I became the owner of 1991 Accord EX last summer, a solid low mileage vehicle. I hadn't really had any major problems with it until late last fall, and the issue is an exceptionally odd one. Sometimes (not always) if I start the car and immediately drive away, the speedometer will not function; it will just sit there, stuck at zero. This by itself may not seem like a major issue, but other things happen as well. The odometer will not function either, and eventually the green S light on the right side of the gauge cluster will start to flash. Once the flashing starts, the speedometer and the odometer will flicker back to life in a few seconds. However, according to the manual the flashing light is an indication that the transmission is malfunctioning. But other than the speedometer, the car operates normally; it shifts smoothly, and there are no unusual bumps, thumps, scratches, screeching, or rattling. I've also noticed that it seems to be a temperature related problem; the malfunction happened almost every time I drove the car in the winter, but now that spring weather is here it only occurs very occasionally. So my questions for the forum are as follows:

- Is this problem simply an old car quirk, or an indicator of a more serious malfunction?
-If it is a serious problem, is there a DIY solution or should I take it to the shop?
-What is a general cost estimate for repairs?

Any advice would immensely appreciated.

 

very common problem ... the vss is bad ..you can find em on ebay or amazon for like $15

 

You can also take them apart and clean them. Remove the three screws on top and gently remove the parts. There will be a disc, if it gets crudded up the pickup will not work correctly. VSS controls downshifting, not upshifts.