when my 91 accord is running. turn on the headlights or the vent the car guages go haywire. tach goes to 0, temp goes to red and then the car shuts off and sometimes wont restart. but if u turn headlights off everything goes back to normal. what is going on here?

 

My guess would be a bad ground connection somewhere. That's usually the case for things that are SUPPOSED to be completely unrelated suddenly mystically affecting each other.

 

thanks for the imformation it is greatly appreciated. could u maybe point me in a good place to start looking for this bad ground?

 

I never owned a '91, so unless someone else chimes in, your best bet is get a repair manual. Look in the DIY section for a post about downloads.

 

I think that there is a ground around the thermostat housing. The online manuals thread in the diy section has sites with a 91 shop manual. I think that autozone's site also has shop manuals that you can access.

 

thanks for the info on the ground wires. the engine ground was loose. i also cleaned the thermostat housing ground. it runs good now. dont know which one, my guess is the engine. it didnt do that before i had tore apart to fix the head gasket. once again i appreciate all of your advice and info.