Hey folks!

I have had my beloved 92 Accord for years now....no problems until today! I drove my car this morning to the store...runs just fine...came home...just fine. Went back to the car approx 15 minutes later....and had some starting issues. The car would start..and fire..and as soon as I let go of the key...it stopped...Few more cranks...and car finally stayed on. No hesitation..no rough idle...nada. I was driving to the airport where I noticed the speedos and tach going crazy. With that..the D4 light...the clock..and lights on the AC vent buttons where fading in and out when the speedos where going crazy. I got to the airport...parked the car...picked up my friend...got back into the car...started just fine...drove all the way home. Speedos acted crazy again..with the fading in and out of the panel lights. Next day...tried starting the car and it does the same thing...it fires...and engine runs...but as I let go of the key...engine shuts off. The only way to get the car to stay 'on' is if I hold the key in the start position just enough so the starter does not stay engaged. Engine runs fine if I hold the key in that position. I noticed that all the panel lights...such as the check engine.....oil lights..dont even come on in the ignition on position...only when i crank the engine..and hold the key in that position. I understand the speedo and tach issue is the VSS sensor.

My question that remains is this:

Will the VSS sensor going out cause a problem with the Ignition Switch?
Can the VSS sensor going bad cause all the issues I've experienced all in one go?
Has anyone had a similar issue with all these issues happening at once?

I've looked through alot of threads with the speedo issue and I know for sure I have to get the sensor replaced. I just haven't seen anyone with the car starting problem along with the speedo issue at the same time and wonder if thats all related to the VSS. Any help will be highly appreciated.

 

Maybe it's just a coincidence with your VSS, but the starting problems sorta sound like a flaky ignition switch. Can you make it happen by wiggling the key?

 

Hey Jim,

Ya the car stays on by holding the key in the start position just enough so the starter doesnt stay engaged...in the springy area of the ignition part...(if that makes any sense)

 

That makes all kinds of sense. I doubt whether '92 is covered in one of those ignition switch recall campaigns, but it's worth a phone call to the dealer.

Otherwise, you're looking at replacing the electrical part of the ignition switch, attached to the end of the key/lock cylinder.

 

Cool....I'll call up the dealer and ask about the ignition switch. New VSS costs 123 from the dealer..which isn't too bad...I'll just pick one up from there since all the parts in my car are originals. I'll let you know how everything goes! Thanks alot man!

 

Welp after about $200 and about 2 1/2 hours of work...its finally fixed! W00t! I replaced the VSS, which was a quick and simple job after taking out the intake. The second problem was the igntion switch behind the the key cylinder. Replacing that was a little bit harder as there were some splices in the switch cable for the alarm system and routing through a huge plethora of cabling. She's running great again and to celebrate, I drove to Frys Electronics and bought some stuff for the PC! Thanks again!