if i disconnect the two connectors blue and green the light is still flickering on the radio side. Could be the light switch?

ezone

Have you checked if the outside parking lights also flicker?


You mean the connectors on the gauge cluster?

And3

Parking lights are working, signals, everything, no flicker. The problem is inside, on the radio side, and completely off on the gauge cluster.
Yes the two connectors on the back of the gauge cluster.

ezone

Unplugging the gauge cluster and the hazard switch should have made all other dash illumination (the dimmable lights) shut off.

And3

Another thing which i didn't specify is that when i dimm (turning the cluster switch) the light to the minimum, the light on the radio is stable.

ezone

So what happened to the dash lights after you disconnected the radio?

And3

everything its the same...i suspect the headlight turn signal...not sure but i think the dash lights are going thru it. Even if i lock/unlock the, doors the dash lights are off on the cluster side...

ezone

If you had a good wiring diagram you might see they do not.

Dash lights receive power from the park lights relay, not directly from the headlight switch.
That's why I asked if the park lights still work correctly.


If you had a voltmeter, you could actually do some logical testing instead of guessing, which can get expensive in a hurry.
Right now I'll SWAG the neg side of the dash lights circuit has the problem.....would be nice to be able to verify it with a voltmeter.

What I would do is remove and disconnect the gauge cluster because you said the dash lights still did weird things with it unplugged (they must be getting incorrectly grounded from somewhere else)

and remove and disconnect the radio (BTW I've seen several cases where kids fill the CD player with coins, this can cause a variety of electrical problems!)

and observe the lights in the rest of the various switches on the dash to see if the lights still stay on.

Start tracking wiring through the dash harnesses and remaining switches to find if the negative side of the dash illumination circuit has been shorted to ground somewhere

Watch carefully and notice if anything you do ever affects the lights.....banging on the dash, moving the shifter, bumps in the road, etc. Careful observation can help narrow and focus the hunt for the problem area.

And3

I will check more in depth, like you said might be a ground as well. I might need to stop to a Honda dealership in the next few days. I will get back with the fix...

And3

ezone, do you happen to have a dash elctrical diagram?

ezone

Sorry man, I cannot repost nor hotlink any factory service info due to copyrights.
If you ever see me post stuff that looks like official factory info, it's because I found it already posted somewhere else on the web.

Local library might be a place to find (free) online service information like Alldata or Mitchell On Demand

Google image search sometimes has hits that are good

Small fee for access to real dealer level service info:
Honda Service Express


Check this thread for links to service manuals (last page=newest), but be careful because these can be international and picking your particular car isn't always easy:
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...pdated-13.html

And3

Thank you, for your infos. Some of the links helped me to figure what was wrong. So, on the cluster board one of the circuits was interrupted, just close to one of the bulbs, which was also burned. Not sure why this happen, maybe because in my basement it is a lot of moisture when its raining..., anyways, everything works properly.