I have a 95 Accord V6 with about 155k miles.

Since 105k miles, I noticed that the RPM gauge would either get stuck at a certain level (never consistent) and jerk up and down a bit. Although the needle would jerk a bit, the engine and acceleration would be smooth. I always thought it was something wrong with the RPM cluster.

Now fast forward to 155k miles (today). I noticed the needle jerks even more violently (0 rpm to 4k rpm back and forth very fast). Also, now at around 60-70mph, I notice the car sputter a bit during acceleration. It's not to a point where the engine cuts off but clearly something is wrong. It's not major jerks but the car definitely feels like it's not accelerating smoothly.

I've done a tune up at 90k... I don't know if the rpm gauge and the sputtering is related at all but any suggestions on what I should do to diagnose?

 

Look in the DIY section for diagnostics. It sounds like a flaky distributor to me. Look to see if there is oil in it. There's also a chance that the guage is messed up. The sputtering sounds like a faulty fuel pump, but could also be a distributor or timing issue.

 

Quick update: I bought a new distributor cap and when installing it, I noticed some oil inside.

I didn't get a chance yet to drive the car to see if the vibrations go away. With the oil inside, what does it mean? What else do I need to repair/replace?

I plan on replacing the plugs and wires as well (is this necessary though?).

Thanks!

 

Seems to be a common problem ..... from what I hear, it's a seal and you need a new dizzy to fix it. Please search HAF for info on this. Finch on the top 10 list to the right has a search set up in his signature that works since the site's doesn't usually lately.