My center console gauges are having some lighting issues that I was hoping someone here would know a fix for. My middle gauge is always lit up, but the left gauge often dims by a large amount (can't see in day time) and my right gauge is either bright or off. The lighting changes randomly (right one comes on or off/left one becomes dim or bright) when I smack the dash or sometimes if I hit bumps, so I figured it was just a loose connection. Pulled up the console and sprayed both ends of the ribbon connection with DeOxit but no change, although wiggling the connector yielded various results between the three of them. Any idea where to go from here?

 

disconnect white ribbon cable, reseat

 

I've already disconnected it from the gauges and sprayed both ends with DeOxit

 

Edit: I missed the last line in your post before. If you're getting varying results from wiggling the connector, you may still have a cracked solder joint, but at the PCB harness socket. Alternatively, the harness itself could be the issue.

This is most likely due to cracked solder joints. Usually these cannot be diagnosed with the naked eye, you would need a multi-meter and probes or serious magnification to see the damage. Not going to guarantee that's your problem, but it's a starting point. There are other possible causes, but start with the simple stuff 1st.

Case in point, my daughter's 8th Gen Civic had a similar issue with her cluster LCD display (Fuel Pump, Temp, and Speedo). Sometimes they would work fine, sometimes they would flicker in and out. It seemed to work better in warmer weather vs. cold. This is also a very common issue on these 8th Gen Civics and I have seen the problem miss-diagnosed a lot on YT as the main harness connector. Most people end up just replacing the entire cluster board (expensive!).

I took the cluster apart (pretty easy on the Civic), used some copper wick with quality flux and removed all the old solder on the pins for the LCD panels to the PCB. I then flowed in fresh high quality electronics solder (Kester with lead!), then re-installed in the car. The LCD displays/LED bulbs have been working flawlessly since then. That was over a year ago (knock on wood!).

Good Luck!
-Icer