Commuter

Hey all! New guy here, first post. I'm new to Civics, but not cars.

I'm hoping those of you with more experience with Civics will offer your input.

I have a 96 DX coupe. It's not been well cared for. Previous owners installed alarm, lights, stereo - all hacked up mess of wiring. I've removed all of that crap so it's back to stock now. The instrument cluster light work ... occasionally. If the moon is in proper alignment with Uranus they might actually light up. lol The stereo works in the same fashion, although it works far more often than the cluster lights. (thank god!)

I'm not the best at troubleshooting. It might take me quite a while to figure out why each problem exists. I have options, though, and i'd appreciate hearing from other's about this.

I can ...

1) take days/weeks figuring out the wire(s)/etc at fault and replace them. I'm not crazy about this option. I have house renovations that require my time and energy before winter hits.

2) I can "bypass" the stock wiring and just run new Acc lines to the cluster and stereo (assuming that's the problem ... I figure as much because both of them DO come on, just not consistently).

3) grab a 98 DX hatch and swap the whole dash over. I like this option best because I could really use new headlights, winter rims, my interior looks like total crap (prev owner spray painted and it doesn't look good even to my blind grandma) and my heater control doesn't work properly (I know the problem). ***I know it'll fit but are there electrical differences for other things under there?***


I've been trying to find out more specifics about this swap but it's not easy digging up all these small details. Perhaps some of you will be able to share what option you think is best and why, and maybe even if i'd have problems doing the whole swap.

Sorry it's a long post, but I like to be thorough. Thanks for your input!