Hey guys, really need help with my Civic as i’m terrible when it comes to wiring and this problems really been frustrating.

I bought an eg8 recently and didn’t notice the cluster lights were faulty until later on that night but even so didn’t really bother me until I just realised the parking lights (rear outer lights) were also faulty and wouldn’t light up when parking lights are on or when I press the brakes.

Through some research I found this problem has a common fix of replacing the dimmer switch but my car doesn’t have one (previous owner installed a horn button in its place). I know that both lights go back to fuse 19, checked it and replaced it still without luck.

After removing most of the dash pieces I saw the previous owner did an awful job wiring an after market stereo into the car and also a little horn button in place where the dimmer switch usually is. Now i’m left with a dash that’s in pieces and random wires all over the place, some of which are snipped.

Any help on how I can figure out which wires I need to fix/test to get the lights back working would be great, thanks.

 

Test the light switch. It may be bad.

 

The brake lights are mostly a separate system from the tail lights. Let's start there since it's a bit simpler. They're on the same fuse as the horn-- ok the previous owner has been meddling there-- so check the fuse labeled "STOP" under the hood. This circuit is always live. It goes to the switch on the brake pedal then back to the lights. Speaking of the lights, it's not uncommon to find every single bulb burnt out, if the previous owner didn't care and there are no official inspections. If you have a voltmeter (and if you don't, get one!) check for power at the brake pedal switch, the two large wires if it has more than two wires. One wire should be live all the time, and the other one go live when you press the pedal. In the trunk besides the burnt out bulbs and corroded sockets, if it is a hatch the wires often break where they go from the hatch to the rest of the car.

The tail lights start from the light switch as noted, then go through a fuse under the dash. Then the circuit branches out to the dash lights (including those in a stock RADIO), the back of the car and the front corners. The lights on the outside of the car don't depend on the dimmer switch but a short there or at the RADIO will blow the fuse and kill them all. Did you get the hint to check the wires around the RADIO? I think it is the red wire with a white stripe that is of particular interest.

 

This monstrosity is what I have which was supposedly done to make the radio work, the yellow wire under the steering wheel is the one connected to the horn button, as you can see most other wires are just snipped and connected to different colour wire through electrical tape... any help on where to start from here would be appreciated before i throw this whole car away