I have a 96 Civic DX and the other day my tach just died. It's at zero and hasn't moved since then. I checked the wiring for the power source going into the gauge cluster, that was fine. Then I checked the tachometer signal wire (blue wire going to ignition control module) and there was voltage on that wire too. Could it just be that the tach is broken? BTW just before it went to zero, the needle was jumping eratically and then it went down.

Anyone have a clue to what the problem might be?

 

I would bet you either lost a ground or your tach is dead. I'm leaning towards the latter though. You can pick up a tach at a junk yard for about $50. One from an LX, EX or DX should work in your car.

If you feel ambitious, you can check for loose grounds under the dash. I don't know where they are right off hand. You will have to find a service manual somewhere.(Haynes are cheapest, but they don't offer a whole lot of detail, but they will get you by.) You can get them at any auto parts store for $10-$20.

There are also various places that rebuild tachs, but the cost is very expensive.(between $200- $400)

Good luck.

 

I'm thinking it's the tach itself too, becasue there is one ground for everything else in the cluster. So if the ground was loose, wouldn't everything else be malfunctioning. Anyway I'll get another tach and hopefully that'll solve my problem.

Thanks