Honda Prelude Forum banner

How to fix your dash lights after faulty stereo installation

41K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  MrMassacreVTGD 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
First off, there are a few things you need to check before coming to my conclusion.

1.) are your tail lights out as well? If so, check your tail light and interior light fuses; they most likely have blown.

2.) if that fixes your tail lights, but your dash lights still are not working, check the bulbs by removing the cluster (there should be two screws at the top of the cluster, take those out), then grab from the bottom of the black cover and pull out; it should pop right out. After that, there should be two more screws at the top of the clear plastic cover of your cluster. Remove those, and the cluster should come free. Pull out the three pigtails and examine the back of the cluster.

3.) there should be four or five little grey plastic pieces; turn them, pull them out, and check to see if you blew all the bulbs. If you have blown them, remove them and replace them (Auto Zone sells them for around five bucks for two bulbs; also, pick up some bulb grease for the extra dollar to seal it and make them easier to remove in the future.)

4.) once you've replaced the bulbs check once again to see if that has fixed your problem. If not, you had the same problem I had and blew the dimmer switch or dimmer control module.

5.) to solve this, remove your radio and look at the wiring harness in the back. The orange wire with a white stripe that generally should be connected to the orange illumination wire attached to the aftermarket stereo needs to be disconnected and attached to the ground wire from the stereo (black wire). So the black wire from the stereo will be connected not only to the black wire on the harness, but it will also have the orange wire with a white stripe attached.

6.) now turn on your headlights, and your dash lights should again be illuminated!!!:):):):):):):)


By doing this, you bypass the dimmer switch so your dash lights will be on full brightness, but your dash lights will work! I've been trying to figure this out for months and just got it a few hours ago. Let me know if this helped, if I wasn't clear on anything, or if you have some questions.

Good Luck!
 
See less See more
#3 ·
Lude_Boi_97



I know I'm super late to the game here, but I just had this exact problem. I knew there was a short somewhere closer to the instrument cluster rather than the tail lights and I had just switched out the ancient stock Honda radio so I pulled that to see if it was the culprit. Found a wire that was touching metal when it shouldn't, wrapped it, put the radio back in, switched in a new 15a fuse and everything worked again.

If you can find the bad wire, it might only need to be wrapped or switched out or something.
 
#4 ·
first off theres a few things you need to check before coming to my conclusion

1.) are your tail light out as well? if so check your tail light and interior light fuses they most likely have blown
2.) if that fixes your tail lights but your dash lights still are not working check the bulbs by removing the cluster. (there should be two screws at the top of cluster, take those out. then grab from the bottom of the black cover and pull out, it should pop right out. After that there should be two more screws at the top of the clear plastic cover of your cluster, remove those and the cluster should come free. pull out the three pigtails and examine the back of the cluster.
3.) there should be four or five little grey plastic pieces turn them and pull them out and check to see if you blew all the bulbs. if you have blown them remove those and get them replaced, (auto zone sells them for around 5 bucks for 2 bulbs, also pic up some bulb grease for the extra dollar just to seal it and make them easier to remove in the future.)
4.) once youve replaced the bulbs check once again to see if that has fixed your problem. if not then you had the same problem i had and blew the dimmer switch or dimmer control module.
5.) to solve this remove your radio and look at the wireing harness in the back. the orange wire with a white stripe that normally should be connected to the orange illumination wire attached to the aftermarket stereo needs to be disconnected and attached to ground wire from the stereo (black wire). so the black wire from the stereo will be connected not only to the black wire on the harness but it will also have the orange wire with a white stripe attached as well.
6.) now turn on your headlights and your dashlights should once again be illuminated!!!:):):):):):):)


by doing this your a bypassing the dimmer switch so your dash lights will be on full brightness but your dash lights will work! ive been trying to figure this out for months now and just got it a few hours ago. lemme know if this helped and if i wasnt clear on anything or if you just have some questions.


Good Luck!
I know I ma pretty late. However, thank you so much for your post. I got installed audio from one of our stores and I lost instrumental panel. I got it fixed (no desire to go back to that store)...
 
#5 ·
So I'm late to the game on this issue as well if anyone can give some insight. My problem is similar however, I have the stock radio still installed. There was an aftermarket alarm system installed when I purchased my 98 Prelude and I have removed it completely from what I can tell. My #7 fuse continues to blow even after it's removal which is cutting out my dash lights, corner lights and tail lights when I switch my headlights on at night. I can't find any loose wiring that could be touching metal or other wires however when I was removing the wiring they soldered into the passenger multiplex unit it was a total hack job so I cut it out and resolidified those wires.

Other issues I know I have going on is a non-responsive cruise control system and a check engine code of P1705 which translates to transmission neutral safety switch.

I have called Honda to see what it would cost for them to diagnose the electrical problem and they told me $130. Which is fine but if anyone has some insight that they could point me in the right direction as being the culprit or how to eliminate suspects I would appreciate it!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top