Spedometer and gauge lights quit working

alupso1alupso1 Wagonist
in Electronics, Fueling & Air Conditioning
I recently bought an 1988 Civic Wagon and on the way back on the 200 mile trip the speedometer and gauge cluster lights quit working.

What might have cause both the speedometer and the gauge cluster lights to quick working at the same time. I took the cluster cover off this afternoon to check to make sure the cable was secure in the back of the cluster and it was. I also looked at the fuse box under the dash and checked which fuse would have gone to the cluster and it wasn't blown.

Could the light bulb for the cluster have blown out and also could the cable have gone bad? I'm also getting the ECU code 17 which I know is from the speedometer not working

Comments

  • KahunaKahuna familEE
    Check where the speedo cable connects to the tranny. Mine came out of there and stopped working. The light bulbs could have just blown.
  • alupso1alupso1 Wagonist
    Kahuna wrote:
    Check where the speedo cable connects to the tranny. Mine came out of there and stopped working. The light bulbs could have just blown.

    I pulled the cable from the tranny and turned it a little and it felt pretty loose, I gave it a little tug and it just came out. I guess it broke off about in inch and a half up so I'll have to replace the cable.

    I have another gauge cluster that I put in the wagon and the cluster lights still didnt work. The lights like high beam, turn signals, brake etc all work but just the main lights arent working.

    Is there another fuse I should check out that would cause this?
  • jhotajhota familEE
    do the tail lights work? the're on the same circut as the cluster illumination.

    the indicator lights are on a different circut from the illumination ones.

    if the tail lights work, check for bad connections to the cluster and the dash grounds.

    if the tail lights don't work, check for power at the fuse (both sides) with a test light. if you've got power on one side but not the other, change the fuse. if you don't have power on either side, just keep going back through the circut until you find the break...

    could be a bad fuse box - i've got that circut bypassed with an inline fuse on mine, because the guts of the fuse box are slagged.

    here's a link to some service manual downloads that may help:

    http://spoonhonda.com/downloads.htm
  • alupso1alupso1 Wagonist
    jhota wrote:
    do the tail lights work? the're on the same circut as the cluster illumination.

    the indicator lights are on a different circut from the illumination ones.

    if the tail lights work, check for bad connections to the cluster and the dash grounds.

    if the tail lights don't work, check for power at the fuse (both sides) with a test light. if you've got power on one side but not the other, change the fuse. if you don't have power on either side, just keep going back through the circut until you find the break...

    could be a bad fuse box - i've got that circut bypassed with an inline fuse on mine, because the guts of the fuse box are slagged.

    here's a link to some service manual downloads that may help:

    http://spoonhonda.com/downloads.htm

    The tailights work fine so I'm going to assume that it's a bad ground somewhere.

    I have a Honda service manual for the 89 Civic and 91 CRX, would those be simliar to the wagon and where can I find a Honda service manual for the wagon? I saw one on eBay a couple of weeks ago but they wanted over $70 for it.
  • SiWagonSiWagon Council Member
    :D Your '89 &'91 Manuals will be fine.You don't need the Wgn.manual unless it's some wgn.specific prob.As far as your No dash light your current manuals will work.

    Check dash fuse # 8(10a).See if the connector came loose on the dash dimmer.

    Be patient I've seen shop manuals go for around $20 on Ebay.


    Good Luck :D
  • alupso1alupso1 Wagonist
    SiWagon wrote:
    :D Your '89 &'91 Manuals will be fine.You don't need the Wgn.manual unless it's some wgn.specific prob.As far as your No dash light your current manuals will work.

    Check dash fuse # 8(10a).See if the connector came loose on the dash dimmer.

    Be patient I've seen shop manuals go for around $20 on Ebay.


    Good Luck :D

    I was messing around with the dimmer switch and the lights magically came back on, I guess the switch was just a little loose.

    The inner parts of the speedometer cable broke so I ordered just the inner part from www.hondapartsdeals.com. Is there anything special about replacing the inner part besides just pulling it out and putting the new one in?
  • HaydzHaydz Moderator
    Pretty much as you said just make sure you lubricate it, check your original to see how it was lubricated.

    When you go to reinstall could you possibly take pictures of give instructions as to which way you routed the cable when you put it back in? Cheers. :D
  • alupso1alupso1 Wagonist
    Pacifier wrote:
    Pretty much as you said just make sure you lubricate it, check your original to see how it was lubricated.

    When you go to reinstall could you possibly take pictures of give instructions as to which way you routed the cable when you put it back in? Cheers. :D

    Well Hondapartsdeals emailed and said that the part was on back order with no ETA so I canceled it. I then went to www.slhondaparts.com and ordered the same part. The order was stuck at "Pending Credit Authorization" from 11/21/2006 till 12/06/2006 and I checked it today and it says "Shipped on 12/7/2006". I never thought it would ship or get my speedometer back.

    About the installation, what kind of lubricant should I use when I putting the inner cable in? I will also try and take some pics and do a write up.
  • alupso1alupso1 Wagonist
    My cable should be here tomorrow, does anybody know what kind of lubrication I should use for it?
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