speedometer/odometer not working

[marewrath]

I have a 97 civic dx; this was a salvage car fixed up at a junkyard and they did some pretty extensive work on this guy and it seemed like reallly good condition. the only issue i noticed initially was it took a bunch of turns to get started, but i didnt really have any problems until id had it for a month or so, and, long story short, had to drive through water around 5 inches high for about 5 or 6 yards. the issues came a week or so after and im not positive if they are related;

the battery began to die; something was drawing power while the car was off. at the mechanic they replaced the alternator, but i was still having the problem. I cant remember if this happened before or after i brought it to him at this point, but the speedometer was at 0, not working at all, and no mileage was being recorded. when they finally did something so that it stopped drawing power, im not sure exactly what it was --he had me get a piece for the fuse box in the hood, and that hadnt fixed it, and he said in the end all he did was take out a fuse.

i no longer had to unplug my batter when i turned the car off, but the speedometer and odometer is not working. he told me to get a speedometer sensor, but needless to say, i have stopped listening to/going to this mechanic.
I don't know a whole lot about cars, obviously, but i know that an electronic diagnosis could run me a lot more, especially because i don't--i was wondering if anyone had clues as to what it could be?

 

[RonJ]

Check whether 7.5A dash fuse 15 is blown.

Any CEL codes being thrown?

 

[2NRSTV]

Sounds like the VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor) is bad. Go pick one up and slap it on. Also, since he took out a fuse under the hood, you might want to see which one it was and if you need it. But the VSS is pretty easy to replace. here's where to find it:

It will be bolted to the backside of the transmission in this area.

This is what you are looking for. It shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes to replace.

 

[RonJ]

^I think you generally give good advice, but in this case I don't understand your logic of replacing the VSS without doing some basic troubleshooting first. That's just replacing parts at random, which gets expensive and time consuming.

 

[marewrath]

yes - as i mentioned above, i knew it could be the speedometer sensor but don't want to keep throwing down money when troubleshooting was apparently justme doing that--im glad you told me how to replace it on my own but that mechanic said he would do it for free if i got the piece, still, i like to know.
i did do a little research before posting here, so ive check fuse 15 and it wasn't blown--just didn't want to bias replies. and when i asked what fuse the mechanic said it was the 'master fuse." which i dunno anything about, but sounds important, right? ha

 

[marewrath]

oh and CEL codes! - ive had 2 since the water, the second went on two days ago: it was PO420 car efficiency below threshold. the first one (which occurred nearly immediately after the water) was a piston wet deal - and this problem didnt occur until weeks later.

 

[RonJ]

oh and CEL codes! - ive had 2 since the water, the second went on two days ago: it was PO420 car efficiency below threshold. the first one (which occurred nearly immediately after the water) was a piston wet deal - and this problem didnt occur until weeks later.

P0420 almost surely means the cat is dead. What was the other code (there's no piston wet sensor unless you mean one of the misfire codes)? I notice there no VSS code. You need to check installed fuse 15 for voltage on both top test tabs to be sure it's fine.

 

[maclaban]

Can anyone help? I got a 2008 civic and my speedometer ,tachometer and my temp gauge dont work! Any help please?