Greetings! I'm new to the forums and I am seeking assistance in trying to find out what the heck is going on with my 1990 Accord EX. I inherited this vehicle from my father who passed away last november. Unfortunately, he did not keep any maintenacerecords or at least none that I could find. The car has 129K original miles. Since then I have taken the car for a major service. New timing belt, water pump, fluids check\refilled, new radiator, hoses, plugs, oil changed, etc. For the most part, the car runs strong. No issues with the engine and transmission (Automatic),and still has plenty of zing left it it. Within the last 3 weeks however, I have been noticing some strange symptoms. Three to be exact.

1) On cold starts (morning or sitting for more than 3 hours) - While turning on the car, I would hear a very loud SCREECHING noise coming from what I believeto be within the drivers side of the engine. It quickly disappears after the engine starts. However, when the vehicle gets warmed up and you turn off the car and restart it again, the noise does not occur.

2) Intermittent problems with Speedometer - While driving, I started noticing the speedo needle fluctuating from my current speed down to zero. It would stay there for a few seconds then immediately go back to the speed that im driving. Then a few minutes later, it would fluctuate in a rapid motion then go back to zero again. This time for a longer period. 30 seconds I'd say. Then rinse\repeat. This problem is very much intermittent. No time pattern. When you expect it, it does not happen. When you don't, it shows up.

3) The S Light would Start blinking Intermittently - Usually after the problem above occurs, I would start to notice the green S Light blinking. I looked it up on the manual and it says that it could be a possible transmission problem. However, I don't notice any problems with the transmission as of yet. It still has alot of power. Especially going up hills.

* Symptom # 1Occurs 100 % of the time.
* Symptom # 2 and 3Occurs 80% of the time - There have been some days when I don't experience them at all. No time pattern. When you expect it, it does not happen. When you don't, it shows up. When these problems start to show up. A quick work around for me is to pull over and stop and restart the car. Then the problem goes away for a while.


Please Help..................

 

1 - External drive belts. Not replaced when you got the timing belt? If they're new, probably just need tension adjusted.

2 - Flaky VSS or wiring from there to cluster. (Or maybe 1990 is old enough to actually have a speedometer cable??)

3 - Read the tranny error codes. Technical board or maybe the DIY board.

This is a 'welcome new member' board... Go ahead & ask your question in the other technical boards. Some folks don't read much in here, you'll get more help out there.