jerry5150

I’m having a speedometer problem that seems to be typical of older accords. I’ve gone through several threads on this subject and it seems that the common consensus is that speedo problems are either caused by the VSS or the Speedometer circuit board. However, it’s not clear from the threads which one people usually find out is the problem in the end.

Here’s my specific symptoms….I have a 94 Accord EX, 5 spd manual. My speedometer tends to work upon startup until I hit about 30 mph, then it dies completely for anywhere from 1-5 miles. Then it typically starts working again for the rest of the drive but sometimes has another fit or two along the way. But it doesn’t have the jumping around problem that some others have reported. Either it works or it doesn’t.

If the cruise control is already on when the speedometer dies, I BELIEVE the cruise control stays working. I don’t know if I’ve turned on the cruise while the speedo is dead though. The check engine light is not on.

I’ve checked the voltages on the electrical plug going to the VSS (but not the VSS itself) with a voltmeter. The ground, input, and output wires all seemed good, no short circuits. It read about 12v on the input yellow wire and 5v on the output orange wire. It sounds like the wiring is fine, but since the problem is intermittent, maybe the wiring was just working when I checked it.

Regardless, that probably leaves the VSS or the speedometer itself. Neither parts are very cheap, so I’m trying to rule out which one doesn’t need to be replaced.

Here are my thoughts…. Thanks for the input if you’ve dealt with this before
1) I have not yet checked the connections at the instrument cluster to see if unplugging and replugging them has any affect since sometimes that helps. Should I try that even though I probably have to take apart the dash to get to them?

2) Has anyone found that the wiring or harnesses were the problem?

3) Assuming it isn’t the wiring, is one of these components the likely culprit over the other? Since the CEL is not on, maybe the speedo?

4) Is there a good way to further check the VSS or the speedometer board to rule something out before just picking one of the components and replacing it?

5) If I have to replace the speedometer circuit board, can anyone recommend where to get a decent one without too many $$ and without going to the junkyard and trying to rip one out? Online or ebay?

Thanks for reading.

H23 Power

a cluster on ebay is about $50 and a new aftermarket VSS (electronic part) is only about $20.

redbull-1

It's the speedo head or the speedo printed circuit board, and not the VSS.

jerry5150

Which part is the speedometer head? Is that the whole module with odometer, needle, and faceplate?

I've seen photos about replacement of the circuit board, but nothing specifically on the "head". I'm hoping not to have to put in a new module with odometer that reads a different mileage than the car has.

JGAccorn

If you have any experience using a soldering iron just pull your speedo head + I/C out and touch the iron to each joint to re-set the solder. Works every time. Did mine about 1 1/2 years ago and it's still working. I have performed this on probably 15 Accords at my shop with no failures either. Do the same to your power mirror switch if it stops working!! I posted all this a long time ago on here. Not sure where it went...

jerry5150

Thanks, I searched for your posts and found the original solder thread
https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-accord-1990-2002-2/speedometer-fix-2209241/

Sounds like a good option to try first.

Just heat each point (looks like about 30-40 on the board) until it melts, then let go?
Any concerns with the melted solder re-connecting with another circuit on the board?

JeffnotGross

I spent some time looking at various threads in this forum this afternoon after googling for how to deal with an erratic 95 Accord speedometer like Jerry described. Seemed like a common problem with a simple inexpensive fix, so I tried the take-out-the-instrument-cluster-and-remelt-all-the-solder-joints-on-the-PC-board trick. Either I did a poor job, missed a critical joint, or my problem's deeper than that because the speedometer still acts the same way. Has this method ever been known to fail?

TheMuffinMan

iTrader: (1)

Well what you have to keep in mind is that soldering will only fix the issue if it's a cold solder joint - won't do much good if there's a dead resistor/cap/etc in there.

The easiest thing is just to slide off the circuitry on the back and buy a known working one. I'd suggest raiding the local junkyard and stealing a few from trashed cars.

JeffnotGross

Yeah, I started thinking in that direction already although leery of exchanging one bad board for another. Any idea how much a new one would cost?

"Slide off the circuitry on the back...." There were a dozen or so small screws, looked like they hold the PC board on and maybe also make electrical connections. It takes a while to get in there, do the job, and close it up again, so if I do this I'd like to do it just once -- any cautions on making the swap?