Hey ht,
So I have a 2000 civic dx with roughly 60,000 original miles. The problem Ive been having is when I turn my lights on the temperature gauge jumps up and when I turn them off it goes back to normal. Does this when I turn on the heater as well. Radiator and thermostat have been change, but I also have what looks to be an alternator that's going Out. The alternator pushes about 11-12 volts when I had it tested. Could it be the alternator causing this problem. I'm not experienced at working at cars joined this forum to learn so any help would be appreciate thanks.

 

Edit: speedometer also bounces SOMETIMES from normal speed to 0 than back up to normal speed agaim

 

Clean and tighten the G401 and and G402 ground connections.

 

Confirming they're both under the kick panels?

 

Just read the description of g401 couldn't find it at first

 

I'm able to find g 402 on the right kick panel. Confirming they're all kinds of ground wire grounded with one screw? And g401 is the grounds I can't find
Any where I should be looking?

 

G401

 

It would be the only connection that's bolted down correct? With a lot of black wires coming out of the plastic connector?

 

yes

 

Thank you sir. Just did that and the grounds in the right kick panel had a lot of grease on them. I'll keep you guys updated when I drive again because this doesn't happen whenever I turn on my lights it happens once I drive for a bit than turn my lights on

 

It's dielectric grease, which is good as it seals the ground connection and prevents corrosion. Did you steel wool clean the ground to increase metal-metal contact?

 

Yes sir .

 

Update: So I finally was able to check this issue again and it still happens. Any other suggestions RonJ?

 

Bump

 

Edit: I seem to have found a short in my ignition 40A fuse when I used a test light. How do I go about finding the short?

 

Details?

 

Placed a test light between the negative battery light an terminal and yet light lit up remove "ig1 40a" fuse and light turned off.

 

This^ is nearly incomprehensible. Please take time to reread what you post and make edits for clarity.

Test the ignition switch.

 

My apologies I was half asleep when I wrote this. What I meant to say is I placed a test light between the negative battery wire and negative terminal and the light lit up meaning that something is drawing from the battery. I then removed the ignition 1 fuse and the light turned off. Any links you can direct me to so I can test the ignition switch

 

There's a diagram in the FAQs sticky.

Assuming that the key was off when you did the parasitic drain test, test the ignition switch in the off position. Look for continuity where it should not exist.