1998 Honda Civic Radio and Dash Cut Out

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POM69
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
My wife's car is a '98 Honda Civic EX. She no longer has the factory radio installed in the car (it was replaced a while back). Just recently she had the timing belt replaced along with some additional tuneup work. Over the past few months we have noticed that on occasion when tapping the brake pedal, the power to the radio and sometimes entire dashboard will go out for about a second. At first I thought it might just be a radio issue, but since it is affecting the whole dashboard now I'm curious as to what the problem is. The place where will got the tuneup won't claim responsibility for it and the place that replaced the radio (Best Buy) says that it's a problem with the vehicle.

Any ideas/suggestions as to what the problem might be?

Thanks.
May 12, 2006 at 7:52 AM
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LOSONE
  • ✓Experienced Mechanic
  • 1,616 POSTS
It sounds like you have a loose ground or dirty ground from the battery. Remove and clean all battry ground wires, engine to fire wall, battery to frame and battery to engine. Let me know
May 13, 2006 at 7:33 AM

Suggested Repair

Clean all battery ground connections, including battery-to-frame, battery-to-engine, and engine-to-firewall grounds, to address a loose or dirty ground.

Conversation Summary

A 1998 Honda Civic EX briefly loses power to the aftermarket radio and sometimes the whole dashboard when the brake pedal is tapped. The issue appeared after timing-belt and tune-up work, but the shops involved did not accept responsibility. The expert suggested a loose or dirty battery ground and recommended cleaning the battery, frame, engine, and firewall ground connections.

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