So I went to fill up my gas tank. Turned my car back on and noticed my S light was blinking on the way home. My speedometer wasn't moving and neither was the total mileage. My rpm meter was working and my gas tank and car thermo was fine or at least i think. I got home turned off my car and turned it back on again and my S light stopped blinking but it was dim green instead. And my reverse light which used to glow red glows green. What's going on? Can someone help?


Modified by aznjungler at 10:27 PM 7/11/2008

 

No CEL = cluster is bad (replace the IC on the back of the speedo)

CEL = VSS

 

My speedometer and odometer are working sometimes and sometimes not. Can this intermittent signal be coming from the same chip on the back of the cluster or would it be the sensing unit on the tranny (or wherever it might be?)

 

you need a vss (vehicle speed sensor) my car is doing the same thing will let you know when I put new sensor on

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by brownje000 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you need a vss (vehicle speed sensor) my car is doing the same thing will let you know when I put new sensor on </TD></TR></TABLE>

Incorrect.

Intermittent Speedo is what my original issue was, $120 later (OEM VSS new) it still was [freak]ed.

You need to replace the circuit board on the back of the speedometer.

 

What is the name of the circuit board on the back of the speedometer?

Would the dealership have this part, or do I need to special order it?

Thanks

 

You can't just buy the circuit board depressingly

Best bet is hit up junkyard for a cluster or get one on ebay.

Should be $50 or so

 

Just crated an account to disseminate some 411 that may help others...

So i had the same intermittent problems with my speedometer (simultaneous death of odometer) on my 96 accord. When the speed signal went out my cruise would work fine - so my VSS was putting out a signal.

Thought it was a connection so I hardwired power, ground, and signal to speedo head - still the problem.

Bought a second cluster from junkyard in the interim. Took out the speedometer head and put it on a power source and a signal generator putting out a TTL signal. IT HAD THE SAME INTERMITTENT PROBLEM!!! ...Found if i flexed the circuit board it would go on and off.

Turns out when the board was manufactured they added epoxy on one row of pins for both of DIP IC's found on the board. Whether it's a stress concentrator and/or differential in thermal expansion and/or i don't know what, those pins from the chips detach and you loose speed. FYI we are talking about the small board dedicated to the speedometer head - not the board to the whole instrument cluster.

So i picked off the epoxy, I used a scalpel and work the edge all the way around - it should come off as a couple chunks. Then reflowed the solder, not just on the IC's, to the whole board. Now i have two healthy speedo heads !!

I have a feeling this is happening alot? My statistical sample isn't that large, but it fixed both boards! So if you continue to have cruise control, no error codes, and/or your AT shifts fine while you speedo head cuts out, try this and it might help you? Let me know if it does, so i don't feel bad about all the time I wasted hunting this down!!


Modified by muddyshoes at 11:51 AM 9/14/2008

 

^^

Correct, by swapping out the rear circuit board it prevents you from having to do that, but since you had the problem with both the solution was to redo the solder.

Just happens with some electronics The cold/warm weather/etc causes havoc and the solder joints expand and contract until they start to break away.

Definitely happens often and definitely is appreciated you pointed out the exact points, I've always just suggested people look around and heat up all of the ones that look sketch.

 

Hi all,
new to the site. Terrific info. thanks for posting it all up.

unsurprisingly, I have to deal with the ubiquitous speedo issue. Accord 95.

well I did it. It didn't look like I could remove the epoxy by brute force, it's really stuck on there. So I took a soldering iron with a sharp point and I started to dig in with it while hot. Got a bunch off and then was able to pry the rest away with a scalpel.
Resoldered all the contacts in the back of the speedo board.
And...

amazingly enough...


looks like the speedo is working again. I'm very pleased, didn't want to drive without the speedo working. Wonderful resource, the web, ain't it?

I'll keep the dash disassembled for now until I'm sure it's good.

Not to mention that I might have messed something up while taking it all apart cuz now the SRS light is on...

 

happy to report that the fix seems to hold fine. All is well so far...
The wonders of the Web... amazing...

 

The Speedometer can be replaced individually. Common issue on 5th Gen Accords.

 

Im gonna try this. Ive had a speed sensor problem for years and drives me nuts. I know circuit boards and such pretty well so it shouldnt be to hard. Thanks for the useful fulfilling information!

 

I have a similar problem. My speedometer and odometer don't work at all. However, there is no blinking "S" light on my dash. For a while the speedometer would work intermittently. Now it doesn't work at all. I've lived with the problem for months now, not knowing how fast i'm driving!

I have a '91 honda accord LX 5-speed with about 200k miles

P.S. - Cruise Control doesn't work either.

 

It might be too late but do you have any pics from your repair?
Thanks.

 

I would find a graphing multimeter and observe the wave form of the Vehicle Speed Sensor. If the sensor has a good wave form the problem is most likely in the speedometer itself.

 

I had an intermittent speedo issue before mine finally quit working, and it wasn't the VSS or the instrument cluster.

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-prelude-4/bad-vss-stupid-move-2781970/

I know it's not a 5th gen that's prone to cluster failures... just throwing it out there.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23732694@N03/4667583709/
my accord's speedometer does teh same thing, it jumps at 20 miles mark, just wanna make sure these are teh epoxy you guys were talking about, the two black arrows point at, they appear to be clear, taking them out should solve my problem?
wat about the white stuff, red arrow points at, should i clean that too?
thanks guys

 

I never thought the examine the IC solder points. I've had this same problem since I got my 95 Accord 5spd, and the other day it started registering mileage and speed for nearly 90 miles. I know what I'm doing tomorrow! Thank you for this information.

 

Wanted to bump this to the top and see if someone has pics confirming the spot to resolder. same issue on a 98 civic. I bought a replacement speedo but, would prefer to keep the original one.

 

Just picked up an 97 Accord this past week and having the speedo problem as well. The cruise works, no cell for the VSS, and intermittent off and on working with the Speedo. Does anyone have a photo of the contacts to resolder or diy/how to? Going to bust this out on a day off here.

 

I'd just retouch all of them..... Not going to take you too long to do that

 

I tried touching all of those connections with some solder today and must admit as a beginner I am not very good and it didnt fix the problem. I burned off the type of glue stuff that was all over it and then got a little too much solder and now the speedo is stuch at 25mph. So, maybe someone with more experience it would work

 

Glad I found this thread.

Anyway I'm buying another CD7 which has the same issue, I checked out the car everything seems cool but the speed gauge just jumps to 20 and stays there when I test drove the car the speedometer needle would bounce and not register my speed, also the srs light is on not sure if they are related.

anyway If I buy this car this at least I know how to fix the issue.

 

I got a junkyard speedometer and it had the same intermittent problem so I just took my soldering iron and touched all the tips to reflow the solder and problem solved. You can do it through the epoxy too...dont have to remove it.