And if so could it cause them to be intermittently working before they go out if the fuse is going bad...or does it just completely go dead without warning? Also, where would the gauge cluster light fuse be located on a 91 civic hatch? Thanks.

 

if your taillights and runninglights are out too then it is a fuse

 

I think i seen a thread somewhere sayin that cluster lights commonly have bad contacts, might wanna check there

 

cluster lights are tied up with the tail lights and park lights, if all those are out, then ur fuse is more than likely out.

 

HEH HEH, i love this electrical stuff, to me, it sounds like a short, on my rex, there's seperate fuses for tail lights, and the cluster, cuz if it's flickering, or working intermittently, it might more than likely be a bad connection, someone said the contact's, that would be a good place to start, and possibly a short in the 12v pos, or the ground.

what kind of aftermarket electronics are you runnning, ex. amp, deck, sub's, anti theft, remote starter, etc?

 

Let's clear up a basic misconception... an electrical "short" is usually accompanied with excessive current going places it's not supposed to, thence "letting the smoke" out of any components in line... your problem sounds more like an "open" ... i.e. bad contacts/bad grounds etc....

and fwiw a fuse is either good or bad (blown), they are never "going" bad.

 

its just a loose wire or loose ground.

 

88- 91 clusters seem to be the same. The last time I had a problem is when my brake light switch went bad. My battery went dead and I was puzzled. Once I got a jump I notice my brake lights were constantly on, and that told me why my battery went dead. It may not be your problem, but not a bad thing to check.

Another good thing to know is that the brake lights and the horn are on the same switch. I installed an aftermarket air horn that fried the fuse if I hit the brakes and the horn at the same time; sucked too much juice. I have since installed electric horns (BMW style) and everything works fine. Sounds awesome and lets people know you're there. Just another thing to consider.