long story short, i was replacing my alternator and in the process i guess i disconnected this cable. after i got the car running again i noticed my speedometer didn't work most of the time and the odometer wouldn't work either. (it would actually bounce in and out, thats why i think it's a loose ground)

i looked under my car and saw a strange cable/wire just chilling....i'm trying to figure if it infact is the ground for the VSS/speedometer and if it is, where does it hook up to? thanks HT!

 

thats the power steering, check the VSS plug on top of the tranny. when mine was loose it bounced

 

In the pics, you are showing a line (not a cable) for a the power steering pump. It has nothing to do with wiring or grounds. It's a high pressure fluid line that hooks to the pump.

If a ground was bad, it'd probably be either the trans to chassis grounding strap that got loosened up coincidentally, or the valve cover to chassis strap...which, in your case, looks fine...although it's in a weird place. Also check your VSS plug and the ground on it.

Your gauge cluster might have also gone bad. I've had this happen to a 2000 DX that I owned. The speedo would randomly work. The cluster/gauge was bad.

Check the 7.5amp alternator/gauge fuse in the underdash fuse box. It's fuse #15. It controls the alternator charging and the VSS. If you blew it, neither will work. If you put in a new fuse and it keeps blowing, check this TSB:

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/tsb/civic/x99-029e.pdf

My wires were chafed at the lower O2 sensor position, not at the connector in the TSB. They were rubbing against the heat shield due to an aftermarket cat making the O2 sensor sit at a weird angle.