its another weird problem i have with my integra =o( i'll describe my problem the best i could, i hope you guys understand.. my car wont start, the starter would make clicking sounds.. it will start if i push start it but i have a power drain somewhere.. my headlights is very dim even in high beam, my gauge cluster would give me in inaccurate readings ( my temp gauge would be all the way to H and my fuel gauge would go to E, tach gauge would bounce every where and my speedo reads 100mph when i'm really doin 40) i have no idea what it could be, i tried using another battery, i recently had my altenator tested my ground connections seem good.. i dunno what to do!! has this happened to anyone?? i need help! thanks in advance!!

 

i had a similar thing happen to my bimmer (gagues giving bad readings, tach bouncing all over, the starter clicking but not starting, etc...). i put on a new ground strap that that seemed to help things a little bit, but it still had some electrical problems. then i found that the power wire from my alternator to the starter (which then lead to the battery) was really corroded.....in fact i accidentally broke the wire because it was so rusted.

so a new power wire (i just doubled up on some 8-gauge that i got at home depot), and a new ground strap fixed all those electrical problems.

 

I had similar problems on an old Toyota Landcruiser, caused by a bad alternator ground. Sounds like a bad ground of some sort - have you done any recent electrical work on the car? If I recall, I went through the wiring diagram and found that most of the problem components shared a ground, traced that, and found the problem.

 

thanks for the replys guys! i just had my starter tested out at autozone and they said it still good.. so i suspect its a bad ground somewhere, but i'm having trouble trying to locate it.. ive checked the battery ground that seems good, i didnt know that altenators has a ground, but i checked the two wires (both lead into the wiring harness) they have a good connection, no corrosion.. i'm stumped do you guys know anywhere else i should check?? is it possible that the altenator could be the fault?

 

It's usually not grounded right at the starter. Look for where the engine/tranny assembly is grounded to the car. Who knows about a '91?? It might be near an engine mount, or somewhere from the tranny over to the fender somewhere...

 

thanks for all the replys guys!! you guys were right, it was a ground problem! special thanks to prosteetimport aka eugene told me to ground the wire to the car first, then to the motor.. my car now has renewed life!! my lights and everything electrical seems to have more power now! just need help how to fix my speedo problem now =o(

 

your speedo is cable driven if it's a 91, so check to see that the cable is plugged into the tranny correctly and also plugged into hte back of the guage cluster.

 

Yes the speedo is driven by a cable. To a point, there is still a vehicle speed sensor that the cable attaches to in the cluster. This VSS is what actually drives speedo needle. The VSS could be faulty now due to ground issues.

Try checking to see of there are any codes stored in ECU ( I think the code is 17, but could be wrong) just a shot from the hip...


Tim Herron
Forward Thrust

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hondatim &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yes the speedo is driven by a cable. To a point, there is still a vehicle speed sensor that the cable attaches to in the cluster. This VSS is what actually drives speedo needle. The VSS could be faulty now due to ground issues.</TD></TR></TABLE>
This is not entirely correct. The speedo AND the VSS are BOTH cable driven.
The cable attaches to the back of actual speedo and that's what drives it AND sends the signal to the VSS. The VSS signal is THEN sent to the ECU. So the ECU knows the speed of the car.

 

continuing with the speed sensor issue, what could be done to a 91 integra to bypass using it if anything?? reason i ask is because i gutted my car including dash and cluster and now the car wont start because the speed sensor isnt connected. i'm planning on only using an RPM tach along with necessary oil/water temp guages so i need to know how to get around having to push start the car every time i want to drive it.

 

you checked the fuses, right? I blew the Alt SS fuse in my civic and it screwed up the speedo as well as the lights. And yeah, to whoever posted it code 17 is the Speed Sensor. Replacing the fuse took care of that as well as some other codes I was getting.