Hey everyone. I'm new here, and I have an '89 DX Hatchback. 5 speed. I was driving around the other day, and my turn signals, hazard lights, clock, reverse lights, tach and fuel gauge randomly stopped working. I tested all of the fuses and they're good. Could it be the turn signal relay on the back of the fuse box? Or the Integrated Control Unit? Kinda stumped here. Any ideas? Anyone else had this happen before? Thanks!
that fuse is under the hood, i'm trying to remember which one it isOriginally Posted by moshbrandonmosh
my bad the fuse that controls all that is fuse 2 in the dash fuse box, it's supposed to be 10 amps
I tested all of the fuses under the hood with one of those cheap fuse test lights, and they all seem to be good, so I'm still confused as to what it could be. A short maybe? Along with what I mentioned that isn't working, the engine temp gauge isn't working either. Speedo and odo work, and all dash lights work fine. The only light on the dash that lights up when I turn my key to the "ON" position is the Battery light.
i edited my post, it's fuse 2 under the dash, it's the fuse that controls all of those, supposed to be ten amps
Tested ones under the dash. They're all good. Relay on the back of the fuse panel for the turn signals is good, too! Still wonder what it could be. Hmm.
have you actually replaced that fuse with another? also check the plugs near the center of the dash just under the edge of the dash
Replaced it with another, still no luck. I'm going to look at the plugs that are plugged into the blue surround (near the radio, etc.) next to see if anything's funny....
have you checked for voltage into that fuse with the key on?
I'm going to do that tomorrow when I have more time, as well as checking the series of plugs near the dash. Everything was fine for a while, so it seems it could be an intermittent problem.
Well, it looks like I possibly found the problem. On this connector, there are a few wires that are taped (!) together with electricial tape. There's another that has a section that has no insulation. It's just bare copper! Scary. So I'm going to get some splicers and repair them. These are the connectors under the dash next to where the radio is.
Dr_Snooz
"I like to take hammers, and just break stuff, just break stuff." - Beavis
1989 Honda Accord LX-i Coupe, 240k miles, MT swap, rear disc swap
Shop manual downloads available here: CLICK TO VIEW
I'm going to trace the wires via the diagram in the Electrical manual. I just find it strange that they could have broken somehow, but then again, I don't know what the owner did with the car. The other bizarre thing is a yellow wire that runs from the back of one of the under dash fuse box connectors to the starter solenoid under the hood. I disconnected it and connected the original that is part of the wiring harness, and the car doesn't start. Hmm. Maybe a glitch somehwere and they found a quick fix?
Last edited by moshbrandonmosh; 04-24-2011 at 06:55 PM.
I repaired the wires mentioned in the picture that I'd posted, but I'm still having the same issue....any ideas? The only thing I can think of is maybe power isn't getting to the 10A fuse under the dash. Weird. I need turn signals and gauges, so I may just wind up taking it to a good mechanic I know of, instead....
Hrm. The fuse box I have now was pulled from a car from the boneyard. I wonder if it somehow went bad? That's the only thing I can really think of. I replaced it because the last person that had the car had the tabs broken off of it and it was hanging down. Are the fuse boxes interchangeable between hatches, sedans, and coupes?
as far as I know, I think the efi and carb ones are the same too, just some extra circuits don't connect to anything in the harness
Good. Glad to hear. I'm getting up early tomorrow to get another one and see if that solves the problem. I'm not really good with electrical stuff, but I know the basics. The fuse box is the only thing I can think of, since the last one worked, even though it was hanging down. I looked under the dash, and everything seems to be fine.
I know the under hood fuse box has provisions for the efi circuits, power windows, etc, even on the dx, those circuits are just empty, if your fuse box has extra circuits, the other side of the pin for that circuit will simply be missing, so the circuit won't do anything
Makes total sense. Maybe the inside is corroded/damaged. I used all of the relays from the old fuse box. I didn't see any bad grounds anywhere under the dash, or anywhere else for that matter. I guess that's why I'm so lost as to what it could be.
The big yellow wire someone ran from a connector on the back of the fuse box through the firewall and to the starter is strange too. When I disconnect it from the starter and use the original one from the harness, nothing happens. The car doesn't turn over. Not even a click. Maybe there was a damaged part of the harness or a short. Strange...
Last edited by moshbrandonmosh; 04-28-2011 at 05:13 PM.
i think on that year there is a starter relay, if you don't push the clutch it won't engage, look above the clutch pedal and you'll see a switch, on the clutch arm, there is a plastic button that pushes the switch, the switch might be bad or something, and someone bypassed the starter circuit somehow, on the dx like mine there is no relay, power from the solenoid comes right from the key switch, I'll bet this is what they did
Ahhh! Silly me. Those were the two switches I saw. One mid way through the pedal, and one that's much harder to get to that's way at the top of the pedal. Both have rubber grommets in the pedal arm that come in contact with the switch when the pedal isn't depressed. Perhaps it's bad. I'm gonna have to look into that one, too!
I have both the service manual as well as the troubleshooting manual for the car. I have a really good mechanic, but I'm just trying to save some cash. Hopefully the fuse box issue can clear everything up. If not, I guess I'll bring it in....
Thanks so much for the help by the way. This is my first 3G Accord. I've always appreciated Honda's straightforward engineering. I'm a big car buff for all kinds of brands, but I love the 80s Japanese stuff. Gotta love flip-up lights, too. At first, it was meant to be a temporary deal until I got something that was "in better shape" but the thing has kinda grown on me.....
LOL. Poor sod was probably trying to get to the main relay...
Dr_Snooz
"I like to take hammers, and just break stuff, just break stuff." - Beavis
1989 Honda Accord LX-i Coupe, 240k miles, MT swap, rear disc swap
Shop manual downloads available here: CLICK TO VIEW
Haha, that's actually the first thing I thought of when I felt the whole fuse box assembly come down on my leg as I was driving. The main relay went on my '91 Civic, but instead of replacing it, I just soldered it back together and hadn't had a problem since. There's also a website/youtube page that I'm sure you guys are probably familiar with called Eric The Car Guy. He features Hondas fairly often, and had a pretty good how to video dealing with repairing those relays, since the solder is known to become weak over time.
Update!
So, my clock/gauges decided to start randomly working. However, my turn signals and hazard lights still aren't doing anything. The control stalks still work the headlights and wipers. Strange. Still heading to the yard tomorrow to pick up stuff, and going to study the manual. I'm still baffled as to what this is.
Well, I figured it out. My turnstalk mechanism wasn't working correctly. Blame twenty-plus year old brittle ABS plastic! D'oh! Well, at least I don't feel as retarded as the guy before me who had the car, ripped the fuse box assembly off its mounts to get to the Main Relay like Snooz was saying....haha.
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