Rep Power: 0

2010 Honda Civic with digital speedometer dims while driving to the point it looks like it's going to disappear. It's brighter in park but not as bright as pre problem. Already checked the dimmer button. Goes darker (almost black) then returns to the current dim state when using +/- buttons. Checked fuses, looks good, no frayed wires, no animals living under hood, wires look secure, no corrosion on battery. Already had honda dealer check battery, battery was fine. The service write up guy told me it was probably the digital cluster going bad but that I would have to pay $178 just to do a test on it and if it did turn out to be the cluster they wanted $400 for each new cluster part plus $190/hr labor, they figured a couple hrs labor too. To check alternator they wanted a fee too, so I skipped it and tried to get Avanced Auto to check, their equipment was down, went to Carquest, they won't because of Covid. Now the speedometer unit is the worst but the odometer is dim, also the clock seems dim but part of the numbers are fading more the other digits. Pressing/hitting on dash/clock does nothing. So is this a alternator or cluster problem? Kinda scared to drive it and I dont have many tools or money to "try" things out. I can get replacement parts for way cheaper than dealer but just don't know which thing is not working.

 
Rep Power: 126

Any low battery warning? A volt-meter will check alternator voltage; they're pretty cheap. Also, does your car have the automatic dimming like when the headlights come on? That could also be an issue. It could be engaging at all times. I'd be more inclined to guess cluster though.

What does this mean?

 
Rep Power: 0

No warning lights on dash, car seems to drive find, turns on without any trouble. By get parts cheaper than dealer I only ment off online places like ebay or a junk yard, lol. I have watch videos on youtube about replacing clusters and it's about 5 minutes and relatively easy vs paying dealer $$$ for labor. To me alternator is a little more difficult due to extra tools needed. For auto dimming I don't think that's a perk on my car, it's very basic. I have used the dimmer switch before and tested it recently at the dealer, they didn't think the switch/buttons are the problem. I just feel like they are over charging and that I could get the job done and save money, lol

 
Rep Power: 0

When I say dim speedometer I mean the whole digital cluster that has the heat gauge (?), speedometer and the gas gauge. They all dim at the same time and are very hard to read while driving. It's almost like its not getting enough juice while driving. The lower cluster with all the indicator lights dims the most just on the mileage digital read out, same with the clock read out. Both of these are dim but not as bad as the speedometer cluster. There are no indicator lights on while in park or driving so it's hard to tell if these are affected too. When starting the car which starts fine the indicator lights come on then go off like a normal car turning on. I've had this car for almost 9 years and never had this problem before. Last time before now that the car was worked on was just a inspection back in the fall and everything checked out good.
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