Greetings all, so here's the problem.

I have a 1993, Honda Civic SI, Canadian Built. I bought it 2nd hand last year.

It has an ongoing problem with the Dashboard lights and speedometer.

- Dashboard lights - sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. Will be driving along, and all the guages are all lite up, than all of a sudden it goes black (NOTE: it also makes the heater/fan control go black). The flashing turning signal lights, and the e-brake light on the dash still work, but I have to use a little flash light to see my gas /speed/tach, etc...

I've thought it was a loose wire, and have been playing with all the connections I can find, for a week now, I've also looked through every other posting about honda's on this site.

- Speedometer - Doesent work proper until the car is warmed up. When I drive when its still warming up (it is after all winter, but I do live on the warmest part, the west coast), the speedometer doesn't work. Eventually it will start bouncing up and down, flailing around like its dancing a jig. Once the car has warmed up to its full running temp, it usually will finally settle down and work just fine. So its okay if I'm going on long drives, but doesnet do me much good for running to the store.

The tachometer works fine, so I've had to learn to judge my speed by what gear/rpm I'm at.

I have all the plastic covers on my dash off, and have my dashboard nice and loose, so I can get to all the wires, but I've had no luck identifing the problem. I thought I had it, but it started happening again.

ANY HELP?? I'm almost at the point where I'll take it to a shop.

Okay, mabey no one else will reply, but I've been doing more research, and thought I should mabey follow up with what I learned, just in case someone else reads this post as reference.

So, this dancing speedometer issue is VERY common. It seems many people with hondas have complained of this issue, Honda has it as a documented problem, but will not fix it for free.

So, I got a couple differenent answers, and I'll quote from other forums as to what they said.

In reference to flickering lights-
"I read on this wb sight that there is a problem in the wiring harness whereas it can rub against a bracket that is tucked back under the intake manifold. So I pull the wires back away from the bracket,There ya go...problem solved. So in short....Wiring harness shorts out on bracket...sends juice through the motor block....and shorts out any weak sensor in its path. "

And in reference to the speedometer issue...
"I had that problem once and the dealer found a loose ground that was shorting out that fuse. He soldered it down and it's been fine since. "

But more common answer to the speedometer issue -
"there could be 2 major things that could go wrong when your speedometer needle starts dancing around. the first and most common one is the cluster.
the second it could be the speed sensor thats pluged into the tranny. if the speed sensor its not working for whatever reason you should have a check engine light on. if its not on then the sensor is fine so dont go out and buy a new one. get another cluster."


So, long story short, if your speedometer is dying, you should buy a new dashboard cluster... go to a junkyard, find another civic, and buy it off them. If its for the same year, model, you should find it pretty easy to get in/out of the car. I got my dashboard loose in about 20 minutes when I had no clue what I was doing.

Good luck, and I'd still like to hear any comments anyone has about this issue.

Could you please help me identify where you pulled on. I have the same issue with my civic in terms of dashlights not working. When I turn on my lights the light around my gears indicator (D1 D2 D3 R N, etc... ) won't light up either. But when my headlights are in the off position the light around my gears indicator will come on.

My speedometer works fine though... Thanks for posting.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by UnSolon

Okay, mabey no one else will reply, but I've been doing more research, and thought I should mabey follow up with what I learned, just incase someone else reads this post as reference.

So, this dancing speedometer issue is VERY common. It seems many people with hondas have complained of this issue, Honda has it as a documented problem, but will not fix it for free.

So, I got a couple differenent answers, and I'll quote from other forums as to what they said.

in reference to flickering lights-
"I read on this wb sight that there is a problem in the wiring harness whereas it can rub against a bracket that is tucked back under the intake manifold. So I pull the wires back away from the bracket,There ya go...problem solved. So in short....Wiring harness shorts out on bracket...sends juice through the motor block....and shorts out any weak sensor in its path. "

And in reference to the speedometer issue...
"I had that problem once and the dealer found a loose ground that was shorting out that fuse. He soldered it down and it's been fine since. "

but more common answer to the speedometer issue -
"there could be 2 major things that could go wrong when your speedometer needle starts dancing around. the first and most common one is the cluster.
the second it could be the speed sensor thats pluged into the tranny. if the speed sensor its not working for whatever reason you should have a check engine light on. if its not on then the sensor is fine so dont go out and buy a new one. get another cluster."


So, long story short, if your speedometer is dieing, you should buy a new dashboard cluster... go to a junkyard, find another civic, and buy it off of them. If its for the same year, model, you should find it pretty easy to get in/out of the car. I got my dashboard loose in about 20 minutes when I had no clue what I was doing.

Good luck, and I'd still like to hear any comments anyone has about this issue.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by mshaf

Could you please help me identify where you pulled on. .

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Pull on what? To get the plastic parts around your dashboard out... sure.

So you see those two screws above the dash, take those out, and than directly below those screws, take a flat screwdriver, and sort-of pry (carefully) underneath where you will find a couple of clips keeping it all in..

