Hey everyone,
I just bought a 96 Honda Civic EX coupe, with 161,000 miles on it. It's my second civic and I'm super happy with it, except a few things I need to fix. Here's the problem: When my lights are turned off, the stereo backlight and gear indicator light on the dash are on, but when I turn my lights on, the radio backlight and gear indicator light turn off, and none of my dash lights are working.
I tested the fuse, and the actual fuse was fine, but when plug it into the fuse housing (No. 30 - Instrument Lights), I got no reading from the fuse. So I am not sure what that means and what it could possibly be. Also, there is a 6-cd changer in the trunk, and I don't think it was from the factory, so maybe shoddy electrical work, if that is the case, how can I check if this affects the instrument cluster lights? I already unplugged the cd changer and still had the problem.
Thanks for any help, I really appreciate, it sucks not seeing my speed when I head to work in the morning.

To add to this, the lights for my blinkers, cruise control, and all other actual indication lights are working, not the speedo though, I'm going to pull it out and try to see if it's just a bulb or the wiring for it. I don't know though, because why would my gear indicator light and radio not work when I turn my lights on?

 

Possibly shoddy electrical work but try replacing the dimmer switch.

 

Your tail lights probably aren't working either and the problem would be the turn signal/ headlight switch.

 

Check the two fuses under the hood for tail lamps and dash lights.