02 civic,Dash lights not working.

[1NonlyAccord]

Girlfriend bought a very cheap 02 civic last sunday.1st car.
Problem is,Its Salvaged title. (hit on the front side:bumper,pass.fender and front door and front end suspension)
But now Shes telling me she cant drive at night because the dash dosnt light up.*needles,ac,ect*

I had her turn on the headlights to check if the taillights and license plate lights up-since the fuse is all connected- And they do.

The Previous owner hooked up a SONY aftermarket radio,and I googled it finding alot of people hook up the "illumination" wire,but is suppose to be left unhooked.So im going to check into that tonight,
but any other ideas to look?
thanks.

[Turbodude06]

^yep those body styles have a problem with aftermarket radios. My buddy did the same thing and fucked up his whole cluster, it actually burnt it up.....

[Barefoot]

lol unplug it see what happens. report back. should have done that before a post.

[1NonlyAccord]

ok so after taking half of the civics lower dash apart to access all the "hidden" screws,I come into a birdnest of wires and electrical tape.
After sorting through I find the orange-"illumination" wire hooked up to a single speaker wire leading further into the dash..Tracing the wire behind the gauge cluster;somebody has spliced the wire to the dimmer switch pinout on the clusters harness.
so with a quick cut and wiggle of the dimmer switch everything lights back up.
Gah hate working on cars after other people has gotten ahold of them.Seriously how hard is it to match color coded wires together.ha

[Barefoot]

lol im sticking by my post. should have tried that before asking for help. on the other hand happy u got it figured out.

[1NonlyAccord]

Thanks,I know i just wanted to get other thought so after i ran out of ideas i dont have to tear it back down.ect.

[Barefoot]

Thanks,I know i just wanted to get other thought so after i ran out of ideas i dont have to tear it back down.ect.got yah