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Bad Speed Sensor? VSS


Rick

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Well it happened again...and when it does it is quite aggravating. After fixing the oil leak that was in the oil pump on the 3.4L DOHC Engine back in May, ever since then the speedometer and odometer stopped working now three times. The first one was the first drive after putting the engine back together, it came back on after a bump in the road after 30minutes of driving. The second was a random time and it came back after a few minutes. This time, it worked when I drove to school (First day; fml) but at 3pm when we were released the speedometer was not working. Which is sort of aggravating especially when the road turns into 25mph because of a school zone, would rather not have a fat ticket. Now at 410pm it worked after a drive around the neighborhood, but the 5mi drive home from school it did not work at all.

 

Would you say it is a bad speed sensor? Loose connection? What do you guys think...because I want to get it fixed.

 

Thanks, also the VSS is located on the rear of transmission passenger side near the cv shaft, right?

 

-Rick

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When the speedo was intermittant on my K1500, it was a defective gauge cluster. The speedo itself was good, but the circuit board it plugs into had an intermittent fault. Speed sensor and wiring was OK.

 

No idea if your vehicle was built with a similar gauge/cluster or if it's completely different.

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Start by checking the VSS wiring and pigtail for corrosion or breaks in the wire. It's common for the harness to rub through with where it is routed, especially as our cars get older, the clips holding the harness tend to get brittle and break and leave the wire to fend for itself rubbing against metal.

 

VSS could be failing as well. I would pull it out and check it, you dont want it breaking (and it can be cracked right now inside the trans) cause you'll have a thin copper wire nightmare tangled and mangled in your differential. It is on the passenger side, easy to find. IIRC held on by one 8mm bolt. Pulls straight out, recommend twisting it a few time to break the seal and minimize breakage.

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Will try all that after school, I spent a while yesterday and couldnt find it. Could be due to the fact everything is sludge from the old oil leak that seemed to have lasted for years. Do I need to be under the car? But when I tried to find the cv joint I couldnt find it from the underside. Or do I need to look through the wheel well with the passenger tire removed? Otherwise I guess I will just have my grandpa fax me a schematic if he has one at his shop

 

Thanks

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On my 3.1 you had to get to it from under the car. My speedometer, odometer and heads up display all stopped working. Turned out the harness was bad. The previous owner cut it for some reason and just used butt connecters to patch it back together.:facepalm:

 

I soldered and heatshrinked the wires back together and that fixed the problem.

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