Hey guys, this is my first post here at Honda-Tech. Seems like a pretty solid forum so I'm hoping someone might be able to help me. I just purchased a 92 DA that needs some TLC. The body is rust free, and the engine/trans seems to be pretty strong, but it has a bunch of really stupid problems.

First, it needs new bushings in the front. Like really badly lol. The car squeaks like crazy so that will need to be addressed. I did some research and heard putting in new bushings is a long, serious, and time consuming upgrade. I was wondering if there were any kind of upper/lower front control arms w/ bushings already pressed in that are recommended by the Honda community? I plan upgrading all of the suspension, and want to get something that is high performance. Getting skunk2 coilovers, and want the rest of the suspension to be of the same quality. Problem is I'm having a hard time finding any. I know where to get rear control arms, but the fronts seem to be a bit of a mystery.

Here's the big one that I need help with. The cluster is doing some weird stuff that I have never seen before. At night when I turn the lights on, and switch to high beams the hazard light indicators in the cluster (not actual lights outside the car) start flashing all crazy. Like not in a rhythm as if you pressed the hazard button, but just erratic as if there is some kind of bad connection to something somewhere...An interesting clue is that the hazard lights flash more erratically when I'm moving and engine is being revved. It will do it at a dead stop, but engine/car motion definitely seem to really intensify the blinking. Would guys say this is a cluster issue, or some kind of bad wiring job? One other thing with the cluster too is that the speedo needle is bouncy. Not sure if they're correlated.

 

https://www.google.ca/images?hl=en-G...g&ved=0CDEQsAQ

Your cluster issue is most likely a grounding issue, check dash harness ground. 94

 

Alright I will look into that, but where is it located? I don't have a book on this car yet...I guess I should get one lol.

 

http://www.hardrace.com/ these guys sell arms with bushings all ready pressed in idk if they have DA ones or if DA ones are the same as the DC's. hardrace is good and many ppl will tell you the same arguably if they don't look into ES(energy suspension) they make poly bushings shorter lived but a little more stiff and they don't need to be clocked if they are a 2 piece design which all of them are unlike H/R.

 

yes you need the book and now it's free:

http://www.spooledupracing.com/downl...dfbd31fb819d41

 

Thanks!! Good info!!

But, thing is I looked under electrical and didn't really see anything on ground locations...And I can't really understand the electrical diagrams really. Only things I really saw was dash light brightness control which works fine.

I'm sure it's random and I kind of don't expect anyone to know this, but any ideas on where I should look? I checked under the hood and I only saw two engine grounds. One was to the valve cover, and the other was from the negative terminal of the battery to the transmission. I saw the ones to the starter and alternator and they looked ok. Are there any other engine grounds besides the ones I mentioned?

EDIT: I actually did find ground locations...I'm just an idiot and didn't look far enough. But I wasn't able to find the "dash harness ground."

 

I'm going to replace all the grounds under the hood to be on the safe side. But isn't it more likely that the high beam switch is shorted or something? I find it really strange how turning the high beams on can effect the hazard switch to go on. And if it was a grounding problem wouldn't the hazards come on when they want regardless of pressing the high beam switch?

 

Also something worth noting is that other things in the cluster aren't functioning properly. Seems like the gas gauge changes it's reading every time I get in it, and also the temperature gauge is also only working when it wants to...Now I'm starting to wonder if the cluster itself is bad?

 

When one circuit, [high beams] has an effect on another circuit, [hazard lights] it is almost always a grounding issue.

Dash harness ground(s) should be low on the A pillar, next to or under fuse box. 94

 

Hmm interesting...Didn't know that. But I did go out there and pulled the plastics off around the fuse box and discovered there definitely was somethings that weren't right. I found splices that the previous owner(s) must have done so I'm going to look at them tomorrow to make sure connections are good. But most did seem pretty good and I didn't see any obvious loose connections. I did find the ground you were referring to and it also seemed fine. There were a few wires grounded to the same point, not sure which one was the dash but all the connectors at the grounding point seemed solid.

