I have a 1997 Honda civic ex 1.6,,, when I turn on the headlights the rest of my lights are not coming on like my running lights, tag lights, basically all of the exterior lights. the only thing that is coming on is the headlights, I have pulled and checked each and every fuse under the dash and also under the hood, I have pulled all of the molding and checked the connections and cleaned them and still nothing, but this morning when i went to work i had to turn on my headlights to see,, so i was driving illegally basically,,, but when i got to work i noticed that they were all of a sudden working but as soon as i cut the car off and turned the switch back on i didn't have anything but headlights again,,, im stumped can anyone suggest anything????

 

It's probably a bad switch, since you found that clicking the switch repeatedly makes them work sometimes.

 

well I changed the switch with one from a local junkyard and no luck!! im just hoping that the junkyard one is bad too.... but buying one from autozone or advanced autos is 130 bucks that I don't have this week.. is there anyway I can check the switchs with like a voltmeter or anything like that and does anyone have the wiring diagrams for the lighting systems..I don't know man its driving me nuts they haven't cut on in a week...

 

With the cover off you can test the switch there are two output wires one for the headlights and one for the tail lights, with everything plugged in confirm that the tail light wire goes live (measure voltage from the wire to ground, when testing inside the car the shell of the cigarette lighter socket is a good place to use for ground) on both the first and second clicks. I would have to find a diagram to tell you the wire colors.

In the fuse box under the dash, note that there are two bare metal test points on the top of each fuse, again so you can test with everything plugged in. Both ends of the tail light fuse should go live when you turn the switch on. Pull the fuse out and look at the contact point in the fuse box, if there is any melting or burning you have to replace the whole box.

 

UPDATE!!! so the lights worked agian for about 3 or 4 weeks so i thought the problem went away,,,,, well i was wrong it has came back nothing works but my headlights so i went a bought a BRAND NEW SWITCH and it still didnt fix it!! i went through and taced what wires i could see and looked at the ground wire and everything looked good,,, i dont know what to do

 

If you do not have a factory manual, there is a link at the top of the page, for free download. The factory manual has way more info than Chiltons, and Haynes combined.
It will show how to check all the components, a good multi-meter is needed.
electrical problems are a real pain, I am chasing one now.
Dave

 

I cant find the link for the free download of the manual,,, but i finally broke down and put my car in a local shop,, my starter had quit working so i put a new one on it and still no starting!!! sooo that kind of told me that it was something else like in my wiring system i don't have the time to work on my own car myself right now so i took it to the shop, they called me and said it would cost $140 to be able to fix my wiring and my headlights, running lights and fix my starter problem, im going to pick it up today after i get off work and ill update you guys and tell you what they did to it for me, thank you guys for trying to help me!! oh and if someone could post the link to a manual that would be helpful!