Stuff like this just makes me want to get rid of my damn Accord.

So I drove to the mall and, as I was parking, I noticed the "sport shift" indicator light flashing. According to my owner's manual, "If the light flashes while driving (in any gear range) it indicates a possible malfunction in the transmission; avoid rapid accleration and have the transmission checked." I thought nothing of it and thought it would go away when I came back from the mall.

After I got back from the mall, I started driving home when I noticed that not only was the "sport shift" indicator light still flashing, but the "check engine" light was on as well. And to top things off, I noticed that my speedometer was not working. The engine and the transmission sounded fine and they seemed to be running fine so I hoped that nothing would happen and drove home. During the entire trip home (~35 miles), my speedometer kept working, then not working, working, then not working, and so on. My friend suspects it may be a blown fuse responsible for the wild speedometer, but what would cause the "check engine" and "sport shift" light to turn on as well?

Someone please tell me that nothing major is wrong with my car. I have to wait until Thursday to bring the car in to my mechanic. (BTW, it's a 1990 Accord.)

p.s. Happy holidays everyone


[Modified by Caramel Turtle, 7:59 PM 12/24/2002]

 

heres my idea, this actually just happened to my dad today, except he has a Ford F-350 Diesal so it might be a little different, but it was at least the similar symptoms. He was driving home, and the ABS light was on, then the overdrive light began flashing, and the speedometer was working intermittantly so it sounds kind of like your problem. What end up being wrong was just a speed sensor that was mounted back near the rear axle. Because it wasnt getting accurate speed readings it thought the transmission was fucked up because it wouldnt know when to shift and so on and so on if you know waht i mean. It was explained kind of like that the computer in the car bases a lot of decisions on speed and when it cant get an accurate or constant one everything start flashing like a slot machine. The part cost him like $15 bucks but of course it was like $90 labor and he uses it for his business and with the holidays he needed it right away, so once again, the dealer got us. Hoping this might help you out a bit, hopefully its just something wrong electrically and nothing with the tranny, much cheaper that way. Good luck and let me know if it was the same type of thing!

 

it is your speed sensor,you can get from honda for about 100 bucks,it is easy to replace yourself.

 

UPDATE

I took the car in today and my mechanic told me that it was, indeed, the speed sensor. The sh!tty thing was that it cost me $190 to fix, $160 of it being the part itself. Anyhow, it works perfect again, and thanks for your replies.

One thing I need to look into now is why my car doesn't start sometimes on hot days. When this happens, it cranks but doesn't seem to catch. I've tried a tune-up but that didn't help it. I did a search on H-T and, from what I gather, it seems that the main fuel relay is the culprit. As the main fuel relay begins to fail, it becomes sensitive to heat, and that's why I only have trouble starting on hot days. Can someone confirm that this is the cause?

Thanks.

 

That is correct.