[bittles110]

So I'm on my way to chem lab tonight, maybe a bit behind schedule, so I'm pushing the car a bit on the freeway. All of the sudden, the speedometer needle drops from 70 (or so...) and stops at zero. The odometer is also dead. I'm thinking "speedo cable must've popped out."

Not 15 seconds later, the car acts like I turned the key off, no power at all. I push in the clutch to keep me from holding up traffic, and stomp on the gas to see what it'll do. The engine stays between 3k and 4k, revving up to 4k and then cutting till engine speed reaches 3k, then revving back up to 4k, back and forth, back and forth.

If I let the engine speed to fall below 2k with the clutch still in, and stepped on the gas, it would rev all the way up to the fuel cut. I could then release the clutch and get back into gear, and drive normally for a bit. Then it would do this weird stuff once again, a total time of 5 times in a few miles.

Any ideas of what could be the culprit? Any relation to the speedo cable? I have since replaced the speedo cable, but have not ventured back onto the freeway. I am also OBD1.

Things that I've been thinking about:
New OBD1 distributor from the Distributor King 12, 000miles ago
Any input the ECU needs from the speedo?
Fuel pump maybe going?
And I was planning on driving 600miles to Oregon this weekend...

 

[Tiersin]

Before I knew what exactly the spedo cable was, I spent a few days driving without it. I didnt notice any effect. Unfortunatly, I cant help with your other problems, sry.

 

[downest]

If you're running the mini-me in your sig, you aren't getting VTEC with the speedo cable (and thus the VSS) not working. It should rev higher... but that might be related.

 

[SETI20]

Having no speedo will throw a code.
Vtec needs a speed signal to engage. Reaching the vtec cross over, with an error code, and not being able to go into vtec will throw you another code.

You're probably in limp-home mode.
Fix the cable. Problem solved.

 

[bittles110]

I was thinking that if the ECU did need a signal from the cable, I would have gotten a CEL, which I didn't. So that was kinda odd... but the cable has been replaced, so I guess I'll see how things go on the way to work. I'm planning on driving close to two thousand miles to and from home over spring break, so hopefully the issues have been worked out. Thanks guys.

 

[SETI20]

I think you shoul dbe getting a code 13, if memory serves me right.

 

[ludesrv]

Code 17, VSS. I know from experience (still snapped lol)

 

[downest]

Yeah, you should get a 17 for VSS. The CEL might not come on right away. When mine was broken it would come on after I had been driving for a little while, I couldn't ever really figure out what it was. You will not be in limp mode, I drove from NY to NH with no speedo, it was fine. Limp mode is something of a myth... it exists, but it's so rare a thing to happen that you really almost never see it.

 

[jfrolang]

I had a code 17 for a short while about 2 years ago, it confused me for a good bit. It would go away after turning the car off, and seemed to come on at a random point. I learned after 2 or 3 days of this that it would come on just as I crossed 40 mph. I'm not sure what the relation is, but that's the same speed that the A/T lockup solenoid would usually activate.

 

[bittles110]

I drove back and forth on the freeway for maybe 45 minutes today, and no hiccups were found. I checked to see if any codes were present, but only got a code 14 (IACV), presumably from when I reset my idle. No other codes, so I guess all is well. We shall see when I leave for Oregon in the morning. Thanks for your replies guys. Wish me luck!