No dash lights!

[SearchingBearCub]

Ok, I'm new here (And to Honda in general), and I did a few searches on this before posting.

Bought an '87 LX-i Hatch from my neighbor for $500 cash with about 240,300 miles on it. It has a few problems, but it does run and drive, so I can live with them until I have the cash to fix them, except for one which I consider to be a safety issue - I have no dash illumination.

Last night I turned on the headlights and did a quick walk around the car. As far as I can tell, all the lights work. (Though I've never bothered to look at an Accord up close, I'm a former Ford man, so if someone could post pics of their outside lights as a reference, I'd appreciate it..)

The warning lights (brake, oil, high beam, etc..) all work, as do my turn signals, but no backlighting for the speedo, tach, temp, fuel, etc. I suck at estimating my speed, and since I'm used to driving full size vans, I tend to speed with this small car. I have a spotless record, and don't want a ticket to ruin it.

I played with the dimmer, no effect. I played with the switch on turn signal stalk, thinking it had bad contacts, no effect. Pulled the interior fuse diagram off and read it, but nothing was listed for "Cluster Illumination", as it would be on a Ford. The same for the fuse box under the hood.

What are the most likely culprits in this situation? If it's a fuse, what number, where would it be? (Ex: inside fuses, 3rd from the left, 2nd row..)

Thanks....

[l3aLLa]

Well it could be a few things i suppose; Do you see any illumination? Even if its really really really dim? If so, there is a nob located to the right of you sterring wheel with controls to brighten or fade your guage lights. If that isnt it, I would check all your fuses.

[SearchingBearCub]

Well it could be a few things i suppose; Do you see any illumination? Even if its really really really dim? If so, there is a nob located to the right of you sterring wheel with controls to brighten or fade your guage lights. If that isnt it, I would check all your fuses.

Thanks for the reply.

No illumination at all and the dimmer switch has no effect.

On the area of fuses, this is difficult at best. I'm partially handicapped and so not nearly as flexible as most people, plus here in SF, I have to deal with street parking, which means I can't just lay on my back partially inside and partially outside the car, unless I want to be run over.

Parking lots usually have a 30 minute limit, no enough time to go through every fuse if they are as far back inside the dash as I think they are.

Which fuses would be the likely culprits? Everything else works as far as I can tell. The only fuse I found thnat might have been it was under hood, marked "Interior Illumination", and it was a 15A fuse. The dome and door lights work though, so I doubt that's the one I want.

Again, can someone please tell me exactly where any suspect fuses would be located (Ex: inside fuses, 2nd row, 3rd from the left)? It would save me quite a bit of time and aggravation!

[guaynabo89]

Ok, I'm new here (And to Honda in general), and I did a few searches on this before posting.
Bought an '87 LX-i Hatch from my neighbor for $500 cash with about 240,300 miles on it. It has a few problems, but it does run and drive, so I can live with them until I have the cash to fix them, except for one which I consider to be a safety issue - I have no dash illumination.
Last night I turned on the headlights and did a quick walk around the car. As far as I can tell, all the lights work. (Though I've never bothered to look at an Accord up close, I'm a former Ford man, so if someone could post pics of their outside lights as a reference, I'd appreciate it..)
The warning lights (brake, oil, high beam, etc..) all work, as do my turn signals, but no backlighting for the speedo, tach, temp, fuel, etc. I suck at estimating my speed, and since I'm used to driving full size vans, I tend to speed with this small car. I have a spotless record, and don't want a ticket to ruin it.
I played with the dimmer, no effect. I played with the switch on turn signal stalk, thinking it had bad contacts, no effect. Pulled the interior fuse diagram off and read it, but nothing was listed for "Cluster Illumination", as it would be on a Ford. The same for the fuse box under the hood.
What are the most likely culprits in this situation? If it's a fuse, what number, where would it be? (Ex: inside fuses, 3rd from the left, 2nd row..)
Thanks....

Try checking the wires for power in and out and ground out of the dimmer switch or even swapping it out completely for a junkyard one.

also below the steering column there is a cover panel held on with four screws. behind this panl there are two boxes attaches. make sure there both plugged in. one of them has something to do with the interior lights.

if you have an electrical short it might be a little harder to track down

[Mac]

Fuse #14 in the under the dash fuse panel (I think, top row 5th from left) is for the instruments lights. But that fuse is also for the the switchs on the dashboard (cruise,rear defrost and heater controls). Does the heater/ac control light up?

The dimmer switch could be bad, and there is a controller (I think on the steering column trim panel) that might be faulty. Make sure that the dimmer and controller are both plugged in.

Anyway it might be a long shot but maybe most of the bulbs are burnt out behind the instrument panel. Also check that connector C218 (on the back of instrument panel) is fully connected.

[bucket_man]

I had a problem like that last night. My stereo leads (i dont have a stereo atm, got a xplod on lay-by though) shorted out and blew a fuse. I had to just look at every fuse, turned out it was a 15A, top row, second from the right (not including spares) It was called something stupid and had to do with my parking lights and licence plate lights or something.

[syclinsam]

i realize this is an old post bud i had the same problem and it turned out to be the circut board in the illumination controller box that is mounted under the steering column guaynabo89 mentioned it. One of the etchings had fried and broke apart. I took it to a local guy who does auto electronics and he fixed it for free. He soldered a "jump" or something like that to fix the busted etching. First time i turned them back on it smoked a bit scared me shut it off. Tried it again and the illumination lights have worked great ever since. (i think smoke was just flux or the compound he used to prep the board) Take a look at that if you don't come up with any fuses.

good luck

[dragdriftdrive]

the fuse for the dash lights is the same on for the tail lights. it should be 2 15 amp's right beside each other