I have a 96' Civic automatic. A few weeks ago when I left for work my speedometer went dead and a minute later my check engine light came on. Then the speedo started bouncing around everywhere. Later that day, on my lunch break, it started ideling bad and shifting wrong, so I just unplugged the sensor and have been driving like that until the new part came in. Well, I got a new one off Ebay for $60 shipped, said 96-00 CRV on the baggy it was in, but looked identical. Installed it, and the car runs much better, but the sensor still isn't working properly. CEL is still on, and speedo only works after you've maintained a constant speed. Taking off, it bounces all over still. It also doesn't seem to find the right gear going around 20MPH, and haven't been on the interstate yet to see if the overdrive is working. I unplugged the battery for a bit and tried it again, but no change. What else could have went bad? It's very frustrating, but atleast I've made some progress?

 

Could be the ECU, could be the gauge cluster, could be another bad sensor. What code is it throwing exactly? I'm not sure if autos have additional things to tell you, but I know on Dodge's, there's a "transmission gear misalignment" code that I've pulled before.

If something isn't working correctly in your transmission - specifically around the torque converter - it could be damaging or screwing with the VSS.

 

ugh, well, I suppose it won't be something I can figure out and fix myself then. Perhaps it's time for a trip to the Honda dealer once I figure out how I'll be able to drop my car off and get a way to work. They can scan it and see what's up. Shitty. Thanks

 

WOW, so I go to the Honda dealer today, and drop my car off, and they had it all of 10min, and baisically charged me $95 to say it's still my speed sensor throwing a code, but they can't garuntee it'll fix my problem. So now I'm out that money, the $60 I spent on another bad sensor, and now another $115 it'll cost to get an OEM Honda one. And who knows if it'll be fixed then. I'm real happy right now

 

Wow you have a lot of posts and you don't know how to check your CEL's? I don't feel sad for you for the Honda dealership charging you that much. It's not hard to check your CEL's. Did you take out your ECU fuse after you changed your VSS the last time, cause if you don't it won't reset.

 

or you can go to autozone where the ECU checks are free

 

The point was, going to the Honda dealer and getting a for sure answer with part numbers, something garunteed. Yeah, if I wanted a vague answer I would have kept trouble shooting myself, or took it to some random auto part store. My brother said it only cost him $30 when they did it to his Prelude, and I figured there was alot more wrong with the car since I obviously already replaced the sensor. I needed more than a diognostic. I don't know if the plug went bad, or a bad connection somewhere else. A CRV sensor will fit but not work?

 

my 98 dx lights flashes/dim along withe the odometer not working properly. do i have to take out the ECU fuse to reset it? i replaced the vss

 

Check out this TSB, it's most likely your problem -> http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/tsb/civic/x99-029e.pdf

 

Take off the connector and do a continuity test on all three wires. After that check the voltages using a digital volt meter to see if the sensor is getting the correct signals.

Ground is supposed to just be 0v(black wire)
Power wire is just supposed to read battery voltage (Middle wire)
Signal wire is suppose to pulse in between 0-5v while spinning one wheel (last wire)

To check the signal wire, jack up one side and get a friend to spin one wheel, assuming you do not have LSD, while you friend is spinning the wheel check the reading using a voltmeter.

It also could be a loose ground, or a corroded connector. If all the test show up to be in okay condition check all your grounds and the connector itself. When I had a similar problem it turned out to be my connector so I put some conductive electrical grease on the connector. Fixed my problem.

 

it's most likely your engine harness, i had the same problem. only thing that i could do to fix it was to change out my engine harnes. i tried everything else and it didn't help..