Honda Car Forum

1994 Civic EX 2-dr


Can you be more specific as to year and exact model?




"Anon" <anon@anon.com> wrote in message
news:dS7nc.116486$Qy.78471@fed1read04...
> When turning the light switch on for parking lights, the rear taillights
will come on, but the front parking lights will not. When the light switch
it turned all the way on, the headlights will come on, but the taillights
won't work. Has anybody seen this before? Could it be a bad switch for the
lights?

From what you are describing, it does sound like a bad headlight switch.



"Anon" <anon@anon.com> wrote in message
news:cG9nc.117604$Qy.55148@fed1read04...
> 1994 Civic EX 2-dr
>
>
> Can you be more specific as to year and exact model?
>
>
>
>
> "Anon" <anon@anon.com> wrote in message
> news:dS7nc.116486$Qy.78471@fed1read04...
> > When turning the light switch on for parking lights, the rear taillights
> will come on, but the front parking lights will not. When the light
switch
> it turned all the way on, the headlights will come on, but the taillights
> won't work. Has anybody seen this before? Could it be a bad switch for
the
> lights?
>
>

I found out that the last time it was taken to the body shop, the main
electrical box under the hood had been opened and the top was left
off. Can the lights wiring be messed up from there?

To answer the previous questions:

I just got done checking all bulbs and fuses, it seems that two of the
bulbs were out, and one fuse was blown. The bulbs are now all
working, but at different times with the different light switch
states. Problem still exists.

Dash and instrument lights are on no matter what position the light
switch is on.

The car was bought from a previous owner, but the lights have been
working fine up until a few weeks ago.

Not likely. There is a 40A fuse in that fuse box that is common to
parking lights and head lights, but if this fuse were blown, you would
have no parking lights, no head lights, no tail lights and no dash
lights.



Anon wrote:
>
> I found out that the last time it was taken to the body shop, the main
> electrical box under the hood had been opened and the top was left
> off. Can the lights wiring be messed up from there?

A few more questions, does the car have daytime running lights? If it
does, try unplugging the connector from the DRL controller. The DRL
controller is located to the left of the driver's foot well, it is a
small box mounted on top of the cruise control main unit. If this fixes
the problem, then get a new DRL controller or just leave it
disconnected.

Do you have any kind of security system or keyless entry? These systems
usually tie in to the parking lights.

Which two bulbs were out, and what fuse was blown? After you replaced
the fuse, did it blow again, or is it still intact? (If the two bulbs
were the front parking light bulbs, and if these two lights now are on
whenever the tail lights are on, I would say it is most likely the light
switch that is at fault).

And to make it easier for us to keep track, try giving us a complete
list of which lights are on under what conditions (now that you have
replaced bulbs and fuses). Fill in the table below.

Condition |Headlights |Tail lights |Parking lights |Dash
lights |
---------------------|-------------|--------------|---------------|------------|
Light switch "OFF" | | |
| |
---------------------|-------------|--------------|---------------|------------|
Light switch "PARK" | | |
| |
---------------------|-------------|--------------|---------------|------------|
Light switch "ON" | | |
| |
---------------------|-------------|--------------|---------------|------------|
Anon wrote:
>
> To answer the previous questions:
>
> I just got done checking all bulbs and fuses, it seems that two of the
> bulbs were out, and one fuse was blown. The bulbs are now all
> working, but at different times with the different light switch
> states. Problem still exists.
>
> Dash and instrument lights are on no matter what position the light
> switch is on.
>
> The car was bought from a previous owner, but the lights have been
> working fine up until a few weeks ago.

That table didn't look to good after line breaks were added. Perhaps
this will work better:



Condition |Headlights|Tail lights|Parking lights|Dash lights|
-------------------|----------|-----------|--------------|-----------|
Light switch "OFF" | | | | |
-------------------|----------|-----------|--------------|-----------|
Light switch "PARK"| | | | |
-------------------|----------|-----------|--------------|-----------|
Light switch "ON" | | | | |
-------------------|----------|-----------|--------------|-----------|


Randolph wrote:
>
> A few more questions, does the car have daytime running lights? If it
> does, try unplugging the connector from the DRL controller. The DRL
> controller is located to the left of the driver's foot well, it is a
> small box mounted on top of the cruise control main unit. If this fixes
> the problem, then get a new DRL controller or just leave it
> disconnected.
>
> Do you have any kind of security system or keyless entry? These systems
> usually tie in to the parking lights.
>
> Which two bulbs were out, and what fuse was blown? After you replaced
> the fuse, did it blow again, or is it still intact? (If the two bulbs
> were the front parking light bulbs, and if these two lights now are on
> whenever the tail lights are on, I would say it is most likely the light
> switch that is at fault).
>
> And to make it easier for us to keep track, try giving us a complete
> list of which lights are on under what conditions (now that you have
> replaced bulbs and fuses). Fill in the table below.
>
> Condition |Headlights |Tail lights |Parking lights |Dash
> lights |
> ---------------------|-------------|--------------|---------------|------------|
> Light switch "OFF" | | |
> | |
> ---------------------|-------------|--------------|---------------|------------|
> Light switch "PARK" | | |
> | |
> ---------------------|-------------|--------------|---------------|------------|
> Light switch "ON" | | |
> | |
> ---------------------|-------------|--------------|---------------|------------|
> Anon wrote:
> >
> > To answer the previous questions:
> >
> > I just got done checking all bulbs and fuses, it seems that two of the
> > bulbs were out, and one fuse was blown. The bulbs are now all
> > working, but at different times with the different light switch
> > states. Problem still exists.
> >
> > Dash and instrument lights are on no matter what position the light
> > switch is on.
> >
> > The car was bought from a previous owner, but the lights have been
> > working fine up until a few weeks ago.

