90si-rex

For anyone who doesn't feel like reading the whole thing, cliff notes follow:

OK, so last night I'm cruising down the highway and suddenly have a dramatic loss of power, all my lights went dim to the point that I may as well have just turned them off, and everything electrical on the car basically just shut down. Since I was between exits I tried to push it as far as I could since it was about 9 PM and I was on a poorly lit section of highway. Luckily I was able to make it to a gas station about 2 miles away.

Get out, pop the hood, took a look around and notice that the ground strap that connects the block to the body of the car was all but gone. Yet my second stroke of luck last night, there's a super wal-mart right across the street. So, I bought some 12 ga. wire and some connectors and ghetto rigged a ground wire so that I could get home. Worked surprisingly well considering it was really light wire compared to the regular ground strap.

Anyway, on to the real problem.....on my way home I noticed that my speedometer and odometer weren't working. My dad suggested that the ground wire that I rigged up might not allow enough current to pass through for the speedometer/odometer to work. Not sure if it would really make a difference, but it's what he said. Today I bought a new ground strap and put it on thinking that if he was right that would probably fix the problem....it didn't. It doesn't look like the speedometer cable popped out of the transmission, so now I'm really at a loss. Anyone have any experience with this? Or any ideas about what I should check next? Any advice is appreciated.

Oh, yeah.....the check engine light comes on after I drive the car for about 20 minutes now, too.

Cliff Notes:

ground strap connecting engine to body broke
ghetto rigged a new one
speedometer and odometer aren't working now
replaced ghetto rigged ground strap with a real ground strap
speedometer and odometer still don't work
check engine light comes on after driving 20 min. or so
car seems to run fine otherwise

stock 1990 crx si, 243,xxx miles

eda6

Getting code 17? Have you tried pulling the cable out of the vss and reinstalling it.

90si-rex

haven't tried that yet, but at this point nothing is out of the question.

i've never actually taken a look at the ecu.....how do you tell which code it's throwing?

fourthgenhatchB17

The first thing that came to my mind was that maybe the engine grounded through the speedo cable and broke it. It may be a crazy thought but like i said, its the first thing that came to my mind. The CEL is probably for VSS.

eda6

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 90si-rex &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how do you tell which code it's throwing?</TD></TR></TABLE>

turn the ignition to the acc position lift up the passenger side floor carpet under the dash. Find the led on the ecu and count the flashes. Long flash=10 short flash=1

Go here to check https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=682412

90si-rex

thanks, i'll give that a try tomorrow.

anyone else have any advice in case this isn't the problem?

quick responses are appreciated since i'd like to get this taken care of tomorrow.

90si-rex

where exactly is the plug that you use to see which code the ecu is throwing? i pulled it out today and was looking around but i couldn't find the plug that is supposed to be above the ecu.

90LSpimpin

No plug, just an led. Drive the car and go to about 60 mph in 5th and let it it slow down, and if its the vss, you'll prob get a CEL when u do this. Anyway, drive the car till the CEL comes on. Without turnin the car off, lift up the passenger side rug and u'll see a lil glass circle, thats where the led is and it should be blinking at this point.

90si-rex

thanks......i did see the led when i pulled up the carpet, but didn't realize that was what i needed to look at.....i thought there was a plug because i read a different thread that talked about this, but after going back and looking at the thread again i realized that they were talking about 92 and up civics.

i'll try doing this tomorrow and post about what i find.....hopefully someone can help me out once i see what code it's throwing.

NikoZai

i dont feel like reading the whole post cuz i'm full of turkey, but i have a question

The speedo is mechanical, not electrical. So does that mean without power to the dash, it will show the speed. And if so, doesnt that mean the only reason it wouldn't show the speed, is that the speedo cable has come loose from either end or broken?

90si-rex

ok, i checked it out and it is a code 17.....what exactly does that mean? someone suggested disconnecting something from the vss and then plugging it back in, i'm assuming to let this reset itself. so where exactly do i find the vss? i'm still fairly new at all this, so any help is appreciated.

2point2

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 90si-rex &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so where exactly do i find the vss?</TD></TR></TABLE>

it's inside the gauge cluster.. the gauge cluster gets the speed from the cable that goes to your tranny. the gauge cluster has an output that tells the ecu what your 'speed' is.

you most likely have a broken speedo cable... get a manual, take it off, and inspect it!

90si-rex

another question......this one just occured to me. is it more likely that the ground strap breaking has something to do with my speedo not working, or is it more likely that it's a coincidence that my speedo stopped working at the same time the ground strap broke? the reason i ask is that i don't really see a connection between the two. i did have the tranny replaced about two months ago, and i'm thinking that maybe the cable wasn't completely secured when it was hooked back up and that my speedo not working and the ground strap breaking at the same time is just a coincidence. let me know what you guys think.

90si-rex

okay, so i decided to just go ahead and replace the speedo cable whether it was broken or not since the car has so many miles on it. now that i've done that it's still not working. does this mean that it's definitely the vss, or are the speedo cables just a real pain in the *** that you have to play with for a while until everything is connected just so?

also, i talked to a honda mechanic and he told me that if it's the vss i basically have to replace the entire speedo because the vss is actually inside the speedo head. anyone know a different way around this if it is the vss or am i pretty much screwed? if this is the only way to do it i'll probably jsut replace the whole cluster, so if anyone has a ukdm cluster laying around, let me know....i may be interested in taking it off your hands.