One really strange thing was after fiddling around under the dash was my car didn't start. And by that I mean it wouldn't crank...Kinda like I had a dead battery. Hooked it up to the battery charger and it started right up, and hasn't done it since...So I'm kind of wondering if that has to do with this problem I'm having. I did test the battery and everything tested fine though so I don't think it was actually dead, but something else. I also tried to see if the lights flickered with the battery charger hooked up and it still did it. God I freaking hate troubleshooting electrical problems...

 

UPDATE

Replaced all engine grounds under the hood, and I'm stilling have an issue with my cluster. Hazard lights still flickering when high beams are engaged...Tachometer is also not working 100%. It isn't accurate and studders while trying to keep up with the true RPM speed. I heard that can be a distributor problem...Not correlating it to my flickering problem.

Today I brought the car in to start removing dash parts to gain access to the wiring under the dash. As I was doing so, I noticed the passenger side floor was soaked! So, without getting too far I switched to removing the carpet before it started stinking and creating mold. After I removed it, I noticed some weird wires hanging that were cut and a connector unplugged. There is some kind of box mounted to passenger side kick panel, and all three connectors appear to connected to it, so what is this? And could it be causing my weird cluster problem? Here are some pics.

 

Nobody lol?

 

icm causes tach issues when it's on the way out.

http://www.team-integra.net/forum/bl...eshooting.html

 

Do you mean the box that says Belt Warning Control?

the only way to confirm a ground is good is to disconnect/clean/reconnect it, a ground can look/seem OK, but still be bad.

With your wiring "issues" I would replace the harnesses.

 

sand the area where your ground is connected to ensure a good clean connection

 

re-check the wiring job and possibly re-do it as a last resort

 

Yeah, but is that all it controls? Or is that thing just for the seatbelts? Is that the ICU or ICM? Kind of confused as to where that is located. My main concern though are the two ripped wires. It's a brown one, and a green w/ white stripe. Any idea what those are? Couldn't find them in the book...

Also, I completely removed all the engine grounds and put in thicker gauge wire, soldered terminals, and cleaned all the surfaces...All engine grounds are in good working order. Starting to doubt it's a grounding issue, allow me to explain.

So I was looking at some wiring diagrams and it seems if it was a ground issue I should be having more then one problem as the hazard lights/blinkers share a common ground to other components on the cluster. The ONLY thing being affected is the high beam indicator light, and hazard lights. If it was a bad ground I would think I would see other lights in the cluster flickering. I could be wrong, and I'm not the greatest at reading these diagrams but I'm pretty sure I'm looking at it correctly. I was able to find more interior grounds and they all seem fine...I know that they can still be messed up, but in my opinion the bad ground idea just isn't adding up.

I'm wondering if one of the pins on the connector to the cluster is corroded or has a cold solder joint or something? Let me know what you think. Thanks for all your help thus far

P.S I'll make a quick video maybe so you can see exactly what I'm talking about if I have time today.

 

It is just for the seat belts, it controls the seat belt motors, and seat belt warning system, it is wired to a number of things, like the left and right door switches, left and right anchor switches, left and right position switches, and so on, grounding is behind left side of dash above kick panel.

There are two(2) grounds going to the cluster, plug A #7 and plug B #3, both are black.

The engine bay grounds, main grounds] would not be the problem in this case, if it was you would have much bigger problems.

Again, grounds can look or seem good, but still not be, the only good way to confirm a ground is good is the redo it, like you did in the engine bay.

Do not assume you would have other problems, [other circuits affected] if it was a grounding issue, poor grounding can do the strangest things.


With that said, grounding may not be the issue, [I will be surprized if it is not].

You should pull the cluster and check the plugs on the back, make sure they are clean, [free of corrosion] check connections, make sure the printed circuit "film" is not damaged, check continuity to chassis ground on the two black ground leads. 94

 

I understand, but according to the diagram I should be having more issues here technically...Not saying grounds can't replicate this problem some how lol. I know they can do the craziest $h*# sometimes.

But I finally got my cluster removed, and found this:



Still not sure if this is my problem, but either way it needs to be replaced. Once that is done and it's still not fixed I am taking every single ground and re-doing those.

 

What I really wanna know is wtf are these wires for?! This can't be ok with them just flappin' in the breeze like that. I took a bunch of shots to help show you guys what I'm looking at, so hopefully someone can chime in as to what purpose these wires serve.