Car Maintenance Question

[boffo]

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on a couple of things that developed with my car, a 2000 Accord with 5 speed manual.

#1. The speedometer/ odometer stopped working this week. Usually the speedometer sits at zero; but sometimes it jumps up and bounces erratically all over the place.

#2. When it gets wet and rainy and soggy outside the engine seems to hesitate a bit. It never stalls or anything, but I can feel some hesitation when I start to accelerate. It runs perfect when it's dry outside.

I called the dealer today and they said it would likely be 1 hour labour to determine cause of speedometer not working and then likely 3 or 4 hours labour to fix speedometer / odometer problem.

Any ideas? Just want to have an idea what I'm talking about when I drop it off at the garage.
Thanks for any input.

 

[papasmerf]

Get an OBII code reader and see which sensors are bad. The readers start at about 90 bucks here in Buffalo. Next thing you will need is a HAYNES MANUAL for your car. Figure 20 bucks for that.

 

[anon1]

1. Speedometer drive cable is broken. Replace
2. Ignition wires loose, or old and spayed. Replace

Don't go to the Stealers, any competent wrench can fix it for a third of the prices they charge.

 

[sled1132]

1. Speedometer drive cable is broken. Replace
2. Ignition wires loose, or old and spayed. Replace

Don't go to the Stealers, any competent wrench can fix it for a third of the prices they charge.

You might have moister in your rotor cap, so you may want to buy a rotor kit.

Check for moister under the cap and wear of the rotor first. The cap will have to come off, usually only 2 screws bolting the cap down.

You can also check for electrical arking from wires to metal parts of the engine or the block it self, when the car is running. If you see sparks from the wires, either they are loose as mention above or they are cracked.

At Canadian Tire this week they have a 20% sale on all Bosch wire sets, cap and rotor kits. The Haynes car manual can also be brought at crappy tire too. The OBA II code reader is on sale this week too at $149.99, for that amount of money you better be good mechanically to get your money worth out of it.

Try to ask around your friends or co-worker's for a reliable cheap mechanic, since the car dealership can be very expensive.

Good Luck.....................

 

[l69norm]

Do cars these day even have speedo drive cables and distributor caps anymore? I thought everything is computer controlled?

 

[toughb]

Correct...

Do cars these day even have speedo drive cables and distributor caps anymore? I thought everything is computer controlled?

***********************

Everything is electronic now. No cables. No distributor etc.

There is one easy solution. Buy a Camry.

 

[sled1132]

Well, I don't have or ever worked on this model year Honda. But if he does not have a distributor cap, then it is equiped with a coil pack and crank sensor ignition system. That coil pack can cost quite a few coins.

 

[kooley]

4cyl has a distributor, 6 cylinder does not.

car does not have a speedo cable.

 

[danmand]

Don't go to the Stealers, any competent wrench can fix it for a third of the prices they charge.

Good advice. I took my car to the Mercedes dealership to have
them install new ignition cables, rotors and caps (two of each)
Cost: $1900.

 

[Moraff]

Try to ask around your friends or co-worker's for a reliable cheap mechanic, since the car dealership can be very expensive.

Good Luck.....................

Reliable and cheap don't usually go together.

Asking your friends/coworker's for recommendations is a good idea, that's how I found my current one whom I'm very happy with.

 

[Hard Idle]

If these two issues developed concurrently, that would certainly point to an electrical cause, although I suppose it could be a big coincidence as well. Check all grounds, wires & electrical conections.

In addition to steps recommended by sled1132 , have your battery tested - or if it's years or older, just replace it anyway, it won't be long now and it's better to replace it on your own terms. Also if your ignition wires are more than 5 years old, just replce them anyway, preferably with a name brand (Napa Gold by Belden is highly recomended for this climate).

How old are your plugs?

 

[Doctor Zoidburg]

The combination of hesitation and the spedometer error problems can indicate that it is the main or one of the secondary computers that is acting up. First thing to do is to do a code test on your car. You can go to a garage or you can buy your own code reader at CDN tire or from the US. If you plan to own future cars then the code reader will pay you back eventualy.

 

[boffo]

Okay, thanks for all your feedback.

It's a 4 cyl and I took it in today to get new ignition wires, points, cap, rotor and tune up and all that stuff. He also said it needs a new alternator so that's going in as well.

I could feel massive electrical failures all over the place kicking in the last 2 days. I'm just glad I got it in before it needed to be towed.

Again thanks for your feedback.

 

[hi up in the sky]

200 accord doesn't have points, the original wires are good enough quality that they last close to forever in most cases. If you actually buy all of those items you may have been sold a bit of a load of goods.

 

[silverknight]

Don't go to the dealership. Might as well give me the money LOL.

Get a used cluster and roll back the km's on the cluster to match your current mileage.