My wife just purchased a 94 Accord EX, automatic and have noticed some intermittent problems and was wondering if anyone has any info that would help.

1: The speedometer on occasions stop working ands just sits at zero.

2: The car would sometime shut off while driving, this has happen about 4 times but would just start right back up.

3: The RPM needle would jump to about 3500 - 4K rpm really fast if you just tap on the gas pedal and settle down after that, sometimes it would drop really fast as if the car would shut off when making a sudden stop.

These are the 3 problems we have noticed so far.

The car has 87K miles and was purchased about 5 days ago.

Any help for a newbie would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

1: The speedometer on occasions stop working ands just sits at zero.>>>

Likely the Vehicle Speed Sensor. The VSS is a commonly replaced part on 5th gen Accords.

2: The car would sometime shut off while driving, this has happen about 4 times but would just start right back up>>>

Possibly the distributor. Any records of a previous tune-up? At only 87k miles, the car may still retain the original spark plugs/wires and distributor/cap/rotor. Might also be the ignition switch.

3: The RPM needle would jump to about 3500 - 4K rpm really fast if you just tap on the gas pedal and settle down after that, sometimes it would drop really fast as if the car would shut off when making a sudden stop>>>

This is also likely to be related to a failing distributor.

 

1) Has got to be the speed sensor problem as that was common with those.

 

Yep. If the VSS goes out, you wont have overdrive or cruise control. They just wont work. If your cars VSS is going out, at least I think it's possible that it may function sometimes and sometimes not, then... well you get the picture.

 

if all 3 problems are occuring at the same time or one right after another, then none of the above.

- Check to see if your baterry is being charged and that your alternator is good. Double check the connection between the alternator and the wire that's lead back to charge the battery = should be the front plug on the alternator. Sometimes that lil screw got rusted and broken loose and thus caused these problems above.

 

the first thing u do when u buy a honda is a do a tune up and since it has only 87k u should find out if all belts water pump seals etc.... have been change.

with the speed sensor what u first wanna do is check if is lose and tight it if is and this should fix this problem but if is not lose most likely u need a new one.
the car turning off etc... do a regular tune up see if that fix the problem either way u want to do one. check spark plugs if they havent been change the rubber is probably desintegrated . i think with the post above u should be able to fix the problems. if u need any parts theaccordstore has all u need half or even twice less than dealer price. btw post some pics

 

Thank you guys(girls?) for all the help, I really appreciate it. It looks as though the plugs and wires have been changed. The distributor cap doesn't look too old, i'm assuming that it was changed at 60K also, the person did mention that a 60K tuneup was done. But I'll check to see the other issues.

Thanks again..

 

Hope you get her running right. Let us know how it goes, and feel free to just chill sometimes.

There is a wealth of knowledge here. So enjoy at your own risk!
(Because it's addicting)

 

Can someone tell me where the speed sensor is so that i can check it out to see if it's loose or need replacing.


Thanks.

 

Could have a intermittantly bad ignitor too.