parking, dash, and tail lights not working

[JJenks]

I have checked and replaced all fuses to the lighting circuit under the hood and under dash. they were working fine last night. None of the fuses are blowing. What should my next step be, so that i am not replacing unneeded parts?

[wherm]

look for a loose ground. Try to think about what you may have done recently that involved loosening a bolt. Re-check all fuses under the dash and under the hood.

[excoupemt5]

my money is on the headlight switch, the only thing in that circuit other than the fuse that would make all three not work

[JJenks]

look for a loose ground. Try to think about what you may have done recently that involved loosening a bolt. Re-check all fuses under the dash and under the hood.

sad thing is i have not done any thing to the car lately except drive it. lol

[JDMDriver]

I too experienced this.

My car is unmodified and on one occassion the dash light (not sure if the outside lights were affected) didnt come on. After a few minutes it came on and hasn't played up since.

Im interested to know what that may be so when it becomes frequent or permanent i can fix it too.

Someone here had the same problem and found it was a shorting wire from a kink (in manufacture) that heated the wire over the years and caused fatigue.

Easy fix no doubt but a pain to locate.

[wherm]

now that I think about it, I had a similiar problem in my civic. I'd turn the headlight switch on and it'd take a few minutes for the lights to turn on, dash lights and headlights, and I guess tail lights too. Anyway, it was the combniation switch. there are copper contacts inside there that connect when the switch is turned forward. After a while they wear out and contact is no longer made. I'd try a new headlight/wiper combination switch assembly. I got one for my civic off of ebay for pretty cheap.

[JJenks]

my money is on the headlight switch, the only thing in that circuit other than the fuse that would make all three not work

is there a relay that operates the light switch or is the dimmer relay for the head lights?

[wherm]

actually, the light switch is what operates the relay. Your parking light wire is red/black and can be found in a harness that plugs into the fusebox in the diver's kick panel. If you put a volt meter on it, it should read 12v when you turn the parking/head lights on. If it doesn't, then it's probably a bad combination switch. If it does read 12v then the problem is elsewhere.

My money is on the switch too.

[JJenks]

I took the lighting switch off, the dimmer control for dash lights off. My little brother has my old 91 accord same year as my present car, so i decided to test the parts on his car. Everything worked as it should, so i used his light switch on mine. no luck. time for the next procedure people.

[93CB7Bruh]

check for a fuse under the hood called small lights or something like that. I had this problem after puttin a new radio in and forgetting to tape some wires off

[JJenks]

Alright, probably shouldnt have done this but gut instinct said try to back feed power to the lighting circuit with every thing put back together. I took out a corner light and unplugged the light socket, using a fuse as a connector in the light socket, i ran a jumper to the positive on the battery. All the proper lights came on, dash lights and parking lights. So, that means i dont have a short in the circuit or the fuse would have blown, I must have an open connection somewhere. where to start, i am guessing under the dash.

[JDMDriver]

Ok so logically speaking here is my thoughts.

The combination switch is eliminated from the equation.

No shorting is occuring due to no fuse is triggered.

No shorting however does not discount a faulty connection (where contact is sometimes made and sometimes not). Meaning continuity is the issue not cross connection.

Back feeding to me means there is negative connection (ground) and is consistent.

The only wire not consistent is the +ve from the battery to the fuse and fuse box to the combination switch.

I think search and check there is constant power being fed to the combination switch from the battery. From memory i think the lights should come on even if the ignition is not switched to Accessories with the key.

I suspect a break in the +ve wire line and to check there is continuity all the way to the combination switch. Not sure if this is how it goes but i think +ve comes from the battery to the main fuse box in the engine then to the driver side fuse box and then to the combination switch.

Someone correct me if im wrong on the +ve wire tracing but logically i isolate it to just this one wire

As i said i think someone had this problem and it was a kink in the wire loom from factory (when tucking and plastic strapping the wires). So look for kinked and bent wire looms as suspect. Hope i helped.

Please come back if you ever solve this and maybe achiving it - or flagged as common solution to common problems would be good. Good luck

[JJenks]

Ok so logically speaking here is my thoughts.

The combination switch is eliminated from the equation.

No shorting is occuring due to no fuse is triggered.

No shorting however does not discount a faulty connection (where contact is sometimes made and sometimes not). Meaning continuity is the issue not cross connection.

Back feeding to me means there is negative connection (ground) and is consistent.

The only wire not consistent is the +ve from the battery to the fuse and fuse box to the combination switch.

I think search and check there is constant power being fed to the combination switch from the battery. From memory i think the lights should come on even if the ignition is not switched to Accessories with the key.

I suspect a break in the +ve wire line and to check there is continuity all the way to the combination switch. Not sure if this is how it goes but i think +ve comes from the battery to the main fuse box in the engine then to the driver side fuse box and then to the combination switch.

Someone correct me if im wrong on the +ve wire tracing but logically i isolate it to just this one wire

As i said i think someone had this problem and it was a kink in the wire loom from factory (when tucking and plastic strapping the wires). So look for kinked and bent wire looms as suspect. Hope i helped.

Please come back if you ever solve this and maybe achiving it - or flagged as common solution to common problems would be good. Good luck

Alright, by what the schematic shows, the power to the light switch comes directly to the switch from the main fuse box under the hood and bypasses the fuse box under the dash. I didnt believe it so i tested this by pulling all fuses in the box under the dash, and tested the power in wire(top center pin red/green wire) to the switch, I had 12.5 volts.

when back feeding the circuit to the corner lamp, the power out (bottom center pin red/black wire) from the switch for the parking lights is only reading 10 volts, which tells me I have a weak connection on the power out side. Tracing the power out (red/BLK) wire, with an ohm meter I had continuity down to the first plug (blue plug connector). On the opposite side of the plug I was reading 119 ohms.

Problem solved, the red/blk power out wire for the parking lights has a bad connection inside the connector. The pins were so loose on the inside, i just cut the wire on both sides of the connector temporarily wired them together and had lights. Now just for a more permanent fix, I will install a separate plug for this wire just incase it ever needs to be removed.

Thank you for all your help and advice

[JDMDriver]

No worries and glad to be of assistance mate! (your friend from Australia ).

Thanks for getting back to us with your findings.

From my understanding the culprit was the pin connection (power out) from the combination switch to the lights which was loose.

Any chances of pics of connector and schematics?

Just thinking it would facilitate better understanding of the connector to look out for for future reference and the schematic may come in handy if its not a connector problem.

Its not a problem if too much of a hassle and dont feel obliged..

Glad its now fixed - live on CB7

[JJenks]

No worries and glad to be of assistance mate! (your friend from Australia ).

Thanks for getting back to us with your findings.

From my understanding the culprit was the pin connection (power out) from the combination switch to the lights which was loose.

Any chances of pics of connector and schematics?

Just thinking it would facilitate better understanding of the connector to look out for for future reference and the schematic may come in handy if its not a connector problem.

Its not a problem if too much of a hassle and dont feel obliged..

Glad its now fixed - live on CB7

It was actually the next connector down the line under the dash, the connector is blue. I did not take pics, but if i get a chance to snap a shot later today i will. schematic was located in the haynes manual bought at autozone. 15 pages of headache.