cluster lights

[sam0218]

not sure if this is the right spot. anyway, i installed a pioneer headunit in my car. 2002 honda civic si. and everything seemed to work fine. so im leavig work and its dark out and i go to unlock my car and i notice that the lights dont flash. then i go to turn on the lights and the cluster lights dont work. so i drive home anyway cuz its only like 2 mins. i get home and see that a fuse is blown for that so i change it and they work then the fuse blows again change it again and now only half of the gauge cluster will light up and none of the knobs for the climate control will light up. it also smelled like something is burning. i am i checked all the fuses and i have no clue what it could be. help please!!!

[frm_808]

looks like u got a shorted wire man...

[EP3_U_SEE]

always check fuses.....

[frm_808]

always check fuses.....

he already did that bro. and keeps blowing out

[VegaS10]

Did you tape up the orange wire in your radio wiring harness?

It sounds like that wire may be hitting the metal behind the dash.

[sam0218]

i had the dimmer wire hooked up and its not even suppose to be hooked up. dumb mistake on my part. the burning smell seemed like it came from behind the cluster. its there an easy way to remove the cluster without having to remove the whole dash? also how would i find the short?

[lordofthesiths]

whenever a fuse blows a second time you have a problem you need to look into. sounds like you melted some wires.

[sam0218]

is there an easy way to find a short? im not sure what wire would be short and where it would be shorted at

[frm_808]

look for an open wire i guess would be the easiest way. look at all ur connections u made. did u butt connect them or soldered em?

[sam0218]

butt connect but the radio works perfectly. the only thing that isnt working now are the lights for half of the gauge cluster and the climate control knobs will not light up. who would i take the car too if i cant figure this out? the dealer i think would do it but that will break the bank. any other types of shops that might be able to fix this?

[3ree_P]

Dude buy a test light and check all ur wiring...ull find it

[sam0218]

i have a greenlee voltage detector and it doesnt seem to work on anything in a car. is there something else i should try to buy?

[Si-Kotic]

Honestly man I had the same problem a while ago except my headlights would go out along with my interior lights. And I found that the orange wire to my radio/headunit harness was open. I hadn't put tape on it and it kept coming in contact with the metal behind the dash. I would check those b/c once I taped that wire up I haven't had the problem since. It might not be orange for you, mine was the "phone" wire to hook a phone up to my headunit and I don't use it so I just taped the end of it.

[sam0218]

i have a wire for mute or something its orange with a white stripe or white with an orange stripe... one of the two. its not spliced at the end but ill try some tape over it. hopefully that works this is really startin to piss me off

[frm_808]

just take ur car apart again and recheck all ur connections and made sure u used the right power source. did u heat shrink ur connections or elect tape them?