wales@ucla-cs.UUCP (07/13/85)
The speedometer/odometer assembly in my 1984 Honda Accord LX hatchback (over a year old -- hence out of warranty) seems to have developed an objectionable rattling sound during the past few weeks. This sound is fairly slow (about one or two cycles per second); appears to be directly proportional to the speed of the car; and changed char- acter (but didn't go away) when I reset the three "service interval" counters which are incorporated into the speedometer/odometer assembly. It definitely sounds like it is coming from the speedometer/odometer. I believe I have eliminated all other possible sources of the rattle, by securing every wire, cable, and connector in sight under the dash with plastic cable ties. I also removed the speedometer cable, inspecting and lubricating it before replacing it. None of these actions have eliminated the rattle in question (though, happily, many other little annoying rattles have bitten the dust). Has anyone on the net run into this same problem? How did you solve it (if indeed at all)? Removing/replacing the speedometer/odometer on a 1984 Honda Accord seems to require removing the dashboard (yecch, yecch, and again, YECCH). Is this in fact the case? If not, how does one do it? (I have the shop manual from Honda, but it is incomplete/vague/cryptic in this area.) -- Rich Wales // UCLA Computer Science Department // +1 213-825-5683 3531 Boelter Hall // Los Angeles, California 90024 // USA ARPA: wales@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA -or- wales@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU UUCP: ...!(ihnp4,ucbvax)!ucla-cs!wales
tjs@cbdkc1.UUCP ( Tom Stanions) (07/18/85)
In article <6311@ucla-cs.ARPA> wales@ucla-cs.UUCP (Rich Wales) writes: >The speedometer/odometer assembly in my 1984 Honda Accord LX hatchback >(over a year old -- hence out of warranty) seems to have developed an >objectionable rattling sound during the past few weeks. > Have you replaced the speedometer cable? If it frays then it will bind in the outer housing and after enough tention builds up it releases with a zing! Usually the needle on the speedometer will wiggle as this is happening. If it is you need only replace the core wire in the cable, easy and ~$5. Good luck. {allegra|ihnp4}!cbdkc1!tjs
steve@mtu.UUCP (Steve Seidel) (07/22/85)
>The speedometer/odometer assembly in my 1984 Honda Accord LX hatchback >(over a year old -- hence out of warranty) seems to have developed an >objectionable rattling sound during the past few weeks. > >This sound is fairly slow (about one or two cycles per second); appears >to be directly proportional to the speed of the car; ... >-- >Rich Wales // UCLA Computer Science Department // +1 213-825-5683 > 3531 Boelter Hall // Los Angeles, California 90024 // USA > ARPA: wales@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA -or- wales@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU > UUCP: ...!(ihnp4,ucbvax)!ucla-cs!wales I'll take a guess that the sound is that of the speedometer cable flopping over within the tube. This is a possibility if the tube is not properly routed or if the cable or tube has ever been bent. If there is too sharp a bend in the tube the cable will not rotate smoothly but tend to flop suddenly from one position to the next. This is also a possible explanation for the oft observed phenomenon of the erratic behavior of Smith's speedos (used in various British sports cars) at low speeds. (To the person with a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail. :-) ) At speeds in the range of 0 to 30 mph the needle will bounce wildly; the amplitude of the bouncing will decrease as speed increases. Part of the reason is surely the relatively taut suspension such cars tend to have, shaking the speedometer enough to cause the needle to oscillate. The needle is less affected by these vibrations at higher speeds, and thus stops oscillating, because the internal spring is more tightly wound and more effectively damps the vibrations (this is my own mechanical intuition and may bear no resemblance to actual physical laws!). But another cause of these oscillations may be that the cable is not rotating at a constant rate, varying its angular speed significantly during each single rotation. (I observed this phenomenon while recalibrating an 85 mph Jean Claybrook speedometer for 120 mph.) This rate variation is an obvious cause of erratic readings at low speeds. So if your needle wiggles, check out the condition of the cable, the tube, and their routing from the transmission to the speedo. But don't get me wrong. I didn't say that the wiggling needles of Smith's speedos can be remedied (they may be inherently too sensitive) but for ten years I've wondered why my MGB's does this and I think I finally figured it out, so I thought I'd pass it along. -- Steve Seidel Michigan Technological University uucp: {lanl, ihnp4, glacier}!mtu!steve arpa/csnet: steve%mtu@csnet-relay
wales@ucla-cs.UUCP (08/03/85)
I seem to have finally fixed my problem with the rattling odometer in my 1984 Honda Accord. Thanks to everyone who replied to my article. Despite what several people suggested, the problem was NOT due to a defective speedometer cable. The cable and its sheath are in perfect condition. Just to be doubly sure, I relubricated the cable with molyb- denum disulfide. As it turns out, it is not necessary (nor indeed is it desirable!) to remove the entire dashboard of a Honda Accord in order to get to the instrument cluster. The shop manual for the car was maddeningly vague in this area -- but I found out what to do by chatting with the service managers of several Honda dealerships. In case anyone is interested, the trick is to pull out the plastic border around the clear instrument panel cover. It is a very tight fit, but it does come off if you pull hard from the bottom. You also have to lower the steering column to make room for everything to come out. I lubricated the speedometer, and inspected it for anything that might be sticking or broken. The only thing I found that might account for a rattling noise was the long, thin metal gear which transfers the speed- ometer cable rotation to the odometer. It was mounted by its ends in two holes in metal plates on either side of the meter, and was free to slide back and forth -- making a potentially good-sized racket. I fixed this by sticking a small square of double-sided foam rubber tape on one side of the meter, over the hole. Before I put everything back together, I removed the plungers that reset the service interval indicators. (There are two sets of plungers -- one set in the instrument cluster, and one set in the plastic border which had to be removed to get to the instruments.) Since I am pretty sure that one or more of these plungers were responsible for the noise in the first place -- and since I keep careful service records and have no need of "idiot lights" to remind me when to do maintenance on my car -- it seemed quite logical to simply take this stuff out and not be bothered with it. I didn't try to disable the service interval indicators them- selves -- this would have required breaking a gear in the odometer -- but I am perfectly willing to find a long, thin tool of some kind to reset the indicators when necessary (the original design allowed you to reset them by sticking the ignition key into one of three holes). After about 4.5 hours of work, the "bottom line" is that the annoying rattle is gone. -- Rich Wales // UCLA Computer Science Department // +1 213-825-5683 3531 Boelter Hall // Los Angeles, California 90024 // USA ARPA: wales@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU -or- wales@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA UUCP: ...!(ucbvax,ihnp4)!ucla-cs!wales