jjensen300

I need someone who knows a little bit about Accord speed sensors...

I've got a 98 accord ex 4 door with the F23A1 4 cyl, automatic.

Symptoms:
Speedometer consistently too high-at 30 on the speedometer I'm going 26-27, at 70 on the speedometer I'm going 61-62, etc. So it gets worse the faster I go.

It will occasionally shift oddly, for example when I slow down it will occasionally downshift too soon.

When I'm trying to speed up and I kick it, it will downshift but make no power, after 3 or 4 seconds it will "kick in" and take off.

When idling, it gets rough occasionally. The more electrical stuff-lights, blower motor, etc. the worse it gets.

It runs great overall, shifts smoothly, no slippage, it's not internal transmission. For the speedometer, the occasional weird shift, and the lack of power for a second until it gets a signal, I'm thinking it's a speed sensor. But which one? There's one on top-it's black, has a bolt hole on the side, is 2 prong. There's one on the bottom, exactly the same. Is there a third?

I pulled them out, cleaned them off, no change. I ran the car with the one on top unplugged-No speedometer signal at all, wouldn't shift out of first, but the check engine light didn't come on. I ran it with the bottom one unplugged, shifted harder, no effect on the speedometer, check engine light came on almost immediately.

Any thoughts? Anywhere else I should look?

metaphor51

When the car is running properly, are there any check engine lights on? If so, what are the codes? It may also be an inconsistancy in your ground.

jjensen300

Nope, no lights. A ground is the first thing I searched for...I cleaned, reconnected, greased, tightened, I think a ground is out of the picture. I've got new terminals, an Optima battery that's less than 6 months old, I get 15+ volts all the time and the alternator pushes 14.7 consistently.

I changed the original trans that went bad with an import from Japan. Can someone tell me what's different between them? What can I change to make the import work the same?

metaphor51

I would suspect that the japanese trans has a different gear ratio than your original. I don't know what else it could be.

jjensen300

Is there a vehicle speed sensor? Not transmission, but the actual vehicle? Located somewhere else possibly?

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par..._0_1277%2C8034

That's what I'm looking for. Where can I find that?

metaphor51

As far as I know, there are only 2 and both are located in the transmission. One in the end cap and one in the main case

http://www.hondapartsunlimited.com/f...20-%20SOLENOID

jjensen300

Well in that case, do you know which one might cause this?

metaphor51

The countershaft speed sensor. It would be the one located in the main case.

metaphor51

It would be #16 on the picture located in the link I provided above

jjensen300

Great, thanks for the help. That's the one I was leaning towards I just wish I could be sure. I wish one would just fail and get it over with.

jjensen300

So I was looking at that, and you listed it as a 2 dr ex accord etc. I put in honda accord, ex, 4 dr, and it shows the top one as the main and the bottom as the counter...?

jjensen300

Yeah, the counter pickup is the lower one on my tranny. So would it be the Counter pickup, or the upper sensor?

metaphor51

the bottom one would be the counter for both models. the transmissions are identical.

metaphor51

and yes, it would be the "counter pickup"

hope this has been helpful

jjensen300

Sounds great, thanks!

metaphor51

no worries. good luck!

jjensen300

Well I replaced both of those sensors with no change. Any other ideas? I'm running out of ideas...The main issue is the speedometer being so far off the faster you go. plus it doesn't downshift at the right times, and when you punch it to pass it will downshift but rev for 3 seconds or so and then kick in and start moving. That part of it could be somewhere in the Crankshaft position sensor or the vtec solenoid, not really sure, but I can't imagine those would affect the speedometer. Like I said, no check engine lights or maintenance lights. Could the ECU be going crazy? I'm looking for something that would affect the car in these ways, but not set off a code...

94EG8

Some of the JDM automatics are geared differently than their USDM counterparts and will shift a little funky with a USDM PCM. There isn't really anything you can do other that swap in another USDM trans or run a JDM PCM if emissions testing isn't a concern.

Also, sometimes Honda used a differently geared trans for the EX model compared to the DX/LX.

jjensen300

Hmm...where could I find a JDM PCM for it? Emissions isn't an issue.

94EG8

JDM Importer. I can't remember if that year accord uses a an ECU TCM combo or just a single PCM.

metaphor51

AH HA! Good call... the JDM/USDM thing never crossed my mind. You, sir, are the man.

bigboatsrule

Does anybody know if he was able to swap out the PCM with a JDM PCM and solve the problem? I recently bought the same JDM transmission and put into the same 98 accord and have the exact same list of problems. The shop that sold me the transmission said they couldn't do anything about it, but would be willing to get me another JDM transmission. But from the sounds of it, they would all have the same problem.

bigboatsrule

jjenson300 - did you ever get this figured out?

killerB16A

Did anyone figure this out? I have this exact problem with my JDM tranny I swamped in.

bigboatsrule

Punchline: You're screwed. Though it depends on the model year. From what I can tell the 98-02 don't have a separate ECU/TCU. Meaning that if you swap the unit to be the one that the Transmission likes - it'll screw up the computer that runs the engine. The guy that sold me my JDM transmission was pretty convinced that the differential that is attached to the transmission is geared lower than that one that should be on there. From what I've pieced together, I believe that I have a Transmission/Differential combo that was supposed to go on the NON-VTEC engine, which has less horsepower, and therefore is geared lower. Except, that I have a VTEC motor. I don't believe any speed sensor swapping would help. The guy that sold me the transmission told me that I could bring back the transmission and he'd give me another one - but, considering how long it took to swap out the tranny, replace all the seals and reinstall and the fact that the car already has 202K on it, I'm just living with it.
If somebody else has some solutions, I'm all ears.