Hiii
my dash lights, front running lights and tail lights will not work, headlilghts work, brake lights work ,, so i took it to an audio place they traced the problem and told me the only thing we found is there's that illumionation wire behind the radio was not connected to anything so they extended a wire with a 5amp inline fuse directly to the fuse box and he said he had to bypass it and if the fuse blew then there's a problem ,,,everything went back to normal but yesterday while i was driving the fuse blew up and everything went black except for the headlights no running lights all around the car and no dash lights so i had to bypass the 5amp fuse and connect the wires directly,, it's back working but i don't know what's the problem and need a solution as fast as possible can't drive the car like this it might cause a bigger problem there's a load somewhere or a short some where makes everything not work properly it's a 2000 honda prelude base if that's gonna help anything ... THX for any replies

 

take it to a shop and have a "parasitic draw" test done. itll find the source of the major load, also have them test the lighting circuit, sounds like there is a big amount of corrosion somewhere or a component is on its way out

 

try the 15A fuse in the drivers kick panel labeled taillights that runs the taillights and the dashlights

 

i'v checked all the fuses in both fuse boxes all working fine ...

 

can that shop be like a mechanic shop or it has to be an audio shop and r people familiar with that test coz i'v never hear about it befor ? or maybe coz i'v never faced such a problem ,,, i don't know
thx though i appreciate ur help

 

Jumping wire connections rather than tracing where the actual problem is, is lazy. More harm always comes from jumper wires unless you remove the other power source for sure.

I would start isolating systems one by one. This involves separating circuits and powering/running them separately untill you find the one that blows the fuse. You'll need a detailed wiring diagram of your car or take it to an electrical expert. These shops are usually just dedicated to electrical diagnostics.

 

I had a Mitsubishi before I got my Honda, and I had something similar happen to me and it ended up being the way the radio was hooked up... the "ground wire" had power to it and it was killing my lights.. You could check and make sure it's grounded right..

 

My DD Civic had a battery draw problem like that. Charge the battery and as soon as you take the cables off and test the battery it would read 0. Took it to my local Honda and they said it would take 2 hours to find the problem maybe more. Turns out my rear defroster was grounding itself out and killing my battery. Took them 2 hours to find it and they disabled my rear defroster. 176 bucks and almost 2 years later no issues. Honda service department +1 for a change.

 

actually i took the car to an electrician here been couple a days now trying to trace the problem and finally he told me that i don't have any problems with any kinda over load or shortage any where ... the problem is with the indash fuse box itself .. it's not connecting the fuse as it suppose to ,,, to me that somehow make sense coz when i first had the problem some times the light will not come on but when i knock on the fuse box it works and some other times while driving the car the lights flicker while the car is idle but when i accelerate everything goes back to normal ,,, i'v never heard of such a problem but any way i tried to lookk for the fuse box through honda dealer to order a new one it's more than $250 and it's back ordered and they don't know when it'll be available and there's no aftermakrket part will replace this niether old generation ludes .. don know what to do ... thx for the advice though

 

if theres a problem with the fuse box the light circuit before and after the box would have a severe voltage drop. dont bring to an electrician, most are dumb. bring to any good reputable mechanic or even the dealer and they can properly diagnose it, after all thats what we are trained for (im a tech). you're gonna have to suck up a few bucks but if you just go with the right mechanics (doesnt have to be honda specific either) they'll tell you. id help you diagnose the circuit but parasitic draws are annoying and sometimes can be very hard to diagnose