94 accord, LX, 4 door, 5 speed, nonvtec

my speedo and my odometer are going haywire. the speedo will either be around 20 mph the actual rate of speed, or it shoots to about where 160 or so should be and then just hangs straight down for a few days and then go back and forth. the whole time the odometer will work half the time and half the time it doesnt. i bought a speed sensor off ebay but it still is the exact same. could it be the part that goes into the engine or what? all help is greatly appreciated. what do i need to do? i need this fixed as soon as possible. i already got one ticket because of this, cant have another.

 

Was the Ebay sensor New (OEM), New (Aftermarket), Used or Hail Mary (other)???

Does the vehicle set a Check Engine light??

The reason I ask?, the VSS operates by sending a signal to the ecm (Engine Control Module) where it is processed to control engine function, Tranmission function via the TCM, and drives the Speedometer / Odometers.

If it does NOT set a CEL, then the system is operating correctly from the VSS to the ECM (and you can infer either a wiring / connector problem from the ECM to the Speedometer Cluster). The signal is making it to the ECM, but not to the Speedometer Cluster.

If it DOES set a CEL, the problem is between the VSS and the ECM (you can infer either a wiring / connector problem or a questionable VSS) The signal from the VSS is not making it to the ECM.

 

the check engine light isnt on, so im guessing its the cluster or the wiring to the cluster? the sensor off ebay was new and it didnt change at all after i put it on so thats why i think it has to be something else

 

Did this failure correspond to right after having some work done?
During the past history of the car, had there ever been any reason to have worked on either the Cluster or the ECM??
These may give a hint on where to look.

P

 

I'd be willing to bet it's not the VSS,ECM,wiring or anything like that,although those are great possibilities.Its most likely the cluster itself,namely the speedo.I've seen tons of 94-97 do this,including my own.Im going to swap in an Acura CL cluster and see if it's any better than the crappy Accord one.

 

Can't say that I've run into that one yet. Let me know, I'll add it to the pile of "Things that Fixed Stuff" papers.

P

 

yes, it is your actual cluster, a faulty vss will throw a cel, i had the exact same symptoms as you and just about every 5th gen owner has this problem. a replacement cluster fixed my problems...

 

Strange, I've three (3) 5th gen CD720's in this household, none with milage below 198,000 miles, and I've never had to open up a cluster, let alone replace one.

I'll be curious how this plays out

P

 

i figured itd be the cluster. how must trouble it is to take the cluster out of these cars. it cant be too hard, right? ill try to find a cluster on ebay or locally and ill post the results when i get it swapped.

 

There are 7 used clusters on EBay right now.

The Speedo cluster mounts behind that large black plastic trim piece which starts at your left A/C Register and continues past the center registers. It's (the trim panels') mounting screws are located above the radio, above the dash cluster (under the sun hood) and behind several switches. It will require removing the rear console, the front console cover (to reach the screws above the radio). In addition you'll have to remove the Cruise/Sunroof switch, the Dash Dimmer Control switch and the Rear Defogger switch in order to reach hidden screws behind (I believe) the Cruise/Sunroof and Rear Defogger switch. That should get the dash trim plate off.
Now you should have access to the cluster.
Good Luck


P



Modified by P_Adams at 3:00 AM 8/26/2005

 

thats kinda funny, my gf just wanted me to go and look for this type of problem too and here it is near the top of the forum.
our problem is when you turn on the car the speedo shoots up to 10MPH. i feel that when im actually goin down the road the car is running the correct speed based on my RPM, but she said she was doin an indicated 40 today and just flying by everyone.
we have a 90 accord though. anyone have this sort of problem.
ironically i drove the car yesterday and everything seemed fine.
she drove it today and the guage was acting sporatic and jumping around all the time.