I deliver pizza part time in my '98 Accord (4dr, 4cyl) and last night my dashboard lights suddenly went out; not while I was driving, but when I turned the car off then came back to the car minutes later. The high beam, e-brake, srs, etc. lights all still work it's just my speedometer, rpm, gear lights, etc. that stopped. When in day lights mode, the mileage and gear lights work but as soon as I turn on either the side yellow lights or the night lights then they turn off.

I've played around with the dimming **** by the speedometer (also called the dimmer switch?) and checked all the fuses I can think of that might effect it (instrument panel, day lights, clock, and others) and as far as I can tell they're all fine. I switched the instrument panel fuse with the ACC relay fuse (both are 7.5A) just in case the fuse was bad but I couldn't tell - still no luck.

Does anyone have any advice or other trial and error options I might be able to try?

Any and all help is greatly appreciated - I can't drive like this forever!

 

my wifes cavalier has the same problem. it has to be a ground issue or a damaged or corroded wire or connection.

i have not had much time to trace down the wire.. its a pain in the ****, because you have to take apart the entire dash and track down wires and connections.

but like you side the dash lights go out when you turn the headlights on, heck even her radio lights go out too.

 

I think to properly trace down the problem, you will need a volt meter and a shop manual. There is a 98-00 manual that you can get from the online manuals thread in the diy section. This covers non-US accords, so the wiring may not be accurate. I got a manual for my TSX from automanualsource on ebay for $22. That seller has 98-02 manuals as well. It is worth the investment IMO.

I would start testing at the dimmer switch connector. If the wiring is like my 95 accord, then one of the wires should have 12V to ground when the key is in the II position.

 

How do you check the fuses ? Sometime they look fine but they're not, check it with a volt meter to get the correct reading. Did you put a radio in it recently ? Some bad cases of installing an aftermarket radio could take out the driver mutiplex control unit.

 

Hello AJ King,
I have the Haynes manual and noticed there is a 7.5 amp fuse on the passengers side that may fix this issue. They have this fuse listed as fuse#13. Try this and see if it helps and let me know.

 

Thanks for all the advice so far.

I tried the #13 fuse (Clock, I believe) on the passenger side, no luck there. I've switched known working fuses with possibly non-working fuses with no luck either. Thus, as far as I can tell they're all OK. There is an after-market stereo (JVC G120) in the car but it's been in it since before I bought the car (I've had it for 2 years) and these have been sold since at least 2007. If it's possible that it could cause this problem 4 years down the road then I'll look into fixing that.

Is it possible that my dimmer switch is broken and needs replacing? I'm not sure if that could cause this. I'm really not keen on taking apart the dash though.

 

Yes the dimmer could be the issue, testing will tell. Do you have a manual, if not look in the Common DIY Thread (second from the top) where to find one you can download...hope it is the dimmer, or just all of the bulbs gave up at once (?) and not the multiplex.......