Hi, even when I firmly close the trunk of my Civic 93 sedan, the trunk light remains lit on, as well as the red warning light in the dash, forcing me to uninstall the trunk's light bulb. Any ideas how to fix this? Thanks

 

I can only say what my 2000 civic has but I almost guarantee you yours is the same. Open the trunk and look up at the latch on the trunk lid. There is a bicycle style cable coming in from the left side that is connected to the release lever next to the drivers seat. There is also a wire coming down the center of the trunk to the center of the latch. Put the bulb back in and then unplug the connector at the latch and the bulb should go out.

At this point you either leave it unplugged and go on with life. Or you replace the latch because the switch is bad and it's most likely built into the latch.

 

Thanks, where is the "connector" that you mention I should unplug? Also, what is the difference between unplugging the "connector" and removing the bulb? Both achieve the same purpose: leave the circuit open and avoid battery drain, right?

 

Well like I said yours might be different but it's probably the same.
Open the trunk and look up at the latch on the trunk lid.
There should be two wires coming off the latch. One to the side and one from the center toward the front of the car. Unplug the one that goes toward the front of the car.


You can either unplug the connector at the latch or leave the bulb out it makes no difference. Six of one, half dozen of the other.

To answer your original question you need to replace the latch to fix the issue.

 

Thanks! Yes, I suspected that was the cable you mentioned. What about the dash red trunk open warning light? How can I turn off that light?

 

The trunk latch switch is probably faulty and stuck in the closed position, so that the ground is sent all the time to both the dash indicator and the trunk light bulb.

The wiring to the dash indicator is before the trunk light bulb; so, just taking out the trunk light bulb won't turn off the dash indicator.

To disable both the dash indicator and the trunk light bulb from turning on, the solution is to disconnect the connector (C584) from the trunk latch switch.

 

Oh, I guess I misread your post I thought you were saying the pulling the bulb turns off the dash light as well. If that's not the case then you're probably going to be stuck with at least the dash light on until you can replace the switch. I don't have access to the car right now so I really can't test out any other theories to help you out. I would definitely though pull that bulb out to lessen the battery drain.

Edit: Tech8 go to it while I was typing. To unplug that wire at the latch there is a little tab you need to push in while you unplug.

 

Thanks tech8, is that C584 connector in the trunk "door" (that opens and closes the trunk area) or inside the trunk itself? I will try this later today and update this thread




UPDATE: Is that connector close to the hatch opener cable? they come from the same direction (image is for the Hatchback, I guess it also applies to the Sedan)

 

These images show the location of the connector.

 

Great, so removing those two screws will allow plastic cover removal and expose the switch for easy access

 

You may not need to remove any screws. Look around first. Maybe take some photos and post them so we can see if there are other ways.

 

Yeah, I was thinking about doing that before messing with my zero mechanic skills
Will post photos later today
Thanks

 

Here are the pictures:


Close-up

 

Gently pry up the plastic clips on the plastic trunk garnish. Then start to pry and/or pull up the garnish with your hand or a tool, usually then are held on with other clips. Do not force anything.

After the garnish is removed, you likely can disconnect the switch connector.

 

So if I understand correctly, as seen in the picture below, all I need to do is remove those plastic clips which will then allow me to gently detach the garnish wall (soft material) and that will be enough to expose and disconnect the switch connector, or do I also have to remove the hard plastic? (those are original 1993 OEM parts, hopefully nothing will break in the removal process)

 

Yes, remove the two plastic clips, and if there are any others (?) not seen in the images.

The garnish is one piece (the felt material with the hard plastic). The garnish should come off as a whole. There are probably other clips that will just come off with the garnish as you pry/pull it out. Gently pry/pull a section at a time of the whole garnish..

 

When taking those pics today and examining the garnish+hard plastic it felt like the garnish and the hard plastic are two separate components, as if you can remove the garnish while not removing the hard plastic.

 

You probably can.