I am a proud new owner of my first Honda Civic. I bought a 93 Honda Civic LX from a friend who needed cash and was willing to sell it to me cheap. ($800) It does need some work(Couple Gaskets and Hoses, a Couple Belts, Arm Bushings, Rear Main Seal, Exhaust, Driver Side Axle, Lower Ball Joint, Wheel Bearing, and Rear Brakes), but the way I look at it..the engine, tranny and clutch all appear to be in good order so if I get the problems fixed it probably will last me for awhile before I need to buy a new car. I've been browsing the forums trying to read up as much as I can about other Honda Civics. I still have yet to try the window lube trick to see if that fixes my slow-window rollup problem..I'm sure it will.

Well...the point of my post. This problem is more annoying than anything, but it's something I suspect will have a fairly straightforward solution. When I bought the car, I knew the speedo didn't work in it. I was told by the previous owner that it needs a new instrument cluster. Well after having the car for a couple weeks, I noticed the needle for the speedo is underneath the pin that it normally rests on when it is at 0mph. Thus, preventing it from ever going above 0mph. I also noticed that the odometer and tripometer are not working. I doubt this has anyhting to do with it, but I figure I should mention it anyway. The instrument panel light does not light up when the headlights are on.

Oddly, here and there they appear to just spontaneously start working. When they start working, I usually see the speedometer needle jump for a second and them wham tripometer and odometers are rolling again. It usually appears to happen while I'm already driving it, usually after taking off at a light. Once it starts working, it usually stays working until I turn the engine off.

I asked a friend about it and he seemed pretty sure it was the cable that goes from the instrument cluster to the speedometer gauge. I figured why not make use of this wonderful forum here and ask some other owners out there to see if anyone else has encountered this issue. I could probably manage to swap the cable or the cluster myself..but if the sensor itself is bad..I may just have my car mechanic fix it.

Any help that can be provided is of course, greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[sm=welcomesign.gif] to HCF. [sm=groupwave.gif][sm=groupwave.gif][sm=groupwave.gif]

 

Bingo. My friend's sister's 92 had the exact same problem. It was a cheap fix at an car electrical shop (like $80). Here's a shady upside to your problem though. The mileage isn't going anywhere and it's not odo fraud.

 

there is a little 16 or 18 guage groung wire behind the inst. cluster its down into the dash a little but it might have worked its wasy loose or something its on the right hand side of the cluster and down about 6 inches its attached to a tab using a female plug its a black wire with i think white dashes but its a single wire you should find it but you will need a flash light to see.
let us know if that works for you
adam

 

I'm about to get a couple other things fixed on it (Ball Joint & Rear Hub) at the mechanics. It wont be until the 1st where I have a few extra dollars and some time to take the dash apart to get to the instrument panel. I figure since the bulb is out that lights the dash up when the headlights are on..I might as well do it all at once. ie..replace the bulb, fix the speedo needle, and fix the ground wire or replace the speedo cable. I will certainly check the ground wire out to make sure it is nice and secure. Always good to check simple things first. Thanks for the suggestions and I will certainly let you guys know what I find.

BTW..the car is over 10 years old and at least where I live it is considered in 'exempt' odometer status as a result.. For 190k? miles it sure runs nice and strong.