Than sort of wiggle, and pry around the edges, until it starts to come off. You'll probably have to unclip your clock / hazard light indicator buttons to get it off...

I'm still working on my problems, haven't got it fixed yet, I think it might be a grounding issue, so I'm out there right now playing with my grounds.

Good luck

Oh one of the solutions you mentioned said to pull on wires. I wasn't sure which bunch of wires. I already know how to pull the cluster since I replaced it due to a faulty gas gauge... that was a nightmare that I finally fixed.

Anyway, I just read on another post that it is likely the connection where the dimmer switch is. Interestingly, I started tapping the dimmer switch and the lights came on but then turned off after like 5 min. I'm going to pull the switch tomorrow and clean the connections or maybe buy a new one and see how that works. I'll keep you updated if you do the same.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by UnSolon

Pull on what? To get the plastic parts around your dashboard out... sure.

So you see those two screws above the dash, take those out, and than directly below those screws, take a flat screwdriver, and sort-of pry (carefully) underneath where you will find a couple of clips keeping it all in..

Than sort of wiggle, and pry around the edges, untill it starts to come off. You'll probably have to unclip your clock / hazard light indicator buttons to get it off...

I'm still working on my problems, havent got it fixed yet, I think it might be a grounding issue, so I'm out there right now playing with my grounds.

Good luck

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Deal, I'm going to replace my grounds tomorrow, so I'll let you know what that does...

I hav'nt noticed anything from my dimmer switch, and I have played with it before... but I'll check that again.

Another recommendation that I did was buy some indiglo gauges. I got some nice ones off eBay that took about 30min to install since you already know how to pull the cluster.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by UnSolon

deal, I'm going to replace my grounds tommorow, so I'll let you know what that does...

I hav'nt noticed anything from my dimmer switch, and I have played with it before... but I'll check that again.

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I know this issue is over a year old but I was having the same problem as Unsolon with the flickering dashboard lights. I don't know if Unsolon could be more specific in describing the steps that are involved in pulling the wires back that are located under the intake manifold.

1. Check all under-dash fuses with a test light or multimeter:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/cars-t...tml#post252145

2. Disconnect negative. Battery cable and test dimmer switch connections for corrosion and continuity. This is the most likely cause.
3. Check ignition switch and harness, which provides power to the dash, after disconnecting the negative. Battery cable. Harness plugs into the under-dash fuse and relay box.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by UnSolon

Greetings all, so here's the problem.

I have a 1993, Honda Civic SI, Canadian Built. I bought it 2nd hand last year.

It has an ongoing problem with the Dashboard lights and speedometer.

- Dashboard lights - sometimes works, sometimes dosent. Will be driving along, and all the guages are all lite up, than all of a sudden it goes black (NOTE: it also makes the heater/fan control go black). The flashing turning signal lights, and the e-brake light on the dash still work, but I have to use a little flash light to see my gas /speed/tach, etc...

I've thought it was a loose wire, and have been playing with all the connections I can find, for a week now, I've also looked through every other posting about honda's on this site.

- Speedometer - Doesent work proper until the car is warmed up. When I drive when its still warming up (it is after all winter, but I do live on the warmest part, the west coast), the speedometer dosent work. Eventually it will start bouncing up and down, flailing around like its dancing a jig. Once the car has warmed up to its full running temp, it usually will finally settle down and work just fine. So its okay if I'm going on long drives, but doesnet do me much good for running to the store.

The tachometer works fine, so I've had to learn to judge my speed by what gear/rpm I'm at.

I have all the plastic covers on my dash off, and have my dashboard nice and loose, so I can get to all the wires, but I've had no luck identifing the problem. I thought I had it, but it started happening again.

ANY HELP???? I'm almost at the point where I'll take it to a shop.

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I have a 1993 Honda Civic Si also, and I have the same problem. The dashboard lights go on and off, and the speedometer bounces on and off, and works for a while on long drives sometimes. So, maybe, there is a common problem, and thus a common solution..

It's the dimmer switch, take it off and take the switch, not harnes, and bend the metal prongs so the will make a connection with the harness when put back together.

Ok, I am having the same issue... excepts my headlights will go off and on. Sometimes the left or sometimes the right, never both at the same time. My dimmer switch was loose in the dash when I got the car and one time I noticed that when I jiggled it, it my dash lights would come on. Or, when I slide the temperature control left or right my dash lights will short out too.

I've had this problem on 5 92 civics... I as of now am on a mission to fix this... I will post a fix and that dimmer makes sense since it is trash anyway. And I did the indiglo thing too. It too went out
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Hey guys I'm experienceing the same issue. My cluster lights went off completely now and the climate control lights. It use to be that they would flicker on and off when I'd go over bumps in the road while driving... now they just stopped working completely. My fuel gauge stopped working too and I replaced it with another one and still the same. If anyone ever solved this mystery please post it. Thanks

Gilly, replace the ignition switch. Be sure to disconnect the negative battery cable first. Easy job.