I was driving back from school today, and after about 100 miles, I had to slow down going through a town, then when I got back up to speed, I go to put cruise control on, and a few seconds later realize that it didn't turn on. I made sure the cruise power button was on, made sure the clutch and brake pedal were all the way up, and it was all good. Then a few miles down the road, my tach starts going heywire and would try and get to the rpms that I was at, but it would eitehr just stay at zero or bounce around like crazy. My VAFC still said the right rpms. Then after going crazy for a bit, it just layed at zero for a hundred or so miles. Then all of a sudden, it came back to life, would stay at the rpm that I was at, then go back to zero and do that for a while until it went back to normal. Then my cruise started to work again. At first, the cuise would work, and then just shut off like I had pressed cancel but after a few more minutes, it went back to normal. This cycle of events happened a few times during my drive, and I really have no clue what the problem is. All of my cannon plugs under the hood were fine, adn I have never taken my cluster out of this car, so I doubt that thats the problem. Any Ideas?
Cruise control and tach acting up
- Thread starter asmallsol
- Start date
- Replies 9
- Views 2K
We may earn a small commission from affiliate links and paid advertisements. Terms
The cruise does require a tach signal from the distributor, I believe it comes from the same wire that sends the tach signal (meaning the cruise gets tach signal from the cluster). Your tach jumping around is what's causing the problem with the cruise control.
What's causing your tach to go apeshit is more than likely the ignitor in your distributor. When it starts going out it usually will cause the tach to sporadically jump around. I'd suggest getting a spare ignitor and keeping it in your glovebox, and get ready for 'the big stop'. You can use any B or D series ignitor, as long as it's the same OBD or newer as your ECU.
What's causing your tach to go apeshit is more than likely the ignitor in your distributor. When it starts going out it usually will cause the tach to sporadically jump around. I'd suggest getting a spare ignitor and keeping it in your glovebox, and get ready for 'the big stop'. You can use any B or D series ignitor, as long as it's the same OBD or newer as your ECU.
but I don't think that would explain why the VAFC RPMs are not changing (they are reading the right rpms)
hmm as I am doing some more reading, it does seam like the most likely problem. Kinda scares me because on my drive to and from school, there is about 3-4 hours of no cell phone coverage. Looks like tommrow when I go buy axles and brake parts I will also have to likely pick up an ignitor too.
hmm as I am doing some more reading, it does seam like the most likely problem. Kinda scares me because on my drive to and from school, there is about 3-4 hours of no cell phone coverage. Looks like tommrow when I go buy axles and brake parts I will also have to likely pick up an ignitor too.
Just to let you know before you go to AutoZone or wherever, ignitors aren't cheap AT ALL. I think they're like $130 or something...
there are a coupea different brands you can get, try to get a Hitachi. I've read about, and experienced as well, that just about all the other brands but Hitachi suck. Honda used the various brands somewhat randomly. I burned 3 non-Hitachi's out in a period of about 2 weeks. Once I got the Hitachi in, no more problems.
And I've got no earthly idea why the VAFC is still reading correctly...
But my money's on your igniter.
there are a coupea different brands you can get, try to get a Hitachi. I've read about, and experienced as well, that just about all the other brands but Hitachi suck. Honda used the various brands somewhat randomly. I burned 3 non-Hitachi's out in a period of about 2 weeks. Once I got the Hitachi in, no more problems.
And I've got no earthly idea why the VAFC is still reading correctly...
But my money's on your igniter.
yea I know. As a temperary solution, I think that I am just going to find a used distributor from a freind and just keep that in my car.
And while I was reading up about my symtoms yesterday, this guy who was data logging with hondata was having the exact same symtoms as me and his laptop didn't pick up any of the weird tach movement either.
And while I was reading up about my symtoms yesterday, this guy who was data logging with hondata was having the exact same symtoms as me and his laptop didn't pick up any of the weird tach movement either.
oem honda ones are only 163 for crying out loud...
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/auto/j...BUTOR+%28TEC%29
For vehicle: 1994 HONDA CIVIC DEL SOL VTEC L4 1.6 Liter FI (change)
8 parts found.
Part No.
1800218
Beck/Arnley Ignitor
Electronic Ignition Module: 1 Per Car
Warranty: Lifetime Limited Warranty
* Ships in 1 day
$89.88
http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductList.as...%2fControl+Unit
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/auto/j...BUTOR+%28TEC%29
For vehicle: 1994 HONDA CIVIC DEL SOL VTEC L4 1.6 Liter FI (change)
8 parts found.
Part No.
1800218
Beck/Arnley Ignitor
Electronic Ignition Module: 1 Per Car
Warranty: Lifetime Limited Warranty
* Ships in 1 day
$89.88
http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductList.as...%2fControl+Unit
Well I found that it isn't related to the ICM at all. There has to be a short circuit or bad ground somewhere under the dash because when it starts to act all weird if I unbuckle my seat belt so that the light turns on then it work. It also sometimes work if the ebrake light was on. On my long trip, the only thing that came close to wire was some fine solder, so I ground out the ebrake circuit and the cruise and tach would work alot better, however, since the high resistance of how fine the solder was, I think it restricted the curent acctionally to the point where it would drop the tach signal just long enough to shut the cruise off.