This actually happened a long time ago, and my wife's been driving with a headlamp wrapped around the steering column shining on the dash at night. Super ghetto, I know.

A friend was installing a new radio in her car (98 Civic). He pulled out the factory radio (the upper one, not the lower CD part) and put a new one in. Ever since then the dash and instrument cluster bulbs have not worked.

I've ungraded the stereo again since then and noticed there was a green (I think) plug not plugged into anything. I'm assuming this went into the factory radio somewhere as I couldn't find where it went. Is this the harness that powers all the bulbs? Any other ideas why the bulbs would just go out like that? All the fuses are good.

Thanks for the help.

 

just the dash lights are out ? is the interior light still working ?

 

Interior light as in the overhead light? Not sure about that.

It's all the bulbs that light up when the headlights turn on. The colored bulbs (like underneath the A/C button for example) still work. Just the backlights.

 

check your fuses again cause you popped one for sure.

 

What's that harness for?

I've checked every single fuse in the car before (when working on another problem) and they were all good. I'll double check when I have the time, I was just thinking it must be something else. Anyone know exactly which fuse I should be looking for?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Flatland2D &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What's that harness for?

I've checked every single fuse in the car before (when working on another problem) and they were all good. I'll double check when I have the time, I was just thinking it must be something else. Anyone know exactly which fuse I should be looking for?</TD></TR></TABLE>

you should have the schematics under the panel where the fuses are.

you most likely have a lose wire in the stereo harness. it is grounding out, this is why you are not having any interior lights. also check the fuse in the engine bay.

the fuses, not the relays.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Flatland2D &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Interior light as in the overhead light? Not sure about that.

It's all the bulbs that light up when the headlights turn on. The colored bulbs (like underneath the A/C button for example) still work. Just the backlights.</TD></TR></TABLE>
If her stock headunit is no longer in the car it's likely her dome light won't work either.

On '96-'98 Civics the dome light and keyless won't work if the stock radio is removed (it doesn't matter if CD slaves or tape slaves - the ones that mount right above the cupholders - are removed though).