CRX tach flutter?

My dad has a 90 CRX HF, and it's been experiencing some tach flutter that seems to be getting worse. This seems to happen regardless of speed or real RPM. The car only has 53,000 miles, and he babies it (he's the original owner), so it's not a question of abuse. I don't know a thing about Hondas--any of you have an idea of how to fix the problem, or at least what to look for to find the problem?

If the tach needs to be replaced, can I replace just the tach itself, or will I need a whole instrument cluster?

My tach would always drop out in my mazda when the alternator failed to charge properly.

Usually when i see this happen on a Honda, it's a distributor.

It's likely the ignitor (inside the distributor) is going bad.

If you're lucky like I was, the spade terminals are just a bit loose and giving them a squeeze with some pliers will fix the problem, otherwise you're looking at a new one (be wary of cheap aftermarket ones, they have short lives).

Honda ignitors of that vintage aren't the most reliable bits of hardware. I keep a spare in my 89 Accord since it's external and easy to replace.

Something else to check is to look for red death in the distributor. Pop the cap and see if there is any reddish or brownish-maroon dust in the cap. If no dust exists, procede with other diagnosis. If dust exists you may have found the problem. Quick, easy and free to check.

I've been fighting the same problem with my '91 SI for 3 yrs now ... I've gone through 5 - 6 re-man distributors to no avail ... the problem actually goes away occasionally .... have gone to an OBD1 computer which necessitated a switch of distributors ... the problem has persisted ... I'm reasonably sure it's in the cluster ... fwiw the tach is "working" at this moment ... the next time it decides to take a crap I'll hook up a stand alone tach ( there's a tach data line from the ECU) ( the PO had it wired up) to the ECU line and see if the stand alone works

it's been sorta frustrating

logdog wrote: Something else to check is to look for red death in the distributor. Pop the cap and see if there is any reddish or brownish-maroon dust in the cap. If no dust exists, procede with other diagnosis. If dust exists you may have found the problem. Quick, easy and free to check.

If that dust is there, what's the solution? Just blow it out, or does something need to be replaced at that point?

Thanks for the responses, everyone. I'll check the car in the morning and see what I can find.

Will wrote:

logdog wrote: Something else to check is to look for red death in the distributor. Pop the cap and see if there is any reddish or brownish-maroon dust in the cap. If no dust exists, procede with other diagnosis. If dust exists you may have found the problem. Quick, easy and free to check.

If that dust is there, what's the solution? Just blow it out, or does something need to be replaced at that point? Thanks for the responses, everyone. I'll check the car in the morning and see what I can find.

If the dust is there the distributor will need replaced. Eventually that will make it not start. Tribal knowledge told me the dust was from the lower bearings going bad and the shaft would eventually stop turning true and have some slight wobble to it. This would cause all sorts of starting and ignition issues. What you describe could happen if you had red death. Of course that is just an internet diagnosis. YMMV.

Run_Away wrote: It's likely the ignitor (inside the distributor) is going bad. If you're lucky like I was, the spade terminals are just a bit loose and giving them a squeeze with some pliers will fix the problem, otherwise you're looking at a new one (be wary of cheap aftermarket ones, they have short lives).

In my experience this is the most likely cause. The igniter has been the problem for me twice now over the years, the first time I swapped the whole distributor. Yes, I will reiterate the be wary of cheap parts issue.

I didn't find any dust in the distributor. I tried to squeeze the spade connectors for a tighter fit, but I won't have a chance to test drive until tomorrow.

Will wrote: My dad has a 90 CRX HF, and it's been experiencing some tach flutter that seems to be getting worse. This seems to happen regardless of speed or real RPM. The car only has 53,000 miles, and he babies it (he's the original owner), so it's not a question of abuse. I don't know a thing about Hondas--any of you have an idea of how to fix the problem, or at least what to look for to find the problem? If the tach needs to be replaced, can I replace just the tach itself, or will I need a whole instrument cluster?

The biggest question that didn't see get asked is how does the car run? When the tac flutters does the car missfire? run ruff? hesitate at all?

The tac can jump around because of an ignition problem, or it could be cutting out because of bad wiring or a gauge problem...

If its not missfiring, running ruff or anything like that, I would be looking at the gauge cluster and the gauge its self to be the problem first..

Other then throwing parts at it though, you'd need a lap scope to check the signal input to see if its cutting out or not...

crazycanadian wrote: The biggest question that didn't see get asked is how does the car run? When the tac flutters does the car missfire? run ruff? hesitate at all?

The car runs great. No hesitation or anything else when the tach needle is jumping around.

Just test drove the car ~25 miles, and everything seems to be working. Thanks for the quick help, everyone.