Condition |Headlights|Tail lights|Parking lights|Dash lights|
-------------------|----------|-----------|--------------|-----------|
Light switch "OFF" | OFF | OFF | OFF | OFF |
-------------------|----------|-----------|--------------|-----------|
Light switch "PARK"| OFF | ON | ON | ON |
-------------------|----------|-----------|--------------|-----------|
Light switch "ON" | ON | OFF | OFF | ON |
-------------------|----------|-----------|--------------|-----------|

I can get more detailed, as to what happens when the brake is on,
which segments of the bulb is on, but it basically boils down to tail
lights on with park on, tail lights off with headlights on.
In doing this testing, I realized that the horn doesnt sound either,
and there is a small black box under the dash that makes a loud
ticking noise when I hit the horn button.
This car has an aftermarket stereo, aftermarket alarm, and some
interior lighting, the wiring under the dash looks like spaghetti.


Randolph <trash@junkmail.com> wrote in message news:<40A92EA3.19D227E7@junkmail.com>...
> That table didn't look to good after line breaks were added. Perhaps
> this will work better:
>
>
>

Normally I would say that if park and tail light turn off with
headlights on, there is a problem with the switch. People have reported
that particular failure in this NG before. The problem with that theory
is that the dash lights are connected to the same switch terminal as the
parking / tail lights. You mentioned that the car has a few after market
features installed. Perhaps the switch is bad, and that the dash lights
get voltage through some alternate path associated with the after market
wiring.

One test you can do is to measure the voltage between fuse #19 (under
dash fuse box) and ground. With the light switch off you should not see
voltage. With the switch in either of the two "on" position you should
se battery voltage. If you look carefully at the fuse, you will see that
it has two small areas of exposed metal at the front where you can probe
with a voltmeter (as long as the fuse is fine you can probe either of
the two areas). Use the steering column for ground when you measure. If
you do see battery voltage at fuse 19 with the switch in both "park" and
"on" then your switch is fine. If you see battery voltage only on "park"
and not in "on" the switch would be the problem.

As for the horn, check fuse #42 in the under-hood fuse box. The clicking
sound you hear is the horn relay, so you know the steering wheel
switches and connections are fine. If fuse #42 is fine, you most likely
have a broken horn, but it could also be that the contacts in the relay
are bad. The horn is behind the front bumper cover, and the bumper cover
needs to come off to get access. Follow the bumper cover as it curves
under the car. There are 2 bolts, about 3 feet apart under the bumper. I
believe they have 10mm heads. Remove these two bolts. Then in each wheel
well you will see that the fender is notched as it is folded into the
wheel well right below where the bumper ends. Push back the inner
plastic fender and stick a philips screw driver straight up through the
notch and remove one screw on each side of the car. Finally, open the
hood and remove the 5 bolts that hold the upper side of the bumper
cover. Now the bumper comes off (unless you have the factory fog lights,
in which case these will need to be disconnected). The horn is on the
passenger side under the steel bumper beam. Unplug it and measure for
voltage at the connector when a helper honks the horn. If you do see
voltage then the horn is bad and needs replacement.

Anon wrote:
>
> Condition |Headlights|Tail lights|Parking lights|Dash lights|
> -------------------|----------|-----------|--------------|-----------|
> Light switch "OFF" | OFF | OFF | OFF | OFF |
> -------------------|----------|-----------|--------------|-----------|
> Light switch "PARK"| OFF | ON | ON | ON |
> -------------------|----------|-----------|--------------|-----------|
> Light switch "ON" | ON | OFF | OFF | ON |
> -------------------|----------|-----------|--------------|-----------|
>
> I can get more detailed, as to what happens when the brake is on,
> which segments of the bulb is on, but it basically boils down to tail
> lights on with park on, tail lights off with headlights on.
> In doing this testing, I realized that the horn doesnt sound either,
> and there is a small black box under the dash that makes a loud
> ticking noise when I hit the horn button.
> This car has an aftermarket stereo, aftermarket alarm, and some
> interior lighting, the wiring under the dash looks like spaghetti.
>
> Randolph <trash@junkmail.com> wrote in message news:<40A92EA3.19D227E7@junkmail.com>...
> > That table didn't look to good after line breaks were added. Perhaps
> > this will work better:
> >
> >
> >