OK, this is my 2nd post. I apologize if I'm in the wrong section...

I've been driving my sister-in-law's 94 Civic hatchback for the past couple months, and the day she wanted her car back (last Wednesday) it started having this problem:

The dash lights don't work. The tail lights, license plate lights and parking lights all do not work. The brake lights work, the turn signals work, and the headlights work on high and low beam. Here's what I've tried so far:
[ol][*]Checked the fuse for dash and tail lights. Checked it for continuity and replaced it with a spare 10A fuse. No change.[*]Replaced the push-in bulbs on the tail lights for both the ones in the hatch and the ones by the corner. No change.[*]Removed and tested the light/turn signal switch as per the service manual and the Haynes manual. The correct pins had connectivity in the corresponding switch position with no exceptions. I hit the connectors with sandpaper and popped the switch back in place. No change.[*]Was going to try replacing the license plate light bulbs, but I can't see how to get to the stupid bulbs.[/ol]I was going to try to replace any applicable fuses under the hood, but she has no diagram on the engine's fuse block cover.

I'm not really sure what else to try. I pretty much figured it would be the 10A fuse in the interior fuse panel, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Thanks for any help.
--Will

 

1) Double check that fuse #19 (10A) in your under-dash fuse/relay box is not blown. This fuse specifically controls all the components that aren't working. Based on your information, this fuse is fine. Your test also suggests that the combination light switch is fine.

2) Test whether power is received at the fuse #19 terminal. Remove fuse #19. Touch one probe of a test light to the battery-side fuse terminal and the other probe to metal framework (ground) under the dash. When the combination light switch is OFF, the test light should NOT turn ON but, when the combination switch is ON, the test light should turn ON. If power is NOT received at fuse #19, then there is a break/disconnection in the RED/GRN wire running between the combination switch and fuse #19.

3) If fuse #19 is receiving power as determined in step 2, then look for a break/disconnection of the RED/BLK wire running from fuse #19 to the lights that don't work (tail lights, etc.).

I hope this helps.

 

check all your bulbs, i had the EXACT same problem like 2 weeks ago, minus dash lights. Anyway fuse #32 was bad, along with the majority of my tail bulbs.

 

Thanks for the info. I took a test light and connected ground to a bolt and probed the internal side of that fuse's connection. With the combo switch off, I got no light. With the combo switch on, I got light. I guess that's the better of the two options there.

Is there a relay on the side of that circuit between the fuse and the lights? The brake lights work, and I think those are the same bulbs at the rear, correct?

 

What's on fuse #32?

 

The picture shows the circuit diagram of interest. Apparently there are no relays on the RED/BLK wire connecting fuse 19 and the problematic lights.

Your test nicely verifies that the combo switch is functioning properly and that the RED/GRN wire is fine. Obviously, you should now focus on the possibility that the RED/BLK wire is faulty or disconnected from fuse 19. This wire serves multiple different lights in different locations. Therefore, I think it is safe to assume that somewhere under the dash, the RED/BLK wire arrives at a connector that branches into multiple wires serving these different locations. I think the problem will lie somewhere between fuse 19 and this connector (perhaps the connector is disconnected?). Once you identify the connector, start by performing a continuity test on the RED/BLK wire between fuse 19 and the connector.

[IMG]local://upfiles/25538/F3981F86587B45F984468C93F6137B5E.jpg[/IMG]

 

Thanks for the help, RonJ. That diagram does bring into question another possibility that I've come across while searching for a solution to this problem. I've seen mentioned a couple times that the dash lights brightness switch could be a possible culprit for what's going on here. I'm going to look around to see what else I can find about that and go from there.

It's dark out now and the rain's picked up quite a bit, so I won't be troubleshooting any more tonight. I'll post back what I find in case anyone else has the same problem.

Thanks again for the help, and I'll post back next time I get a chance to troubleshoot it some more.

--Will

 

well mines a 99 so it might be a bit differnet, but on my 32 its taillgiths, license plates and running lights.

 

Just as an update, I got this fixed yesterday.

I was testing everywhere with the multimeter and test light, and everything pointed back to the combo switch that I know pinned out right. I finally just called a junkyard to see if they had one. I picked it up, popped it in, and was ready to go for $25. I pinned out the old one again just to make sure I wasn't crazy, but it still pins out exactly like the diagram says it should.

Oh well, at least it's fixed.

 

Glad to hear that you solved the problem.