My wife has a 1997 Civic CX. The other day she left her lights on all day long at work from about 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Naturally it drained the battery completely dead. I Jump started it and got it home but the battery would not hold a charge. I put a brand new battery in it so it fixed that problem. Now however there is a short in the instrument lights. It doesn't matter what size fuse you put in the fuse box as soon as you turn the lights on it pops. I've traced the wires as best as I could but I can't find anything grounding out. Anyone have any ideas or solutions ? Where can I find a wiring diagram on the net ? I know a Haynes or Chiltons manual would be helpful but I'm looking for a quick fix here.

 

Battery too powerful for your system?

 

Nope, exact same brand and size battery that I took out.

 

changing the fuse to a bigger one is about the dumbest thing you could have done...you have a short somewhere in the wiring...get a diagram trace the wires and find the problem. Use a digital volt ohm meter and test sections of the wiring.

 

The only reason I put a larger fuse in it was because I ran out of 7.5 amp fuses. Also! I know it's a short I said that in my post. I also!! said that I traced the wires as best as I could I can't find where it's grounding out. AND!!! if you would have paid attention to what I said I asked where I could find some wiring diagrams online because I'm looking for a quick fix.

 

ok tracing wires as best I can doesnt exactly tell me anything..you could have just looked at them and been like uhhhh they look good. B I dont give a **** if you ran out of 7.5amp fuses, wait and get the right one...they are rated for a reason, and all you did by putting a bigger fuse in because you were in a hurry was make the situation possibly worse. Dont get ****in lippy with me when I am trying to help you out in your thread by pointing out some of the mistakes you made. Did you ever say I traced it using a volt meter or I visually inspected or...or...or....soo when you want to be a grown up about it, I would be more than happy to help you with your query.

 

Ok. let me explain. Instrument lights didn't work. Checked the fuse. it was blown. put in a new fuse, turned the lights on it blew. The next thing I did was start looking at wires. I tore apart part of dash so I could see things better. I visually inspected all the wires that go to that part of the fuse box, the dimmer, and the back of the instrument cluster and nothing was melted together, none of the wire's insulation was cracked of chafed or however the hell you spell that, and nothing was touching anything metal to where it would short to ground. I then unhooked the tachometer that was wired in to the back of the dimmer thinking that might have have something to do with it. NOTE... The tach was in the car when I bought it 4 years ago. I then put a 10 amp fuse in it because thats what I had and it blew too. I guess the point I'm trying to make is everything was fine with the lights until my wife left her lights on and cooked the battery. Now the instrument lights short out for some odd reason. Why would draining a battery cause this problem to come about. Visually I can't find anything wrong with the wiring. No I did not use a volt meter to check the wiring and no I don't have a diagram. I was hoping some people who read this forum could help me out within the next few hours, and I was hoping someone knew a website or someplace on the net where I could find a wiring diagram so I didn't have to buy manual. I'm sorry if I didn't explain enough

 

check the online resources stick at the top of the forum, I believe they have an online chiltons as one of the links in PDF format that will have a wiring diagram for the instrument cluster. The battery fully draining may or may not have anything to do with the cluster short. It could be an unfortunate coincidence, maybe not. I would trace the wires once you get the diagram from connector to connector in sections with a volt meter and look for voltage drop. If you come across an area then you can replace that section of wire.

 

Well I got it fixed. Traced all that wiring for nothing. Turned out a light socket in the back of the gauge cluster shorted out. Who would've guessed ?
Thanks for the help though