Faulty Dashboard Light

[SuperSaiyanMike]

At night when I turn my lights on, sometimes it takes awhile for the dash light to go on. Its annoying because I cant see how fast Im going. Its a 93 Civic, so Im guessing its just old. Is it a bulb, or maybe some wiring?

Anyways, how do I go about finding out what it is and replacing it. I have no idea how to take the dash apart to get to it.

Also, whats everyone's opinions on changing the color of the bulb back there?

 

[cheezeonmakneez]

if they come on after a while, it is probably a wiring or switch issue.

Quite a few people swap the bulbs for amber bulbs.

 

[SuperSaiyanMike]

Amber? Is that what the cool people are doing?
Any idea of how to get back there and check it out?

Sometimes they dont come on for awhile, usually in the cold. And sometimes after I flick the lights on and off, they go on.

 

[NYGraFFit1]

At night when I turn my lights on, sometimes it takes awhile for the dash light to go on. Its annoying because I cant see how fast Im going. Its a 93 Civic, so Im guessing its just old. Is it a bulb, or maybe some wiring?

Anyways, how do I go about finding out what it is and replacing it. I have no idea how to take the dash apart to get to it.

Also, whats everyone's opinions on changing the color of the bulb back there?

how long do they take to dim on? or do they take a while then snap on...

and as for the light bulb color, go right ahead, not difficult at all; i did it, made my bulbs amber with some paint. looks bad ass.

 

[cheezeonmakneez]

4 philps head screws
look above your steering wheel, you will see the screws. Remove them and you will see two more. Scale 1-10= 1.5 it's super easy dude.

 

[SuperSaiyanMike]

They dont dim on. They eventually just snap on.
I know those screws, didnt think they were for the dash, thanks.

Why amber. I was thinking a nice blue to match my head unit.

 

[NYGraFFit1]

cant go wrong with blue. just make sure u do it right the 1st time. cant go wrong with some LED's if uve go the time.

edit: there's a DIY some where on here on it

 

[SuperSaiyanMike]

Is there just one bulb back there, or is it many?
Also, I gotta figure out if its the wiring, switch, or bulb..how can I do that?

 

[SuperSaiyanMike]

I think the screws on mine are underneath the wheel..

 

[RonJ]

At night when I turn my lights on, sometimes it takes awhile for the dash light to go on. Its annoying because I cant see how fast Im going. Its a 93 Civic, so Im guessing its just old. Is it a bulb, or maybe some wiring?

Anyways, how do I go about finding out what it is and replacing it. I have no idea how to take the dash apart to get to it.

Sounds like a bad dash dimmer switch. Pry the dimmer switch out of the dash and unplug the connector. Then insert a jumper wire into the connector so that the red wire and black wire are connected. When you turn the parking lights on, the dash lights should now immediately shine at full intensity. If so, replace the dimmer switch.