Alright it started last week when I had my 98 civic out in the snow. The first problem was that the speedometer stopped working, I figured I hit a chunk of snow that messed up the speed sensor. I also just put a SI cluster in it so figured something could be wrong with that.

Anyway, the next day I autostarted my car to let it warm up. The auto start is part of my clifford matrix 2way alarm system and was installed by myself over three years ago with out any problems. When I went out to the car, it wasn't running when it should have been. So I figured the alternator died and the car ran on the battery for a little then died.

The next day, just to make sure before i got an new alt, I jumped the car, and expected it to died once i removed the cables, and it did not!

However now the speedometer and the tach don't work on the cluster. The temp guage and fuel level work though. Also my radio won't power up when the car is running. However when i turn the key to acc before i try to start it, it powers up fine.

The battery is dead but I haven't tried to charge it for too long. The car has a turbo jdm b18c in it, it is my daily driver and I have NEVER had and serious issues with her before. The motor has been in for three years and she has been boosted for a year and a half.

Just to recap:
Speedo not working
Now tach not working
Radio only work when key is at the acc position, not when the car is running
Car won't start under her own power, but will run once its jumped.

I am stumped, I check all the fuses under the hood, haven't checked under the dash yet, thats next. If anyone has any info to help me out of this I will be greatly appreciaded. Thanks H-T!

 

anyone?

 

Have you checked the under-dash fuses yet?

 

under-dash and under-hood fuses.

 

yes, i jumped it again this morning, while the cables were still attached to the other car, the tach and radio worked fine, then i took them off and they went dead, and eventually the car died while it was idling there. and now my srs light is on...

 

time to replace the battery.

 

and what is the reason behind that? why do you say battery and not alternator?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The next day, just to make sure before i got an new alt, I jumped the car, and expected it to died once i removed the cables, and it did not!</TD></TR></TABLE>
nevermind, bad alternator it is. All though sitting dead for a long period of time tends to make it so the battery will not hold a charge anymore.
all though it could still be a fuse...

 

how could it be a fuse if everything works fine when the jumper cables are attached? If the fuse was blown it shouldn't work either way.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EE_Chris &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Have you checked the under-dash fuses yet?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Are you sure you've done this? Pay particular attention to Fuse 15.

P.S. Fuse 15 powers the ELD, alternator regulator and gauge, assembly among other things.

 

this problem is super easily figured out if you have a volt meter. watch the voltage at the battery, if it drops right when the gauges stop working you know the problem.
If the voltage is pretty stable then there is a connection problem.

I've seen a few hondas that have problems with fuses having intermitent connections with fuses. Give the fuses a wiggle, even removing them and clean them with a peice of sandpaper if you feel like it.
fuse #15 was my first thought also...

 

fuse 15 is fine...