Help! My 1997 Honda Civic is acting up. It was raining yesterday and I had the AC going on defrost. When I turned my lights on, the AC went off. When I turned my lights off, the AC came back on. They won't work together. The battery is a lifetime battery, it starts up just fine, it's just that these 2 things aren't working together and it's almost a hazard. I'm SOOO afraid of getting ripped off to have it looked at, as car repairs are the #1 rip off in America. Thanks in advance for any advice.

The smartest thing I can say is this:

Most likely water (since it was raining), in a form of a drop, connected some wires, which make one thing work only when other thing isn't.

One thing might be important: If you have lights turned on, and decide to turn on the AC, does the AC turn on and lights turn off? And if you have AC turned on, and decide to turn lights on, does the AC turn off and lights turn on? Or does one thing have a priority? For example: If lights are turned on, and you decide to turn AC on, it won't turn on until you turn the lights off? Or if AC is on, and you decide you want lights, they won't turn on until you turn AC off?

I don't know how to troubleshoot it, but it might be important, and someone else might help with that thing cleared.

Thanks for the quick response. I had the AC on, and turned on the lights, and the AC light went out. I think the fan did, too. I tried turning the AC on, but it wouldn't go on. I doubt the lights go out when I have the AC on because the AC always turns off when I turn the lights on. Hope this hasn't confused things further! Thanks again.

Check your grounds. In many cases rather that depend on the housing being grounded to the body or engine, a device will have a ground wire, sometimes several things feeding into one ground. If loose or corroded, only one thing may work.