Instrument cluster won't turn on, can't shift out of P

Jayz.91

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I was swapping out a taillight on my 2018 hatch, I was just trying to make sure all the lights functioned correctly. My car was fine, had no issues starting it, shifting, etc.
Then all of a sudden when I'm turning on the car today I've got all these issues.
1. Instrument cluster will not turn on, it's completely black.
2. I can't shift out of P, I have to use that little override thingy under the cup holders
3. When I put the parking brake on it engages but the light on the dash will just flash red. When I try disengaging it the light just flashes red and it sometimes takes a couple of tries before it does.
4. My DRLs will not turn on unless the headlights are on.

I'm not an expert but I'm thinking it's a blown fuse maybe. I checked all the fuses under the hood and none of them were blown. I checked only a couple on the driver side inside the car cause that is not a fun angle to be reaching at fuses. Of the ones I pulled, none were blown either.

So please help? ?
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Have you checked the battery itself? And you can check all the fuses with a multimeter in continuity or resistance mode. They have little metal contact points at the top of them.
 
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Jayz.91

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I checked the battery with one of those small basic current testers. The basic one with the light and the pointy metal thing. Wasn't any issues as far as I could tell?
But I do plan on picking up a cheap multimeter tomorrow and testing the fuses the way that you just mentioned.
It's safe to assume it's a fuse then?
 

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I checked the battery with one of those small basic current testers. The basic one with the light and the pointy metal thing. Wasn't any issues as far as I could tell?
But I do plan on picking up a cheap multimeter tomorrow and testing the fuses the way that you just mentioned.
It's safe to assume it's a fuse then?
No not necessarily. A contact tester doesn't tell you the voltage of the battery. It may be worn out or simply discharged from playing around with the lights. You need to check it with a multimeter also.
 

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No not necessarily. A contact tester doesn't tell you the voltage of the battery. It may be worn out or simply discharged from playing around with the lights. You need to check it with a multimeter also.
That's what I think, battery is probably dead. I can't see plugging and unplugging lights frying anything in the fusebox. If you have a battery tender or booster I'd hook that up and try again.

If that is the issue, make sure after you start the car and drive it for a good while (20-30min) so the alternator can charge the battery up again.
 


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Jayz.91

Jayz.91

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So even though I can start the car just fine, if the battery voltage or whatever is too low, it might not have enough power for the other stuff? My only concern is driving around because since the cluster is off I won't be able to see the speedometer.
 
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Mmm... electrical gremlins. My favorite.

The first thing I would do is a hard reset of the entire system. IMO... that's the first thing to try before you go nuts with individual stuff. I'm talking about disconnecting the negative cable from the battery for about 30 minutes, reconnecting, and (providing your dash works again); drive around for a bit and let all the systems recalibrate.
 

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Also... the e-brake is a sensitive little bastard. The DRLs come on when you shift out of Park (IIRC). The transmission lock only unlocks when you have your foot on the brake (I believe). So all this kinda points to brake stuff and all the other interconnected stuff.

Still... I'd do the reset first. Then see what issues remain.

And if so... double-check that you did the brake lights correctly. I'm still not sure what you did. But if you tapped the wrong wire for power or something unusual like that; I can see a disturbance in the Honda Force.
 
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Jayz.91

Jayz.91

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I had time to do a little drive today to see if it would resolve anything and so far nothing. While I was driving, the cluster was still black but the red brake light kept flashing.

Also... the e-brake is a sensitive little bastard. The DRLs come on when you shift out of Park (IIRC). The transmission lock only unlocks when you have your foot on the brake (I believe). So all this kinda points to brake stuff and all the other interconnected stuff.

Still... I'd do the reset first. Then see what issues remain.

And if so... double-check that you did the brake lights correctly. I'm still not sure what you did. But if you tapped the wrong wire for power or something unusual like that; I can see a disturbance in the Honda Force.
I'll follow your suggestion and try doing a reset tomorrow.
As for the taillights that caused this issue in the first place, it was a simple plug and play. I had them on previously with no issues, but had to replace two adapters on the left side because some wiring snapped off. As far as I can tell my fix worked, so I put back the lights I had on currently.
I hope this makes a little more sense.
About a year ago OEM lights out, Aftermarket lights #1 in.
Fast forward 2 months ago, broken adapters, Aftermarket lights #1 out, Aftermarket lights #2 in. Fast forward 2 days ago, Aftermarket lights #2 out to test Aftermarket lights #1.
Aftermarket lights #2 back in.
And now *problem*

But again, I'll try the reset tomorrow and after work today I'll pick up a multimeter to use tomorrow as well.
 

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Copy that. Since the brake lights are always powered regardless of the position of the key or fob; I'm thinking that there's a short circuit or some issue with the brake light circuit that's still an issue. You can pull the brake light fuse as an easy and quick disconnect for test purposes. The issue may immediately go away or may get fixed by a battery disconnect/reset. If so... but you then get the errors when you replace the fuse back in the slot... then the issue is the brake light wiring, IMO.
 
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Jayz.91

Jayz.91

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Soooo I'm just an idiot. I guess I didn't look at the fuses properly when I was pulling them. Less than 10 fuses in and I found a blown fuse with the multimeter :p Problem fixed.
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