mattcooper76 Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 So this is my first time posting, and I'm not super-proficient on working on vehicles but I'm learning as I go. Here's the problem... I got in my 2002 Civic this morning and drove for a couple of minutes and then noticed, all of a sudden, that the battery light and my engine light came on and stayed lit. Then as I continued driving, my gas gauge dipped down to empty (prompting the gas light to come on) and then after a few seconds went back to 1/2 full (where it should have been). Then the speedometer just went to 0 mph and has stayed there since. In addition, the odometer is not running as well. I believe I did hear a bit of a crackling sound 2 times...possibly a sizzle-like sound, coming from behind the dash...YIKES. Sooooo...obviously this is some sort of electrical problem. I really have no idea where to start with all of this. I'm assuming that if a fuse blew, lights would just not come on at all. Please help! Thank you in advance. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raley Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Sounds to me like the ground or plug on the back of the cluster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattcooper76 Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 Sounds to me like the ground or plug on the back of the cluster Could you explain to me what the "cluster" is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raley Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 the thing filled with gauges. it will have 3(ish) plugs on the back of it that are filled with wires controlling everything. if one of them is loose it can screw up the readings. did the car act any different when all of this was going on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattcooper76 Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 the thing filled with gauges. it will have 3(ish) plugs on the back of it that are filled with wires controlling everything. if one of them is loose it can screw up the readings. did the car act any different when all of this was going on? It didn't seem to do anything differently. So how do I access this cluster? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattcooper76 Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 It didn't seem to do anything differently. So how do I access this cluster? I've spent much of my evening educating myself on this issue and I feel like I'm beginning to get the basics of what might be going on. I also looked underneath the dash and found the obscene amount of wires within the wire harnesses. Just a few questions... Because I'm just getting a few lights that are malfunctioning, am I going to need to replace the entire wire harness? (I'm guessing that I can't really isolate which tiny little wire is having the problem). Could it be a fuse that has gone bad, or is going bad? Is it even possible for a fuse to be "going" bad? They either are blown or fully functioning...right? Ok...thank you very much everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raley Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Most likely its a connector on the harness, not just 1 wire. I doubt its a fuse. They dont just go bad. There should be some screws around the cluster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmgogo Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 is there any "after market" accessories on the car? If so... odds are you have a short somewhere. best way to find out is the sniff test, if it smells like burnt plastic or metal anywhere behind the dash or cluster, odds are someone did a hack job installing a radio, gauge faces, interior lights, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattcooper76 Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 This problem is starting to tick me off now. No after-market work has been done on this whatsoever. It's never had a bit of maintenance done on it except for regular oil changes and tire rotations. So I drove the car for a bit this morning...stopped off to buy a coffee...and now the sucker won't start. It's like things are progressively going wrong with the electrical system. Hopefully I'll get the car towed home and have enough daylight tonite to pull the cluster out and fiddle around...I'd be so happy if one of the wiring harnesses just came loose. Does that sound like the best plan of action? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raley Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 now im concerned... the cluster issue wouldn't cause the car to run rough, not start, anything of that sort... what it acted just fine, then you tuned it off and when you tryed to start what did it do? did the starter spin, did it sputter, did you hear anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattcooper76 Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 now im concerned... the cluster issue wouldn't cause the car to run rough, not start, anything of that sort... what it acted just fine, then you tuned it off and when you tryed to start what did it do? did the starter spin, did it sputter, did you hear anything? I figured out that the alternator 10 amp fuse kept blowing (replaced it several times). So I changed out the alternator (first time doing that) with the help of a neighbor. It worked great for most of yesterday...it would charge up the battery, all of the dash lights went off, the speedometer and odometer worked fine. Took the car out to the grocery store late last nite and the fuse blew again. I googled the issue and found this article where this other guy was having the same issue http://www.sparkys-answers.com/2009/04/1996-honda-civic-15-fuse-blown.html So it looks like I could possibly be having 2 wires (or more) touching one another making the fuse blow. Does this sound promising? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raley Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Yes, didnt know about a blowing fuse... you must likely have a big short somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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