I've got an '01 Civic and for the past ~6 months the dashboard has been turning on and off intermittently. Whenever it turns off it just shuts right down, all the gauges drop off, with a couple of indicator lights staying on (usually just the BRAKE light, which is off when the dashboard is working properly). Sometimes it will come back all at once, then other times it will slowly come back, with the backlight slowly getting brighter, followed by the odometer, and eventually all the gauges. I've ignored this successfully for a while, but last night on my way home from work, the battery light came on the SRS light started to turn on and off (on when going under ~3000 rpm, off when going more than ~3000 rpm). I made it home, but while sitting in my parking lot I tried to turn the AC on. It sounded like it was trying to start up, but couldn't. Then I turned my car off and couldn't get it to start back up... In addition my car was sitting for ~9 days unused while I was on vacation, but I got to work just fine (~20 miles away) with no issues, and it wasn't until more than halfway through my return trip that it started to fail...

Does this sound like an alternator issue? Does this sound like two separate unrelated issues? What should I do to test the alternator? I'm pretty confident I think I can replace the alternator if I need to, but don't want to waste time/money replacing something if I don't need to.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Going to autozone tonight to get my alternator/battery tested. Will update in morning.

 

Ok, took it into autozone and found out the battery was bad and had it replaced. Working okay for now, but my dashboard is still dead. Initially the battery light came on, but is now off, no more SRS light either. Could this still be an alternator issue?

The guy at autozone told me that the alternator test was pretty much a waste of time, because it gives a lot of false positives (i.e. it'll say the alternator needs to be replaced when it is fine). Any one know how I can test my alternator?

 

The alternator test is real simple but interpretation can be fuzzy.

Start the engine, turn everything else off (A/C, lights, etc), and use any ordinary voltmeter to measure the voltage at the battery with the engine idling.

Less than 13 volts = definitely bad.

More than 14 volts = good.

When you're between 13 and 14 rev up the engine slightly and if it then goes over 14, call it good. If it goes over 16 volts, it is overcharging, which is bad.


On your car, you may have bad connections or grounds behind the panel. When driving at night, do all the lights get bright and dim or just the panel?

 

Just the panel dims, no other exterior or interior lights dim radio is fine, etc...

Battery light came back on so I took the car to autozone again and had them do their alternator test. The test showed that my battery was not charging. So I took the alternator out tonight and I'm bringing it to autozone where they can hook it up to a machine and test it (proving once and for all if my alternator is good/bad). Will update again tomorrow night/Satuday.

Still could be unrelated to the dashboard... Once I get the alternator situation figured out I'm hoping I'll have some time to get to the bottom of the dashboard (assuming that replacing the alternator doesn't magically fix my dashboard). Apparently it's a pretty big hassle to take the dashboard off. You have to remove the steering wheel and a bunch of other fun stuff. Hope I don't set off the airbag... I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Stay tuned, and keep that good advice comming, I appreciate it greatly!

 

Hello,

I also have an 01 civic. I had all of the exact same issues you are describing. Flickering dash lights, dash going out completely, fan speeding up and slowing down, headlights dimming at idle, wipers going really slow, etc....

It was the alternator. I had it replaced and all the problems went away! Good luck, hope this helps..

 

Ok, so I took out the alternator, tested it and found out it was bad. I replaced the alternator and my battery light is gone.

The dashboard is still turning on and off intermittantly. I'm thinking there is a loose connection somewhere... Anyone have any experience with running down loose connections on a civic dash? I'd love some tips, rather than just tear the sucker out (which is pretty difficult...) I can get the dash to turn on and off by hitting the dashboard really hard with my fist (ala Fonzie).