Replacing Your Honda Accord Vehicle Speed Sensor

By Matthew Wright, About.com Guide

On an early '90s Honda Accord (and other models, check your repair manual for specifics), there is a Vehicle Speed Sensor, or VSS, that tells your car's computer how fast things are going. When this goes bad, you get either a dead speedometer or a bouncy speedo needle. Both those are useless to you. The good news is that it's fairly straightforward to clean or replace your VSS.

Removal: Your VSS is located below the thermostat housing. Sounds hard to get to, but it's not too bad. You will see a wiring connector that needs to be removed, then a couple of mounting bolts that hold the sensor assembly in place need to come out. Before you pull the sensor off, note that there is a very small drive link that fits loosely between the sensor and the drive itself. This may or may not pop out by itself, so be sure not to lose it.

Installation is always the reverse of removal, so you're halfway to finished!