Tachometer Reads Too High

[marklj]

Newbie’s first post…Bear with me.

The tachometer reads progressively higher than the actual RPMs. At idle it is several hundred high, at redline it is 1000+ too high. IE: 35MPH in first gear – around 7500 RPM. It reads smooth and never is jumpy. Anyone know of an adjustment? Or is this something I will just need to live with?

[gfrg88]

just keep it like that and you can see your accord revs higher than everyone else

sorry man, i have no clue on how to fix that

[gfrg88]

oh and

[EricW]

Is the car stock? No modifications. Stock tachs aren't that accurate in the 1st place. If your not doing anything other than driving the car daily I would just not worry about it. If it really bothers you, you could remove the cluster and change the tach.

[marklj]

Bone stock. Read a similar post in the archives about 6 years ago. No suggestions there either.

[2ndGenGuy]

Yeah that's wierd. I'd try a different tach.

[Civic Accord Honda]

u need this

[turabaka]

^^ no CAH bad CAH very bad CAH. now sit. Good CAH.

[Demon1024]

"If" you have another distributer try that too i think it reads from there.

[2drSE-i]

is it at zero with the car off? if it is it should be reading correctly. I would try to replace the distributor, like demon said.

[marklj]

is it at zero with the car off? if it is it should be reading correctly. I would try to replace the distributor, like demon said.

Yes, it zeros out every time with the engine off. I guess it's really no big deal. Was hoping others had seen the issue and knew of a quick fix or some 'magical' adjusting screw. As long as it does work I 'kind of' know the engine speed. If I was into competing with it, I would probably need to get an aftermarket tach. Thanks for everyone's feedback.

[Fedor B.]

Newbie’s first post…Bear with me.

The tachometer reads progressively higher than the actual RPMs. At idle it is several hundred high, at redline it is 1000+ too high. IE: 35MPH in first gear – around 7500 RPM. It reads smooth and never is jumpy. Anyone know of an adjustment? Or is this something I will just need to live with?

Having the same problem! Did you ever find a solution??

[Fedor B.]

In the wiring diagram it says the tachometer comes from the ignition coil, and not from the distributor??

Did ignition coil test like service manual says. All fine.

Some one?!?

[marklj]

Having the same problem! Did you ever find a solution??

It started working correctly after my wife left the lights on and ran the battery dead. Could just be an intermittent thing but it kept working OK. Until she ran it hot and blew the head gasket. :-(

[import racer]

Don't mean to jack this thread but how hard is it to wire an aftermarket tach in a honda?I have wired one in other cars but not in a honda.

[Fedor B.]

It started working correctly after my wife left the lights on and ran the battery dead. Could just be an intermittent thing but it kept working OK. Until she ran it hot and blew the head gasket. :-(

Okay... I had the problem before and it also disappeared by it selves, but came back after a while and now its staying.

Don't mean to jack this thread but how hard is it to wire an aftermarket tach in a honda?I have wired one in other cars but not in a honda.

Realy dont want aftermarket tacho in my car.

[Dr_Snooz]

My tach problems went away when I changed the ICM. That was some erratic tach hop at startup though. You could have a gauge problem.

[Fedor B.]

My tach problems went away when I changed the ICM. That was some erratic tach hop at startup though. You could have a gauge problem.

What does 'ICM' stands for? Yes, i did use the search function and did a google...

I can hit my self in the head. Had lots of spare parts including all electrics,
've thrown it all away years ago, thinking i would never own a 3rd gen again.

[AccordB20A]

icm is the ignitor, the power transistor thing that turns the coil on and off to make a spark. its on the side of the distributor on non b20 accords

[Dr_Snooz]

What does 'ICM' stands for? Yes, i did use the search function and did a google...

I can hit my self in the head. Had lots of spare parts including all electrics,
've thrown it all away years ago, thinking i would never own a 3rd gen again.

Stands for "Ignition Control Module." Be glad you threw all that stuff away. If you hadn't, you for sure wouldn't have owned another 3g and would have had your garage cluttered until the end of your days. Life's schizophrenic like that.

[marklj]

Got the cylinder head fixed and back on the road. And guess what, the tach reads too high again. Maybe a poor connection at the ICM or poor ground? I'll check and report back.

[lostforawhile]

hey,you probably have a bad tach, you can take the instrument cluster apart and swap it, do you know if it has an ND on the tach or it's the other one? I may have a spare. the tach simply reads - pulses off of the ignition module in the dizzy, you have a dx, so you should have the module built into the dizzy. it's very simple. there is also a resistor built into the coil, what it does is the coil is triggered by the - being interrupted by the ignition module, it has a wire that goes back into the car, the blue wire, this wire goes through a resistor inside of the coil first, then it's split , it goes to the instrument cluster, the emissions control computer under your seat, the fuel pump cut off relay, and the AC delay box next to the blower motor, it also goes to the multi function control box under the radio area, gray or black box with a large plug in the back. chances are if everything else is working, the tach itself is just bad, it's really easy to take out the cluster and swap it out, it's not even soldered in

[marklj]

hey,you probably have a bad tach, you can take the instrument cluster apart and swap it, do you know if it has an ND on the tach or it's the other one? I may have a spare. the tach simply reads - pulses off of the ignition module in the dizzy, you have a dx, so you should have the module built into the dizzy. it's very simple. there is also a resistor built into the coil, what it does is the coil is triggered by the - being interrupted by the ignition module, it has a wire that goes back into the car, the blue wire, this wire goes through a resistor inside of the coil first, then it's split , it goes to the instrument cluster, the emissions control computer under your seat, the fuel pump cut off relay, and the AC delay box next to the blower motor, it also goes to the multi function control box under the radio area, gray or black box with a large plug in the back. chances are if everything else is working, the tach itself is just bad, it's really easy to take out the cluster and swap it out, it's not even soldered in

Don't see any logos on the tach. The speedometer does have the littlle ND logo at the bottom. Doe this mean I have the ND tach as well?

[lostforawhile]

Don't see any logos on the tach. The speedometer does have the littlle ND logo at the bottom. Doe this mean I have the ND tach as well?

yea it's the same i'll see if I have a tach

[Fedor B.]

My tacho start working normal again... The thing does not know what to be, broken, or fine.
But how big can the defect be, if it goes back to normal some times...
Thanx for the new info.