civicdriver18

Hi, I have this 1993 civic. I have owned it going on three years now. Just about 2 months ago I started experience speedometer problems. I took it in and they said it was the VSS. well I had the mechanic replace it and I thought that would fix it. Well It didn't. The needle jumps around all the time. It does go to zero when the car is stopped. And at this point I am kind of out of luck. I have been using an app on my phone to tell me how fast I am going. I love the car and I dont want to have to get a new one. any suggestions?

ezone

Most of them need the speedometer itself, not the VSS sensor.

A bad VSS (dead sensor) would set a code 17 in the ECM.

A Honda compatible scan tool would be able to display the vehicle speed, and the VSS operation would be checked that way, good/bad/erratic.

JUSCRUISIN88

Mine does the same thing but now it went ALL the way around and pegged at zero. I'm going to take it apart and check the connections but I've also heard its the speedo itself.

ezone

Connections will be fine. The problem in on the circuit board. "Cold solder joints" or cracked solder joints.

They can probably be repaired ok if the circuit board is exposed and it isn't sealed. I have seen some speedo heads that have half of the board sealed in a hard plastic like coating that prevents any attempts at repairs for me (the problem area was in the sealed part).

If you CAN solder tiny electronics well, and the circuit board isn't sealed, then I would just go over the entire board and resolder every last component on it.

Jack Smith

I also love this car.

JUSCRUISIN88

I just have my speed figured out by what the tachometer says and just "wing" it.

FTBSTRD22

I have a 94 civic an am new to the honda scene i have a issue close to yours but its my tach doing it an car starts to spit an sputter an little bit anyonbe have any ideas?

ezone

Probably has everything to do with the igniter inside the distributor.
If it comes down to that, many recommend replacing the coil and igniter as a set.


Here's some cheap or free stuff to check first, all inside the distributor:

One thing I have seen, and is somewhat common, is the female wire connector terminals lose their tension over time. Honda gave us a tool for re-crimping these terminals to tighten them up.

A loose terminal fit combined with engine vibrations causes extra pulses and the tach picks that up and displays higher than actual RPM.

Or the tach needle can drop if pulses are missing because of a bad connection too.

Has someone replaced a coil or igniter recently?

I have seen where people shove the wires on the igniter and miss, so the male blade goes between the female terminal and the rubber boot. Bad connection.

HTH