Tachometer is spastic

[GV280Z]

Hey all..does anyone have any idea what would cause a tachometer to become "nervous"? Mine is flipping around all over the place while I'm driving and my car is also running like, glitchy..I guess is the only way I can explain it.

It seems to be an electrical failure or maybe a sensor going bad or something...

The only other thing I can think is that my cap and rotor are fried and not conducting well..I intend on replacing them.

Any other ideas?

[98accordv6]

Your tach runs off of your ignition system, so i would recommend that you replace the cap and rotor and check if the sensor is burned out as well.

[gerhard]

What year is your Prelude?

If it's a 97-01 Prelude failure of the ICM [Ignition Control Module] in the distributor is a common issue.

When that unit fails, or begins to fail, it will cause the RPMS on the Tach to bounce, but the car will not lose or gain obvious power.

Eventually, it will cause the engine to turn off, but if you have a manual transmission, it'll start right back up.

If you have an auto, you'll get odd shifting problems and so on...

[GV280Z]

Hey Gerhard and 98 Accord..man..you guys give me hope I had begun wondering if any adults that knew how to type and speak correctly ever frequented this forum..what's with all these kids having new Preludes anyway?

Anyway, mine is an 86 Si. I know I definitely need a new distributor..it seems the armiture on mine is bent. However, I'm not sure about my ignition module and apparently they are sold separately. Are there any clues that would point to a faulty ignition module? I have a pretty good feeling it's fried as well

Thanks..

[gerhard]

If that's the case, I'd probably hit this guy up:

http://www.andale.com/stores/sf_home...istributorking

He's got new aftermarket units.

In so far as the forums as concerned, there are two REALLY good Prelude sources out there:

www.honda-tech-com

www.preludeonline.com

Plus:

www.hpoa.org

www.absoluteprelude.com

[GV280Z]

Fixed! The problem was the distributor and ICM. I was very happy and surprised when the distributor came in because for the $205 I paid for it, that also included an ICM and vacuum advance mounted on the distributor. No extra parts were needed.

However, this new distributor is adjustable and I've no idea how to set it to time my engine correctly. Any ideas?

Greg

[gerhard]

Of course I do!

-grin-

The aftermarket distributors don't tend to be fixed mounting units like most of the OEM ones. Especially on OBD-II vehciles.

The easiest way to insure you install it exactly as the old one was (from a timing perspective) is to take off the cap/rotor of the old one (before removal) and then using a socket on the crank pulley (with the spark plugs removed), turn the enigne until the pickup in the distributor and the strator are exactly even.

I made a web page about this for my 5th Gen issue...

http://elabfcsvrt.fdu.edu/PETD77U/TD77U/index.htm

That should explain it.

[GV280Z]

Dude, that's waay too involved for what I was thinking about. At this point, it's only a matter of pushing the distributor forward or backward and I don't know which way is advanced and retarded timing.

Learning that would help, and then I guess I want it just a hair before TDC. I guess that would be somewhere in the middle, eh?

Not to mention using a timing light would be helpful. Car is running pretty strong as it is now but just seems a little off as compared to before.

The distributor was made by A1 Cardone, which I suppose is OEM? Got it from O'Reilly Auto parts for a better price than I could find anywhere else.

Peace..

[gerhard]

With an 86 Si... you just need a timing light.