1. Home
  2. Honda Cars and Trucks
  3. 1991 Civic Tachometer Problem

1991 Civic Tachometer Problem

This problem has been on and off and will sometimes fix itself, but it has yet to do so:

Last night when driving home my tachometer stopped working. Here are the symptoms:

  1. At low rpms (such as idle) the tach is dead, it rests on the peg.
  2. When climbing to higher rpms the tach will try and catchup with where it "should" be, and in fact goes beyond the rpm that it should.

So far i am leaning towards a faulty ignitor. Does this sound correct? I doubt that the entire unit has gone bad as it has relatively low milage (93k). Lets hear your input!

Sidenote: I have verified that the gauge cluster is properly connected and grounded!

Thanks in advance...

Reply to
Rmccaughern
Loading thread data ...

before you worry about the igniter, take out the cluster and remake the connections. my high mileage crx had this problem. a thump on the dash would fix it, but the problem went away completely when i stripped and reassembled. it's 4 screws for the cover and 4 for the cluster. maybe

20 minutes max.
Reply to
jim beam

can you please elaborate about "remaking the connections". I took the cover off last night and unplugged and replugged the two large clips and with no avail. I guess today i will fully remove the cluster and try to install again. Any other suggestions?

i like your sn btw...

and remake the

Reply to
Rmccaughern

does thumping the dash bring it back to life? if so, it's a loose connection and you need to hunt that down. if you've already done the plug thing, try again after full removal - just be sure it's all clean in there. the next thing to try is checking the wiring loom earth for the cluster - there's a tab screwed to the frame under the steering wheel.

if all that doesn't do it, then yes, check into the igniter unit. apparently, fluctuating rpm is a symptom as reported by others. i've had a couple of igniters fail, but neither gave those symptoms, so i'm not promising anything...

and remake the

Reply to
jim beam

Dead tach= ignitor. Fluctuating tach= replace tach. Per my Honda tech. bob

Reply to
N.E.Ohio Bob

"N.E.Ohio Bob" wrote in news:456440dd$0$7001$ snipped-for-privacy@roadrunner.com:

Before you do that though...

Nobody suggested to the OP to check the blue wire coming out of the distributor. This can crack internally, resulting in intermittent loss of contact, and a fluctuating tach needle.

Reply to
Tegger

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.