Hi, I have an 05 crv ex 5 speed manual. My dash “brake” light is on and my temperature gauge reads absolute cold when the brake light comes on. This issue was intermittent for a couple days and today it’s permanently on song with the temp gauge reading cold. I checked my brake fluid level and everything appears normal. No braking issues. Car runs great. Any idea what is causing this brake light to appear along with killing the temperature gauge.

 

The gauges are all controlled by a CPU on the cluster printed circuit board ( PCB) .
The brake warning light is controlled by its own drive circuit that controls 8 warning lights. Its most probable that the cluster is failed.

Pretty much all the inputs that come to that cluster are fed to a series of CPUs that turn those lights on and off and run the gauges. So there's no real directly related connections for the fuel gauge circuit or the light bulb circuit however they are related within the integrated circuits on the onboard CPUs indirectly so if the CPUs are failing that could cause a problem. You might want to check the bulbs just for ***** and giggles but it's highly unlikely the brake light bulb is causing a fuel gauge to turn off all on its own. Additionally you might want to see if there is any way that the switch for the park brake lever is causing that light to come on to begin with. Just gently pull on the park brake lever and see if the light comes on really easy, like you have do you have to pull it out more than a few millimetres or if it comes on almost immediately when you touch the handle. However it does sound like the Clusters failed. A used cluster is not hard to find and there's guys that can rebuild those clusters in the US. I just found one used for my 2006 and it's a hundred and fifty bucks. Only a 2005 or 2006 cluster will work in your car because it also has vehicle stability assist or VSA which is a separate circuit in particular cluster of those years. Here's the pages of the manual.

 

Ok thanks. Before the brake light and the temp gauge stayed on permanently I did try working the parking brake handle and the brake like came on at about an inch of travel. Looks like you are prob right on the cluster being bad. So to get this correct, inside the cluster I have cpus that control the gauges and lights. So if I replace the cluster I am also replacing the CPUs?

 

Yes . Its all one unit. 5 screws total and some (fragile) clips.
Remove the lower dash covers 2 phillips screws . One in the lower coin pocket in top corner and one on the fuse box access in top corner. Don't take it off yet.
Lower the tilt steering wheel, then pop the upper part of the lower – panel off by releasing the clips. You should use a trim tool for this. After you pull the top ones pull the bottom of the cover straight back. They will be a little bit tough to get off. Once you have the lower cover out of the way you don't have to take it off completely. Once you have the cover free it doesn't really sit there because it is quite tight around the steering column trim so you pretty much have to remove it. You'll have to unplug the accessory switches on the left hand side of the steering column in that cover by releasing the clips behind each electrical connector and if you have heated seats you'll have to unplug that switches well. I usually find the easiest way is to released the switch clips and pop the switches out and through the panel by squeezing my hand between the panel on the dash when it's all unclipped and then once I pop the switch out it's easier to get to the electrical connectors in back of the switch. Release the clips from the connectors by pushing the small tabs in and pulling the connector back at the same time. They should come out fairly easy you should use a flat blade 1/8" small screwdriver to help you out with this or trim tool.
There are 3 Phillips head screws holding the instrument cluster into the dash. For the top 1 have to Crane your neck around and look up at it and you'll need a stubby Phillips screwdriver to take that one out. And then you'll see the other two at the bottom of the cluster. There are two electrical connectors on the top of the cluster, so you'll pull the cluster forward and tilted towards you and then with flat blade screwdriver push in on the clips of the connectors and gently pry the connector out at the same time. If you try to pry the connector out before the clip is fully released it will bind and you'll have to release it push the connector back into its plug and then try again. Make sure the key is off and just to make it less frustrating, pop open the hood open up the fuse box cover locate the 15 amp horn fuse and just pull it and set it aside. I always do this because I have the tendency of honking the horn while I'm doing it it's almost inevitable. Be advised though that your shift interlock will not release with that fuse pulled. The key should remain off the whole time you're unplugging or plugging in the cluster to avoid damaging it

Removal of lower dash

Cluster bezel

Cluster ( 3 phillips screws)

Cluster lights

Diagnostic procedure

Diagnostic cont'd

Cluster

 

Thanks so much extremely helpful. Just found a cluster on ebay for $112. Will see if I can order and this done in a few days. Thanks again.