Drola

hello everyone. i'm new here. just bought a 1995 accord lx 5 speed for my sister and i'm trying to figure something out.
first is that tach does not work. at all.
second is the speedo marks 0 while ignition off and then jumps to 28 mph when key is on. it goes up from there as i speed up.
third is odometer does not work.
i realize speedo/odo issue is probably related. tested the cruise control and it works fine so that eliminates the speed sensor.
could the cluster be bad?
is there anything i should test/check? the tach is what puzzles me more than the speedo.
any suggestions are greatly appreciated

GhostAccord

The tachometer and speedometer use separate signals. Tach uses a signal from the ignition control module (ICM, aka ignitor) located in the distributor. The speedo and odometer get there signal from the vehicle speed sensor (VSS) on the transmission.

If you are having three issues with your gauge cluster I would check the connector in the back and make sure it is tight. Then you could check the electrical circuits themselves. Also if you are handy with soldering you could take the cluster apart and look for cold or cracked solder joints in the board circuits.

Do you have a Haynes or Helms manual for the Accord? This would help quite a bit.

Check your inbox, PM sent

justinsbg

I know for certain that re-soldering the joints on the PC board will not fix this issue on this particular model. There is a component on the PC board that fails and causes this to happen. Here is a link to a speedo I have for sale on Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Speed...item19c8a9d8c1. I had 2 for sale and sold one a little over a week ago. If you're interested in purchasing the speedo, I would like to have your old one. I'll pay shipping.

Drola

i had originally thought to check the connections at the back of the cluster.
last night i tried taking the bezel off and could not get it out. after some searching here i realized there are 2 screws underneath the climate controls that i need to remove. plus everything else that needs removing just to get to those screws. i'll try that a little later and see what happens.

justinsbg

Yeah they never should have put those screws there. I think the snap-in tabs are plenty sufficient to hold the assembly in place on that side of the bezel.

redbull-1

1. For the non-working odometer, try pushing the maintenance required indicator several times with your key. See this thread:

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-accord-1990-2002-2/mileage-meter-stopped-working-2740705/

2. For the speedometer, if it turns out to be the circuit board in back of the speedometer, you can always get one from a used one. See this thread:

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-accord-1990-2002-2/speedo-works-randomly-2460328/

justinsbg

The only issue with buying used is you don't know what you're getting. It's such a common problem on these cars, the one you buy might be in the same shape as yours (or will be soon). If you intend on keeping the car why not buy a quality part? I sell the speedo board for $51.95 + $7.00 shipping. You just can't beat the price for the quality and durability.

redbull-1

I agree that it is a common problem; however, when I use to have a 1995 Accord, mines malfunctioned around 16X,XXX miles, replaced it with one a friend just happened to have for $35. It still worked fine past 3XX,XXX miles when I gave my car away to my nephew which was years later.

justinsbg

It's a gamble any way you look at it. I think $60 is a very reasonable price for a part that is guaranteed to last rather than buy a used part. Prices probably vary a bit from junkyard to junkyard but I'm guessing you'd spend between $30-$60 (maybe more) on a used speedo from a junkyard. Why not spend an extra $10-$30 on a quality part? That's my reasoning.

redbull-1

I actually agree with your reasoning.

I was lucky a friend just happen to have an instrument cluster at the time, the price I paid ($35) was quite good and i didn't have to search for it. I see on ebay, some guys want too much for the cluster.

GhostAccord

So what component is it that commonly fails? If it's only one component, I'm sure it can be replaced cheaper than buying a $60 reman'd board.

Do you offer any sort of swap service?

redbull-1

That's his competitive advantage. If we knew which component(s), it wouldn't costs much for a few capacitors, resistors, or whatever it was, etc. A couple of dollars for components and little de-soldering and resoldering. We would probably even then post a DIY.

GhostAccord

As common a problem as it seems to be...I have not yet had to diagnose it. (knocks on wood) However it wouldn't take hours to find the culprit.

I took mine part just to see how complex this circuit is. 4 screws and she's out! After the work it takes to remove the cluster from the car that is...lol

2x 16v 1000uf cap
1x .002uf Ceramic cap
1x 4.19 Transducer
6x Semi-con Diodes
8x Resistors of varying resistance
5x jumper wires (not usually a component that goes bad...lol)
and 2x 24pin IC chips

If I were to take a quick guess I would say that it's ether one of the caps or an IC that require replacement. I have not had to diagnose one of these yet. So I can't say for certain.

Drola

take a look:
http://s1117.photobucket.com/albums/...ndadash001.jpg
http://s1117.photobucket.com/albums/...adash002-2.jpg
http://s1117.photobucket.com/albums/...adash004-1.jpg
http://s1117.photobucket.com/albums/...adash004-1.jpg

redbull-1

If you do find out, let me know. I like tinkering as a hobby. I still have my old one sitting around. I was thinking it may be the IC, as a visual inspection didn't reveal anything wrong with the caps and resistors on mines. I haven't put my multimeter to any of the components yet.

Drola

as you can see there was some burnt stuff on the back of the tach. the speedo didn't show anything out of the ordinary but the actual circuit panel (the big one) did show some burnt as well

redbull-1

Remove the circuit board for the tach and post a picture of the other side.

GhostAccord

Copy the [img]http://.............jpg[/ img] image code from Photobucket and it will actually imbed the image. Much better than posting individual links.

redbull-1

For the tach circuit board, the burnt spot seems to be opposite where a 33uf 50v capacitor is. It may be a blown capacitor on that board.

Here is a picture of my old one:

redbull-1

Ghost,

On my old speedometer circuit board, I noticed a burnt spot on the solder joint for one of the ICs. Additionally, on one of the 1000uf caps, there is a rust color spot on the top of the cap, I am not sure whether that is an ink mark (similar to the yellow and magenta ink on the board?) or electrolyte leakage. How does your look?

justinsbg

Now if I told you that I wouldn't sell many speedo boards would I? I spent a lot of time diagnosing that circuitry. I like to help out guys on here as much as I can, but some knowledge I keep to my self. I consider my pricing more than fair. If you looked around at speedo shops for repair pricing and the cost of a new speedometer, I know you would agree. What exactly do you mean by swap service?

GhostAccord

To the op

That tach board looks as though you should replace the cap and the 110K ohm surface mount resistor. hard to tell without seeing the other side if it was due to the cap leaking or not.

redbull,

Here is what mine looks like.



For the cost of a couple capacitors, $0.50-$2.00 each. I would replace them both while you have it apart. They are time sensitive components. As for that burnt contact on the IC1.... Looks like a replacement might be required. I would have to do some testing on it to know for sure though.

justinsbg,

I realize that ya gotta keep some stuff to yourself... I do as well

What I mean by swap service is if someone sends you a circuit board (cor) you cut them a deal and send out one that you have on your shelf. Where it is such a common issue and the component is known. Seems as though some sort of swap out program would be of benefit to you. Rather than have the problem boards thrown out you could keep your shelves stocked and the customer wouldn't have to pay for a complete board for no reason.

justinsbg

The mark on top of one of the caps is nothing of concern.

redbull-1

Thanks for the photos. I no longer own the 95 Accord, it's just used parts I kept to tinker.

Thanks.

redbull-1

This sounds like a good business plan.