4drEF

My guess is that if your speedo isn't working then you still haven't put the speedo drive cable in correctly.

When the cable spins it turns the speedo and the VSS.
With a disconnected or broken cable you won't get speedo nor VSS.

It would have to be a super rare instance for your speedo cable to be working and your speedo and VSS decided to die at the same time.

I would suggest you diconnect the speedo drive cable at the transmission again.
Have somebody sit inside the car and watch the speedo.
Spin the inside of the cable by hand.
The person inside the car should see the speedo needle move.
If they don't see the needle jump then either your cable is snapped or it's not connected to the back of the cluster porperly.
Remove the cluster and take the cable off the back of the cluster.
Have your friend watch the inside of the cable as you turn it from the tranny.
It should turn or else it's broken.
Have them hold onto the inside of the cable as your turn from the tranny end again.
You should have the resistance of them holding onto it.
If there is no resistance then it's snapped.

If it DOES work and the speedo needle jumps then you should try hooking it to the tranny again.
Make sure (triple check) you put it together properly and make sure you have the little wire clip (you do know about the clip right?) in place so the cable is properly secured into the tranny. Give the cable a tug to make sure it's fastened properly.
Test drive.

If it doesn't work then remove the cable drive gear from the tranny and inspect it.
There is one bolt that holds it into the tranny.
The bolt is located near the place that the cable attaches.
The bolt holds down a little metal plate so be careful not to drop the plate.

90si-rex

i was in the middle of a couple of different things when i made my last entry, so i probably didn't cover everything.....

i replaced the speedo cable yesterday with a brand new one. the old speedo cable was at least part of the problem.....it was pretty destroyed.

so what i did after i got everything in place on the tranny end of things was to move the car without the cluster in. when i did this i could see the actual cable inside turning when i was in reverse and first gear. since i saw it actually turning, i assumed everything was fine on that end of things (and, yes, i remembered the little clip on that end of it ). assuming everything was installed properly since i saw the cable turning, i reinstalled the cluster, test drove the car, and........nothing. i could hear a whirring kind of sound from behind the cluster (at least i think that's where it was coming from), which i think was the speedo cable itself turning. it sounded like it was getting marginally louder the faster i went, so i'm guessing it was the cable turning. anyway, that's why i'm wondering if it's the vss. everything seemed to be installed correctly, but there was no read out on the speedo itself.

if you guys have any other ideas or suggestions let me know. i'm hoping it's something simple and by playing around with the speedo cable for a bit i can get this taken care of, but as of now i'm already thinking in worst case scenario terms.

90LSpimpin

That cable Is the VSS. Check to make sure everythings hooked in the back of the cluster correctly, if theres not enough slack, it might pull out of the cluster when u reinstall everything. If not, you might either have some electrical issue, or the speedo itself might be broken. See if a friend can loan u his compatible speedo, if it works, you know that its your speedo. Good luck.

4drEF

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 90si-rex &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i was in the middle of a couple of different things when i made my last entry, so i probably didn't cover everything.....

i replaced the speedo cable yesterday with a brand new one. the old speedo cable was at least part of the problem.....it was pretty destroyed.

so what i did after i got everything in place on the tranny end of things was to move the car without the cluster in. when i did this i could see the actual cable inside turning when i was in reverse and first gear. since i saw it actually turning, i assumed everything was fine on that end of things (and, yes, i remembered the little clip on that end of it ). assuming everything was installed properly since i saw the cable turning, i reinstalled the cluster, test drove the car, and........nothing. i could hear a whirring kind of sound from behind the cluster (at least i think that's where it was coming from), which i think was the speedo cable itself turning. it sounded like it was getting marginally louder the faster i went, so i'm guessing it was the cable turning. anyway, that's why i'm wondering if it's the vss. everything seemed to be installed correctly, but there was no read out on the speedo itself.

if you guys have any other ideas or suggestions let me know. i'm hoping it's something simple and by playing around with the speedo cable for a bit i can get this taken care of, but as of now i'm already thinking in worst case scenario terms.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Seem slik eyou have a good cable this time
I suggest you disconnect from the tranny again and spin by hand.
I have reinstalled my cluster several times only to find out that I have to take it out again to reconnect the drive cable.
If you get the cable onto the back of the cluster correctly then it's got a little plastic tab that snaps into a groove on the snout it plugs into.
It's sort of a pain, so that's where I bet your problem is.
It's probably not engaged all the way and you are hearing it whirrrr against something.

90si-rex

it looks like that's what it is......i haven't touched it since yesterday, but something strange happened this morning on my way to work. i was driving down my street, hit a bump, and the speedo actually started working.......sort of. the needle was making really jerky movements and wouldn't stay in any one place on the face of the speedo, but most of the time it would show an increase in speed as i got moving faster. i know it still needs some final adjustment as far as everything seating properly and being connected properly, but at least now i know it's not a bigger problem. i was hauling *** down the road because i was running late to work (as usual), running at about 3500 rpm in 5th gear, and the speedo was showing anywhere between about 35 and 55 mph. in my car 3500 rpm in 5th usually equates to about 60 mph, give or take a little. so it looks like if i play around with it a little more and get good connections at both ends, everything should be okay.

anyway, thanks for all the help guys!

SETI20

my guess... the movement of the engine that killed your ground strap, also unplugged your speedo.

Like stated above...plug it back in.