I'm editing this post...Now whenever i drive, everythings fine except speeds at 0 all the time. After 10 - 15 min of a drive, engine check light comes on. I guess this might be a good thing but my odometer and trip have stopped also I've been at 132339 for 3 days now. I'm starting to think that everythings good and gauge is the prob and i need a new one. Am i right? I need your help once again and of course, thanks to everyone who is reading this, yea, you. Thanks again and hopefully you will be the one to give me THE advise to fix my car


Modified by youngwon22 at 6:32 PM 11/5/2003

 

All disconnecting the battery will do is clear the code. You are getting code 17, VSS. Your vehicle speed sensor is mechanical and the only way you will fix it is by putting it back in with the horseshoe pin.

 

my friend had the same problem his rpms gague still worked but his speedometer didnt. he had to replace the cable

 

Sounds like you might have a disconnected or broken cable drive. There is a cable running from the tranny to the back of the speedo. Check it.

 

broken cable or vss

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by beta13 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">All disconnecting the battery will do is clear the code. You are getting code 17, VSS. Your vehicle speed sensor is mechanical and the only way you will fix it is by putting it back in with the horseshoe pin.</TD></TR></TABLE>

How do i check my code? I was told that you look under the carpet of the passengers side, right under the footwall, next to center console. And besides where is the vss?

 

im assuming you have a stock set of gauges, so you wont have a vss...you will just have a speedometer cable. look for the single cable coming from the middle/drivers side of the firewall and taking an immediate nosedive behind the engine connecting to the back/top of the tranny on the passenger side. if that makes any sense?!?

if thats not unplugged maybe it came unplugged from the gauge cluster. thats not hard to get out...just takes a few minutes. or else like said above maybe the cable broke inside. i would hope thats all that would cause your trouble.

 

[QUOTE=fastcrxsi90]im assuming you have a stock set of gauges, so you wont have a vss.[QUOTE]

Yes... the stock gauge cluster does have a VSS. It's mounted to the back of the speedo. The newer civics have a tranny mounted VSS. Tranny mounted VSS has a wire that goes to an electric speedo rather than the cable driven mecahnical speedo the older civic has. They do the SAME thing.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4drEF &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yes... the stock gauge cluster does have a VSS. It's mounted to the back of the speedo. The newer civics have a tranny mounted VSS. Tranny mounted VSS has a wire that goes to an electric speedo rather than the cable driven mecahnical speedo the older civic has. They do the SAME thing.</TD></TR></TABLE>

are you talking about the deal on the back of the speedometer that pulses 4 times per revolution? if so then oops...i didnt know that was considered a vss. thanks for the info

 

where can i find new vss or cable

 

i got a new speedo cable at a junk yard for like $5...but most auto supply stores should have them.

 

PM!!! you got 45 mins to pick this speedo cable up!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...33678

 

is there anything in the back of the cluster i can replace to fix this?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by youngwon22 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">is there anything in the back of the cluster i can replace to fix this?</TD></TR></TABLE>

If the cable is broken then replacing anything on the cluster is not going to fix it. IF your cable is fine and was plugged into the tranny and speedo correctly and you are SURE that it's not the cable, then you need a whole new speedo. If the speedo is reading 0 then it's screwed. But, I doubt that's the problem. The speedo works independantly from the VSS. If the cable is working correctly, then the vss is going to work even if you broke the speedo. There is a little wheel on the back of the speedo that spins and a magnetic pickup on it operates the VSS. The shaft of the cable drive continues into the speedo and makes it work as well.

 

My money is on where the cable hits the trans, there is that horseshoe clip that you have to have just right to make the speedometer read.

 

does it have anything to do with the yellow or green wire? my guage is doing this too. the speedo is bouncy, and my tach is fine. but the sensor on top of my tranny disconnected due to the yellow wire being cut off.

 

So the speedo won't work with out the stupid horseshoe clip thingy ??

 

My speedo was doing the same exact thing, it takes only a few minutes to check the speedometer cable. My cable was broke in half, i bought a new one and put it in and the speedo still did not work... it was the horse shoe pin. So either the cable is completely broke or the hs pin at the top of hte tranny is not in correct. These are the most common problems, and it does not affect the RPMs

 

try replacing the wire, or just see if its loose or just might of came off the tranny.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 89dxhunchback &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So the speedo won't work with out the stupid horseshoe clip thingy ?? </TD></TR></TABLE>

It will work, but the clip is what holds the cable into the tranny. If you don't have it, then you have a good chance that the cable will pop out.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by markdman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> my guage is doing this too. the speedo is bouncy, and my tach is fine. but the sensor on top of my tranny disconnected due to the yellow wire being cut off.</TD></TR></TABLE>

A yellow wire is cut off and made a senor on the tranny become disconnected?
Any idea what are the wires for? What car is this in? Are you running an tranny mounted VSS and a JDM gauge cluster or something?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4drEF &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

If the cable is broken then replacing anything on the cluster is not going to fix it. IF your cable is fine and was plugged into the tranny and speedo correctly and you are SURE that it's not the cable, then you need a whole new speedo. If the speedo is reading 0 then it's screwed. But, I doubt that's the problem. The speedo works independantly from the VSS. If the cable is working correctly, then the vss is going to work even if you broke the speedo. There is a little wheel on the back of the speedo that spins and a magnetic pickup on it operates the VSS. The shaft of the cable drive continues into the speedo and makes it work as well.</TD></TR></TABLE>[QUOTE=4drEF]


Good info... Don't think it is the guys speedo, as he mentioned the engine chek light coming on after a few minutes.

Youngwon22 needs to check the cable FIRST before doing anything. If the cable isn't turning the Speedo isn't going to work, nor is the VSS going to pulse. If the VSS doens't get a signal then the engine light is tripped if memory serves me right.

Youngwon22,

OPEN the hood and look at cable connections... Pull instrument cluster to check to see if cable is turning. (LOL) Takes about 3 minutes to pull cluster.

 

My CEL only comes on if I hit like 100mph.. Kinda weird... If I just drive it normal the CEL will never come on, but either way my speedo still doesn't work..

I put the HS pin in today and checked the connection behind the cluster, but still no speedo, I guess the cable is broke...

Still not clear on why a VSS is useful in a civic/crx ( no abs etc. ).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by beta13 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My money is on where the cable hits the trans, there is that horseshoe clip that you have to have just right to make the speedometer read.</TD></TR></TABLE>

actually when the speedo broke i checked under the hood and i found the clip size of the hose that connects intake to the valve head. I didnt know where it came from but maybe its what your talkin about? And how could i have broken the speedo? i wasnt doin 120mph or offroadin or nothin it just happened pissed and donno what to do first

 

The piece I'm talking about is part of your transmission. I have no idea what you are talking about. Your speedo cable is a mechanical cable that comes out of the firewall, makes a tight turn and goes into the top of your transmission. There is a rubber boot that covers where the cable meets the transmission. When this boot is pulled up there is a horseshoe pin that keeps the cable in place so that it wont spin like the gear in the trans, this allows you to read the speed. If this pin is removed, falls off, or is installed incorrectly your speedometer will not work and you will get a code 17.