98 Civic LX marker lights don't work
Asked by twinkiedooter Feb 17, 2016 at 05:23 PM about the 1998 Honda Civic LX
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
A few days ago I had to do a long trip in my car and a friend who drives like Mario Andretti drove. He drove into a very recessed water grate in the road and the car felt like it dropped a foot but in reality it was probably only 4" or so. Now ALL the marker lights, license plate lights don't come on. Headlights low beam and high beam work okay. Taillights, brake lights, backup lights work okay. Have replaced ALL running/marker lights, brake lights, backups etc and they don't come on at all. I was thinking it may be the headlight switch and will put a new one in soon. What do you think?
6 Answers
sixfootsix_car_guy answered 8 years ago
Thats a great place to start. Do the turn signals work? It also could be something as simple as a master fuse (located under the hood in the Fuse Box, not to be confused with the fuse box under the dash.
twinkiedooter answered 8 years ago
All turn signals work both front and rear and all flashers work in that setting. I'll check master fuse tomorrow and then head out to the junkyard to get the headlight switch from a car that I got the wiper switch out of a few months ago. It was the original wiper switch in the car so I'm thinking it's the original headlight switch that finally gave up the ghost. The dimmer switch seems okay as I have dash lights.
twinkiedooter answered 8 years ago
Many thanks for your quick come back Mr. Six Foot Guy!!!!!
twinkiedooter answered 8 years ago
Got another headlight switch and installed it properly. Still the same problem. Checked ALL fuses under the hood - all are good. If I turn hedlights on and put the brake on ALL the lights in the rear light up. Then they go out when I take foot off brake light. This the same problem I had before...no change. Turn signals front and back OK. Flashers OK Brake lights OK No marker or running lights.
twinkiedooter answered 8 years ago
Okay. Took my 98 out to my trusted mechanic today. Last night I had Mr. Andretti come and see if he could "help" figure out the problem. Seems Mr. Andretti had a bad case of sticky fingers and STOLE two of the under the dash box fuses right out of the fuse box!!! My mechanic figured out that while I was in at my doctor appointment he went out to my car and removed the license plate fuse #32 that also controls the running lights. Then last night he stole the two under the dash fuses and took out MORE 7.5 under dash fuses and just left them on the floorboards.. No wonder when we came back from Cleveland my running lights would not work and no wonder my headlights would not work at all last night He stole the headlight fuse and the defroster fuse from under the hood!!!! The Honda dealership said that they hadn't sold ANY under the hood fuses in YEARS and had to overnight them for me. He said they don't just go tits up or go bad. Don't bother trying to buy at a local auto parts store as they don't carry that size but sell stuff for trucks. Thought I'd get back to you all so you can see that you need to be VERY VERY carefully go thru your under dash fuse box to make sure no fuses are MISSING and then go under the hood to make sure none are missing there as well. I hope my supposed friend rots in hell for his little antics. P.S. My trusted mechanic charged me NOTHING as it was a quick 5 minute fix....bless his heart...I am so lucky to have him.
twinkiedooter answered 8 years ago
I meant the block fuses (headlight and defroster) under the HOOD not under the dash...and yes I AM BLONDE thank you!!!
