my friend bought a 97 civic for $500 front end smashed a bit (bumper, rad support upper, rebar, hood) nothin super major, fixed it, runs good, but the engine light is on, the speedo needle is just totally random goes up down up down on its own, and the lights flicker when giving gas....what can this be? Thanks for any info!!

 

anyone? can i reset the ecu somehow? the speedo is crazy all over the place

 

You can reset the ECU just by leaving the battery unplugged for a few minutes, though that's not your problem.

The lights flickering when you giving it gas is probably due to the alternator being bad or going out the door. As for the speedo needle totally going random that's probably an effect of your VSS (vehicle speed sensor) going down or a short in the wires going to it, or either of the O2 sensor heaters.

The alternator, both O2 sensor heaters, and the VSS are linked on one harness, if there's a short in that harness, you'll have problems in all of those components, and all of those components seem to be tied to the problems you're having.

Pull the codes from your ECU, see which ones you're throwing, that will help diagnose the problem better, though I'd say you're probably looking at a short in that harness.

Here's how to pull your codes:
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread/1901557