91 Accord - speedo comes & goes, flashing S, check engine ..

I have a 91 Honda Accord. This is the latest in the car's lifelong ambition
to have everything go wrong at least once.

As I was driving (highway speeds) the speedometer acted up - it went a
little higher (maybe), fluctuated, went to zero, then came back. Well,
another thing to look into, I thought. We stopped and ate.

Then, coming back home, it started doing it again. At the same time, the S
light started blinking. Then the speedometer seemed to correct, but the S
light kept flashing. As it flashed, the engine's power was diminishing. Then
the check engine light came on, and the power came back (like a kick in the
pants). The S light kept flashing, and we made it the short distance back to
home.

Doing a little research made it seem like the problem was the vehicle speed
sensor. When I got the codes, though:

Check Engine - 43
S (TCU) - 4

That doesn't seem to make sense. Some websites show 43 as a fuel delivery
problem??

BTW, I don't know if it has any bearing, but the cars battery went low a
couple of days ago and we had a friend jump it (I wasn't there). The battery
seemed to go dead for no reason, although my wife thinks she might have
gotten the seat belt buckle jammed in the door.

Thanks for any insight,
R Flowers

R Flowers wrote:
> As I was driving (highway speeds) the speedometer acted up - it went a
> little higher (maybe), fluctuated, went to zero, then came back.

The S indicator will keep flashing until you turn off the engine. It will
not reappear if the fault has been cleared since it was first set.

> ...the cars battery went
> low a couple of days ago and we had a friend jump it (I wasn't
> there). The battery seemed to go dead for no reason, although my wife
> thinks she might have gotten the seat belt buckle jammed in the door.

The whole story has the aroma of an electrical problem. A skittish power
supply could manifest itself by throwing some codes from the engine or
transmission computers.

I'll bet you have an intermittent electrical connection somewhere. When was
the last time you checked and cleaned the battery terminals? Perhaps you
have a loose ground connection somewhere. When you drive at night, do the
headlights dim? Does the horn work?

Does the charging circuit work?

Has the problem reappeared since that fateful drive?

--
Chuck