So today is the first day I've driven the car since a week ago; I had oil leaking pretty bad into my distributor housing and coming out of the cap. I had to order a shaft seal, new rotor and cap, since the points and brush were corroded and burnt to a crisp.

Now my speedometer is jerky as the needle moves up, smooth on decel, only on accel.

So I'm wondering if there is a speed sensor in the area I was working in.

Yes, there was **** ton of oil on the tranny/starter.

 

Vehicle Speed Sensor (VSS) is located below and behind the distributor. It's a bit of trouble to reach and remove retaining bolts, but possible. New VSS's are available at very reasonable costs on ebay.

good luck

 

There was oil pooling in the contact holes of the speed sensor connector, I tried to clean the connector with out removing the sensor itself. Now I made it worst, it's still jerky but now it hesitates then jumps to whatever reading it needs to show and this is while accelerating. On de-accel it has started to get slightly jerky.

Also If I lay the hammer down, the needle smooth all the way through.

Does this sound like a bad sensor?

check engine light is not on.

 

Generally, VSS faults will set either ECU code 17 and/or TCU code 4. Either one would suggest VSS electrical fault. A poor connection (oil) could set either of these codes.

If no codes present, the speedometer movement may be at fault.

Does cruise control work? If yes, then VSS is working.

good luck

 

use WD40 to remove the oil and then an electronics cleaner to remove the film left by the WD 40

 

Tested the Cruise control today, it's working just fine.

I think it's the cluster board, my tach is starting to show very minute symptoms.

My understanding is, it's the electrolytic capacitors are drying out on the board and letting ripple through to the voltage regulator causing the cluster IC to lose power intermittently. I do a lot of electronic work so fixing it will be simple. Getting it out of the car is not going to be fun.
I'll just wait for it to fail, before going that route. The speedo is still accurate; just jumpy.

Which brings me to my next question is the odometer/trip tie to the speedo? or is it handled differently?

 

Speedometer and Odometer are a single element in block diagram.

You should download a emanual from Online Manuals post in DIY forum.

good luck

 

I can tell you from personal experience that to get to the cluster and remove it is a bear in this particular year. I've replaced burned out bulbs and you end up removing a lot of hidden screws and the center console. I don't know who designed it that way, but obviously was not an end user. My 99 Accord is simple.

 

Video should help. There are others also avaiable.


Interesting that console trim is removed. It is unclear how that was necessary to release the gauge panel and heater/AC system trim surround?

good luck

 

TH,

There are a few screws that are behind the radio bezel that hold the HVAC panel/cover. So the center console and the radio bezel need removed. Accords built before and after the 94/97 generation were much simpler to remove.