my dash lights havent worked on my civic since i bought it. theyve flickered a couple times driving at night, but never stayed on.
yesterday i bypassed the dimmer switch and boom full blast dash lights.
however, after doing the switch bypass now my speedo, tach, fuel gauge, temp gauge no longer work. they did before.
when i was diagnosing the dash light problem, i did unplug the gauge cluster and check the light bulbs before i googled and did the dimmer switch bypass.
i plugged everything back in tightly and rechecked everything in its correct place.

so where im at now:
96 civic dx hatch
gauge lights work but nothing else in the gauge cluster works.
no more dimmer switch.
pic shows how i bypassed. i used a solid insulated copper wire after i realized the paperclip fxied it.

any thoughts or tips?
i was thinking maybe electronic contact cleaner then electronic grease on the gauge cluster plugs? im at a loss but would love a working dash. thanks!

 

Did you try putting the dimmer switch back in to see if the gauges worked again?

 

Have you checked the instrument cluster fuse ?