Digital Display When Ignition On??!!

On my 92 prelude si, whenever I turn the ignition key to the on position before i start the engine, some of the warning lights don't display such as: check engine, seatbelt, and low fuel. Are these supposed to light up whenever the key is turned? And if so, why aren't mine lighting up? Fuse, Relay? Because none of these lights work like when i have low fuel the light doesn't come on, and the seatbelt one has never came on. And i think my 02 sensor is goin out and the check engine never comes on.

I'll lay out exactly what happens with my car, and then if you could perhaps do the same for yours - because some of these circuits share common fuses and some don't - so if i have to trace it effectively it would help to know what comes on or off, and when.

when i first turn the key to on, pretty much everything lights up for a second

4ws (my car has 4ws with vtec wooot!)
abs
brake (if handbrake set)
seat
bat
low oil pressure
open door
open trunk
check engine
brake lamp.

(but note - no low fuel light... maybe somethings F'd with my car too.. we'll investigate)...

then after two seconds ONLY....

4ws
brake
seatbelt
bat
low oil pressure

remain lit up....

THEN
after starting...

SRS light - for a few seconds then out.
4ws remains lit - then goes out (if it's being nice to me today...)
brake (as it is set, on for don't be a silly bastard, off for down)
seatbelt (as it is utilized heh heh.. just kidding i always buckle up kiddies)

so yea as you know everything is off when you are driving around, which makes sense cuz it draws your attention to any problem when something lights up...

the simple solution to this of course is to say "replace the bulbs" however the fact that so many of your lights don't work (unless they were wired in series and all took a surge - which is unlikely) makes me think it is something else.

anyhoo...the fact that you don't get a check engine light is troublesome so we'll try to get to that sometime... I'm not sure if you get a low oil pressure light - but that would be even more troublesome, so we'll fix that first.

I think I can trace a couple of your problems back to a fuse 13 (10A).
namely:

low oil pressure switch light (which i'm not sure if it is a prob - but if it is)
low oil pressure flasher system (basically same as above but flashes)
key seat belt reminder system (could also be a seat switch however)

reading the flowchart for the MIL lamp not coming on, it also says to acknowledge if the oil pressure light comes on or not - if not - as i confirmed earlier it says to replace the fuse (13) and recheck... however if your low oil pressure light does come on, but your MIL lamp does not - the problem according to page 11-51 of (what i assume is) a Helm's manual says you have to use the test harness connect it to you your ecu, ground out pin a13 and see if the lamp comes on then etc etc - and we'll go there if we have to...

for now i'd say it's a safe bet to chuck in a new fuse 13 in your under dash relay...

but where oh where is the under dash relay you might ask - nothing like a great schematic to help you out - with included blow up of said RELAY BOX O-:

http://members.shaw.ca/palev/shite.gif

don't ask me where in that relay box fuse 13 is - but i assume it's fairly obvious.

yes i'm this bored, yes this took a long time write, and yes i have no life so i can spend time answering such things!

let me know if my time wasting helped it work!

i'll have to look into that low fuel light thing another time, i'm too buggered right now - mine doesn't go on when i first turn on either tho - perhaps it's not supposed to? anyone else shed some light on that.

What's the MIL light (sorry, I'm dense lol). I'm pretty sure the oil pressure light comes on, i'll check it after school. but yeah, the check engine light has never came on before, same with seatbelt and low fuel lights. Even weirder, i think the trunk light comes on when i turn the ignition on, but when the engine is running and i pop the trunk, the light never comes on.

How do you get to that under dash relay? I see the general area its in, but is there a screw or does it just pop out?

How do you get to that under dash relay? I see the general area its in, but is there a screw or does it just pop out?


MIL is the engine light.

I imagine there is some trim you have to remove to get to it.. usually not bolted perhaps tucked behind the weatherseal and door railing. I'm too lazy to go out to my car and look this time (: - i'm sure you'll find it.

Ok, i figured it out. When i turn the ignition key to the on position, the ones that don't light up are: low fuel, seatbelt, cruise control, check engine, and brake lamp. Then, after 2 seconds the ABS, brake, battery, and oil pressure lights remain lit. So, the oil pressure light does come on. I think i found the relay box tho, there's two philips head screws to take it out. I'm gonna go look at the fuses.

Ok, i figured it out. When i turn the ignition key to the on position, the ones that don't light up are: low fuel, seatbelt, cruise control, check engine, and brake lamp. Then, after 2 seconds the ABS, brake, battery, and oil pressure lights remain lit. So, the oil pressure light does come on. I think i found the relay box tho, there's two philips head screws to take it out. I'm gonna go look at the fuses.


hmm well if the low oil pressure one works - fuse 13 may not be a prob... it could just be your seat switch, that isn't working...(because as i said earlier both the seat switch, and low oil press seem to be tied to this fuse 13) as for the check engine, I'll have to look more into that one - but beyond changing fuse 13 if the oil press didn't come on - there troubleshooting goes into stuff that requires a test harness so you can test points on the ecu while it is hooked up to the car - so i'm not sure it's going to be so easy... could also just be the bulb itself - probably a nightmare to get too.

as for your trunk - if it lights up when you first turn on, but doesn't light even when you open the trunk and the car is running - it's most likely the trunk switch... obviously the bulb works - so if it's not the bulb it has to be the wiring or the switch!

all i got for now - best of luck.

Yeah i looked in the under dash relay box, but there's a screw facing the back of the car way underneath the dash, so i don't wanna take it out if i don't have to cuz it'll be a bitch, and since the oil pressure light works, i don't think there's any point. The main thing i want to work is the MIL, do you have any idea how to get this working??

Yeah i looked in the under dash relay box, but there's a screw facing the back of the car way underneath the dash, so i don't wanna take it out if i don't have to cuz it'll be a bitch, and since the oil pressure light works, i don't think there's any point. The main thing i want to work is the MIL, do you have any idea how to get this working??

I'll look into it some more.. the helms seemed kinda scarce on the wiring diagrams into the MIL(f) haha, but i look now that i'm more awake.

yeah there really isn't too much to this MIL Lamp - it's either one of four things

#1) fuse 13 (which since your oil pressure is working - it's not this in your case)
#2) the bulb - it probably is this - good luck!
#3) the ECM - i doubt it's this - but you never know, and you need a test harness to test it (or splice, unsplice - yoikes).
#4) the wiring - i doubt it's this, wires within bundles behind closed up areas don't move much, therefore there is little chance something went wrong, if it was within a bundle that was in a high movement area (ie: like those that go to your door or something) i would say maybe - but once again you never know.

if you don't believe me - i've uploaded a very small (34kb) pdf file called MIL-lamp.pdf that is basically the troubleshooting flowchart for your problem you can get that here http://members.shaw.ca/palev/MIL-Lamp.pdf

if you need more instructions on how to remove your dash,
http://www.hondahookup.com/manuals/Instrument%20panel.pdf

or simply
http://www.hondahookup.com/manuals/
and scroll down to the bottom where the site owner has broken the prelude gen 4 manual down into parts.

best of luck!

ok i'll admitt - i'd feel pretty guilty if you had to use that dash removal info alone from the honda hookup site.. so here is another reference from the helms.

http://members.shaw.ca/palev/dash-removal.pdf

it numbers the sequence (you may have to use zoom in acrobat reader)
but sorta shows more what you are up against...

i don't envy you - but you'll feel choice when your mil lamp is always on when you're driving around due to your faulty o2 sensor :P hahaha. (saracasm of course).

best of luck.