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98 Civic - pulsing lights and speedometer goes crazy

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Old 11-24-2011, 08:06 PM
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Default 98 Civic - pulsing lights and speedometer goes crazy

Hey everyone, just got a 98 hatch today,

I did a search for my problem, found what people thought it would be, and fixed those issues..

anyways, symptoms, pulsing lights, all of them in the car, down to the radio, speedo was going crazy and only working part of the time.

Was driving on the freeway just a bit ago, and the cluster and all the lights for the climate control/radio/headlights were pulsing really bad, and was VERY noticable... so I turned around and came home, but I noticed, when I would step on the gas a good amount, the car would cutout and act like it didn't want to go and the odometer/speedo wouldn't even register.

I need this car to be fixed ASAP, what would be causing this..

keep in mind, I replaced fuse 15 with a 7.5, and rewrapped the wires under the intake manifold, AND cleaned the grounds/contact points.

WHATS GOING ON!?!?!
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Old 11-24-2011, 08:14 PM
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Default Re: electrical issue?

If fuse 15 is not blown, test the alternator.
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Old 11-24-2011, 08:20 PM
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Default Re: electrical issue?

Bad ground, sounds like. Check all of your grounds, clean them, re-tighten them. This exact thing happened on my old '89 CRX and it took me forever to figure it out... TUrns out it was the body-to-engine ground.
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Old 11-24-2011, 08:26 PM
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Default Re: electrical issue?

Have the car on the trickle charger, and I may have missed a ground or two, where exactly is the engine to body ground...

Also, the pulsing lights didnt start until earlier when I left a stop light and accidentally spun the tires
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Old 11-24-2011, 08:29 PM
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Default Re: electrical issue?

When you spun the tires, you could have simply moved the engine around a lot and loosened the ground. I've seen stranger things happen.

Someone will have to chime in as to where the body/engine ground is on sixth gen, I'm not too familiar with them.
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Old 11-24-2011, 08:41 PM
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Default Re: electrical issue?

Ahh ok, thanks for the help bradley
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Old 11-25-2011, 12:10 AM
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Default Re: electrical issue?

so I did a test and pulled my negative battery terminal off while the car was running, and the idle bounced around like a jackrabbit.....
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Old 11-25-2011, 04:00 AM
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Default Re: electrical issue?

Please create thread titles that summarize the tech problem -- edited.

Originally Posted by GDean
so I did a test and pulled my negative battery terminal off while the car was running, and the idle bounced around like a jackrabbit.....
Avoid doing this^ test as it may damage your electrical system.


Originally Posted by RonJ@HT
If fuse 15 is not blown, test the alternator.

Last edited by Former User; 11-25-2011 at 04:36 AM.
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Old 11-25-2011, 07:52 AM
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Default Re: 98 Civic - pulsing lights and speedometer goes crazy

Will be testing the alt today
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Old 11-25-2011, 11:21 AM
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Default Re: 98 Civic - pulsing lights and speedometer goes crazy

an alternator with an improperly working voltage regulator can be a culprit for problems like this
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Old 11-27-2011, 11:45 AM
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Default Re: 98 Civic - pulsing lights and speedometer goes crazy

Changed the alt, that stopped the pulsing, but now the speedo doesnt work and my c.e.l is still on, pulled the codes at schucks, it gave me these.. P0135 and p1298... What are these codes?
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Old 11-27-2011, 11:59 AM
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Default Re: 98 Civic - pulsing lights and speedometer goes crazy

If you reset the ECU, do both codes return?
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Old 11-27-2011, 12:15 PM
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Default Re: 98 Civic - pulsing lights and speedometer goes crazy

Meaning pull the battery for 30 seconds? If so then yes, and speedo still doesnt work
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Old 11-27-2011, 12:27 PM
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Default Re: 98 Civic - pulsing lights and speedometer goes crazy

Remove the hood Back Up fuse for a minimum of three minutes. Then check whether both codes return.
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Old 11-27-2011, 01:08 PM
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Default Re: 98 Civic - pulsing lights and speedometer goes crazy

Pulled the fuse, will report back in a bit
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Old 11-27-2011, 01:15 PM
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Default Re: 98 Civic - pulsing lights and speedometer goes crazy

What chassis and engine?
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Old 11-27-2011, 02:17 PM
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Default Re: 98 Civic - pulsing lights and speedometer goes crazy

98 hatch with a y7, pulled the fuse and then put it back in after half hr, c.e.l. And codes came back
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Old 11-27-2011, 02:50 PM
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Default Re: 98 Civic - pulsing lights and speedometer goes crazy

Is fuse 15 blown?
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Old 06-22-2016, 11:06 AM
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Default Re: 98 Civic - pulsing lights and speedometer goes crazy

Originally Posted by GDean
Hey everyone, just got a 98 hatch today,

I did a search for my problem, found what people thought it would be, and fixed those issues..

anyways, symptoms, pulsing lights, all of them in the car, down to the radio, speedo was going crazy and only working part of the time.

Was driving on the freeway just a bit ago, and the cluster and all the lights for the climate control/radio/headlights were pulsing really bad, and was VERY noticable... so I turned around and came home, but I noticed, when I would step on the gas a good amount, the car would cutout and act like it didn't want to go and the odometer/speedo wouldn't even register.

I need this car to be fixed ASAP, what would be causing this..

keep in mind, I replaced fuse 15 with a 7.5, and rewrapped the wires under the intake manifold, AND cleaned the grounds/contact points.

WHATS GOING ON!?!?!
Did you ever solve this or did the alt fix it i took mine out tested it and it passed I haven't put it back in yet but if like to hear how you fixed it....sorry for the post on such an old thread
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Old 06-22-2016, 11:24 AM
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Default Re: 98 Civic - pulsing lights and speedometer goes crazy

Check fuse 15 and the fuse 15 TSB.
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